Good evening. My name is Clare O’Brien and I am from Cincinnati, OH.
I am very excited to be back in Phoenix, which I consider my first true home. As a child, I lived a few miles away and have wonderful memories of the kindness and generosity of this community. I am delighted to come back and support that same spirit of giving tonight.
I, along with Ann Marie McGee, serve as Co-Chairs of Philanos, which is a national network of over 100 women-led giving circles encompassing 20,000 members. Over the past 15 years, we have built a trusted, supportive community which helps strengthen giving circles and empower members to be more confident philanthropists through education, peer sharing and relationship-building.
We do that through a variety of offerings including:
Monthly educational webinars – topics include the nuts and bolts of running a giving circle – such as member engagement or strategic planning, to emerging topics such as trust-based philanthropy or environmental justice.
Affinity groups – these are a newer offering which have proven to be quite popular – we bring together 30-40 people in similar roles, whether that is Marketing, Membership or Grantmaking for lively, interactive discussions where you can seek advice on an issue you are grappling with or share a new innovation that has been very powerful.
Our joyful, in-person conferences which are held every 18-24 months and bring together several hundred giving circle leaders. Our most recent one was in November 2023, held in Baltimore. It was a stimulating celebration of collective giving featuring a diverse lineup of inspiring plenary speakers, and actionable advice and dialogue in our breakout sessions. We were fortunate to have Tony Bowen and Amy Pirozzolo attend and present.
One week prior to the conference, we were thrilled to receive a Fidelity Charitable Catalyst Fund grant, and are focused on attracting more attention and funding to underserved communities including:
