By Ellie Vernick
Philanos Student Intern and Member of the Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County’s Young Women’s Giving Circle
At Philanos, we know that the future of philanthropy depends on engaging and empowering the next generation of givers. That’s why we are excited to shine a spotlight on Philanos Affiliates that have created Young Philanthropist programs to nurture youth and young adult involvement in collective giving.
Through these programs, young people learn about philanthropy, community needs, and the power of working together to make a difference. Each of the giving circles we’ll feature in this new series participated in the 2024-2025 Philanos Young Philanthropist Cohort and has developed a unique approach to bringing younger voices to the table — helping to ensure that collective giving remains vibrant, inclusive, and impactful for years to come.
The Women's Giving Circle of Howard County, Maryland
The Women's Giving Circle of Howard County is dedicated to building a community of philanthropists to address the needs of women and girls in their community. Founded in 2002, they've distributed over $1.2 million in grants, built an endowment exceeding $1.1 million from 1,700+ donors, and continue to fund important work year after year. Focusing on areas including diversity, economic advancement, education, and safety, this giving circle plans to award up to $100,000 in grants in 2025.
In the 2024-2025 year, the WGC relaunched their Break the Cycle student intern program, highlighting period poverty–an often overlooked need. Consisting of seven Howard County high school juniors and seniors, WGC’s interns worked to eliminate period poverty through fundraising, product donations, and partnerships. These interns participated in monthly educational meetings, learning how the lack of products across the country impacts women and what it means to be a philanthropist. The program has no cost to participate and all members receive a $500 stipend at the end of their nine months of service.
Specifically, the WGC interns host their WGC Break the Cycle: Period Product Drive, collecting products for their partners at the Columbia Association, library system, community college, and other local businesses. The drive has amassed hundreds of pounds of products and raised over $8,500 to purchase more. Period poverty is a profound issue for young women, especially women of color and those with limited incomes. 1 in 4 teens struggle to afford period products and teens often will miss school, extra curricular activities, and sports as a result. One especially impactful product drive was at the local community college, which was able to double the amount of products provided to each young woman – allowing them to attend college with dignity. Paula Seabright, the product drive chair, declared that, "it's time to break the cycle of period poverty.”
These young philanthropists also participated in WGC’s 2025 Annual Big Give, in which 57 women collectively gave a total of $32,000 to 14 nonprofit partners. In this fun, meaningful, fast-paced giving experience the interns learned about the grantmaking process, how to review grant proposals, and the power of collective giving. WGC Big Give Chair, Melissa Curtin, exclaims that, “The Big Give is empowering women to support other women in our community now, and in the future.” Through this giving experience, the interns learned about significant issues confronting women and girls, including homelessness and housing insecurity, access to youth sports, foster care services, and employment for immigrant women. This event also featured the interns’ own Mini Give, in which they gave $5,000 to Voices for Children, a nonprofit of their choosing. Voices for Children will provide feminine hygiene products to girls in the foster care system.
In the 2025-2026 year, the intern program became the WGC Young Women’s Giving Circle, expanding to ten Howard County high school juniors and seniors, each individually representing their schools. The WGC was excited to "circle back" to hosting a Young Women's Giving Circle again, which they have hosted in the past. Members of the YWGC will learn about fundraising, grantmaking, volunteering and women's health/breaking the cycle of period poverty. In anticipation of this upcoming year, second year intern Sakshi Tirodkar stated, “I have truly loved being an intern for the Young Women’s Giving Circle this past year. It has been amazing being able to actively give back to women in our community to ensure they have the menstrual resources they deserve!”
The Young Philanthropists of the Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County are a powerful example of how giving circles can engage and inspire the next generation of changemakers. By offering opportunities to learn, give, and lead, these programs ensure that collective giving continues to grow and thrive.
Philanos Young Philanthropist Affinity Group
Philanos is excited to have kicked-off our new Young Philanthropist Affinity Group on September 2! Catalyzed by the great experience many Philanos Affiliates had as part of our recent Young Philanthropist Cohort, this new Affinity Group will bring giving circle leaders together on a regular basis to learn, share, network, and connect about young philanthropist efforts among Philanos Affiliate giving circles. The next Affinity Group will be on October 30 - you can learn more and register here.
At Philanos, we are proud to highlight the innovative ways our Affiliate members are building a strong future for philanthropy.
To learn more about Philanos and our network of women’s giving circles, visit www.philanos.org.
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"The Future of Philanthropy" is the first in a four-part series highlighting Philanos Affiliate Young Philanthropist programs
