• Home
  • About
    • WGC Mission, Vision, Values, Goals
    • WGC Advisory Board
    • WGC Committees
    • WGC 2023-2026 Strategic Plan
    • WGC Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • WGC is a Fund of the Community Foundation of Howard County
    • WGC - 20 Years at a Glance
    • WGC Herstory
  • Give
    • WGC's 4 Distinct Ways to Give >
      • WGC Community Member >
        • WGC's 20th Anniversary
        • WGC In Her Honor >
          • In Honor and Memory of WGC Supporter Jackie Melonas
        • WGC Core Support
        • WGC Impact 2024
      • WGC Sponsor Member >
        • Thank You 2023 Sponsors!
        • Thank You 2022 Sponsors!
      • WGC Legacy Member
      • WGC Big Give Member >
        • WGC Big Give $1,200 Individual Donation
        • WGC Big Give $1,200 Team Donation
        • WGC Big Give Process and Grantmaking Guidelines
    • WGC Emergency Response Network
    • WGC Barb Van Winkle Leadership Fund
  • Grants
  • Events
  • News
    • WGC's 20 Years, 20 Stories >
      • #16 - Our Giving, Our Stories
      • #17 - State of Women and Girls in Howard County
      • #18 - Local Funding Partnerships
      • #19 - First Executive Director
      • #20 - Celebrating 20 Years of Impact!
    • WGC's 20 Years in Photos - A Snapshot
    • WGC's State of Women and Girls in Howard County
    • WGC's Our Giving, Our Stories Series >
      • 2023-2021 OGOS Monthly Profiles
      • OGOS Nominations
      • 2022 OGOS Black Philanthropy Month
      • 2021-2020 OGOS Black Philanthropy Month
    • WGC's (S)hero Mosaic
  • Blog
  • Contact
WGC OF HOWARD COUNTY
  • Home
  • About
    • WGC Mission, Vision, Values, Goals
    • WGC Advisory Board
    • WGC Committees
    • WGC 2023-2026 Strategic Plan
    • WGC Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • WGC is a Fund of the Community Foundation of Howard County
    • WGC - 20 Years at a Glance
    • WGC Herstory
  • Give
    • WGC's 4 Distinct Ways to Give >
      • WGC Community Member >
        • WGC's 20th Anniversary
        • WGC In Her Honor >
          • In Honor and Memory of WGC Supporter Jackie Melonas
        • WGC Core Support
        • WGC Impact 2024
      • WGC Sponsor Member >
        • Thank You 2023 Sponsors!
        • Thank You 2022 Sponsors!
      • WGC Legacy Member
      • WGC Big Give Member >
        • WGC Big Give $1,200 Individual Donation
        • WGC Big Give $1,200 Team Donation
        • WGC Big Give Process and Grantmaking Guidelines
    • WGC Emergency Response Network
    • WGC Barb Van Winkle Leadership Fund
  • Grants
  • Events
  • News
    • WGC's 20 Years, 20 Stories >
      • #16 - Our Giving, Our Stories
      • #17 - State of Women and Girls in Howard County
      • #18 - Local Funding Partnerships
      • #19 - First Executive Director
      • #20 - Celebrating 20 Years of Impact!
    • WGC's 20 Years in Photos - A Snapshot
    • WGC's State of Women and Girls in Howard County
    • WGC's Our Giving, Our Stories Series >
      • 2023-2021 OGOS Monthly Profiles
      • OGOS Nominations
      • 2022 OGOS Black Philanthropy Month
      • 2021-2020 OGOS Black Philanthropy Month
    • WGC's (S)hero Mosaic
  • Blog
  • Contact

WGC Founders - Story #1
​create

Picture
What?
​
  • 16 diverse women join together to create a philanthropic group targeting the concerns of women and girls.
  • The founders emphasize inclusivity, offering an array of donor levels to allow all women to participate.
  • They create an endowment to ensure that the legacy of every donor carries far into the future.

It all began in the fall of 2000. Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz organized a meeting on behalf of the Maryland Philanthropy Network (formerly Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers) and asked Barbara Lawson, at that time the head of the organization that is now the Community Foundation of Howard County (CFHoCo) to invite local women to attend. 

  • “Buffy called me and said you know we're going to be doing this presentation in Baltimore and we're really wanting to gather together a group of women philanthropists that might be receptive to this idea of a different way of giving, and expanding on women's philanthropy - leveraging different ideas about how that could happen.” - Barbara Lawson

Yolanda Bruno, Jean Moon, and Linda Odum accepted that offer, and became fascinated by what they learned about the incredible power of collective giving inherent in the giving circle model.

  • "There were no known giving circles in the area, no women's giving circles.” - Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz
  • "I think that we were all ready for a message about philanthropy because all three of us were already involved in philanthropy in one level or another, and we were all feminists. The idea of bringing together a circle of women was so appealing to us." - Jean Moon
  • “I don’t think any of us was a stranger to charitable giving, to the idea of giving back to the community in various ways, but the excitement of being able to target that work and that effort on the needs of women was galvanizing.” - Linda Odum

Upon returning to Howard County, the five women invited eleven others to join them as they embarked upon an intensive 18 month planning and implementation process that culminated with the launch of the Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County (WGC).
​

So What?

The WGC formally launched on February 26, 2002  - 20 years ago this year! - under the leadership of 16 extraordinary founders:

  • Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz
  • Maggie J. Brown
  • Yolanda Bruno
  • Beth Sandbower Harbinson
  • Dorothy V. Harris
  • H. Elizabeth Horowitz
  • Barbara K. Lawson
  • Cathy Lickteig
  • Jane Vance McCauley
  • Darlene Miller
  • Jean F. Moon
  • Shelley Mulitz
  • Linda Odum
  • Migsie Richlin
  • Joanne Maria Saltzberg
  • Arlene Sheff

Their vision? To improve the lives, the health, the future, and the personal authority of women and girls. 

How does it work?

  • "Women can come in at any level. It allows them to join a larger pool. I can't help 13 women get scholarships at Howard County Community College, but I've contributed to a fund that has allowed 13 women to get scholarships. With relatively small dollars, I can effect change and express my values in a way that makes me very happy." - Jean Moon

The WGC is a fund of the Community Foundation of Howard County. However, under the giving circle model, the Advisory Board and Committees are responsible for all spending decisions. 

All member gifts support our grantmaking, our core strength, and/or our endowment.

Now What?

As we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the WGC, there are a variety of reasons and ways to donate today.

  • “As women, we need to be able to be there for one another and learn from what's happened, and I think my daughter's really don't have a full appreciation at this time or understanding what generations before us have gone through as women. And so given that that's the focus of the circle, and in a small community like this, I think we have a great opportunity to raise strong women and raise strong girls.” - Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz 

For 20 years, the WGC has dedicated itself to leveraging our collective dollars, to amplifying the power of collective giving, to building a community of philanthropists and creating a permanent legacy to address the needs of women and girls in Howard County.

Will you join us? www.womensgivingcircle.org

Be a part of our story.

#WGC20Years
#WGC20Years20Stories


20 years, 20 stories

Picture
"Women’s philanthropy shapes the future for women and girls through the power of collective giving​." - Barb Van Winkle, Immediate Past Chair
Picture
WGC is proud to be a fund of the
​Community Foundation of Howard County - cfhoco.org

EIN Number: 52-0937644
Find us on Guidestar Here
​​​WGC is a proud member of several local, regional and national philanthropic organizations 
Picture
Picture
Picture

Contact Us

www.womensgivingcircle.org

    Subscribe Today!

Submit
  • Home
  • About
    • WGC Mission, Vision, Values, Goals
    • WGC Advisory Board
    • WGC Committees
    • WGC 2023-2026 Strategic Plan
    • WGC Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • WGC is a Fund of the Community Foundation of Howard County
    • WGC - 20 Years at a Glance
    • WGC Herstory
  • Give
    • WGC's 4 Distinct Ways to Give >
      • WGC Community Member >
        • WGC's 20th Anniversary
        • WGC In Her Honor >
          • In Honor and Memory of WGC Supporter Jackie Melonas
        • WGC Core Support
        • WGC Impact 2024
      • WGC Sponsor Member >
        • Thank You 2023 Sponsors!
        • Thank You 2022 Sponsors!
      • WGC Legacy Member
      • WGC Big Give Member >
        • WGC Big Give $1,200 Individual Donation
        • WGC Big Give $1,200 Team Donation
        • WGC Big Give Process and Grantmaking Guidelines
    • WGC Emergency Response Network
    • WGC Barb Van Winkle Leadership Fund
  • Grants
  • Events
  • News
    • WGC's 20 Years, 20 Stories >
      • #16 - Our Giving, Our Stories
      • #17 - State of Women and Girls in Howard County
      • #18 - Local Funding Partnerships
      • #19 - First Executive Director
      • #20 - Celebrating 20 Years of Impact!
    • WGC's 20 Years in Photos - A Snapshot
    • WGC's State of Women and Girls in Howard County
    • WGC's Our Giving, Our Stories Series >
      • 2023-2021 OGOS Monthly Profiles
      • OGOS Nominations
      • 2022 OGOS Black Philanthropy Month
      • 2021-2020 OGOS Black Philanthropy Month
    • WGC's (S)hero Mosaic
  • Blog
  • Contact