 Dear WGC Donors and Friends,
Wow, what a month! Last month we celebrated Women's History Month and International Women's Day with lots of activity: READ THE FULL ENEWSLETTER HERE - CATALIST WOMEN: We joined Catalist Women, a national network of over 60 women's giving circles that support the creation, development, and expansion of women's collective giving nationwide to build women's leadership and amplify the power of giving together. - GIRL POWER!: We helped to fund Girl Power! again, where over 1,100 girls came to learn about and experience STEM careers. - VISIONARY WOMEN: We helped to fund this year's powerful Visionary Women Art Exhibit at the Columbia Art Center, and attended the Gala Reception on International Women’s Day! - WOMEN'S HALL OF FAME: We attended the Howard County Women's Hall of Fame, which honored three Howard County women having an impact in our community, including WGC founder Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz, along with Cathy Hudson and Georgia Eaker. It was great to have women's philanthropy and the WGC highlighted at this event - congratulations to all! - BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION: The WGC was represented by WGC's Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz in Seattle at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the National Giving Circle Co-Design Convening that brought together collective giving experts from across the country who are working to build a national infrastructure to strengthen and grow the giving circle movement. And, we've got some great things coming up: - April 30: We are excited to fund Journey Camp for Girls each year, which is now accepting applications for another amazing week of leadership and empowerment for rising 7th, 8th, and 9th grade girls. Applications are due April 30 - please help us spread the word! - May 7: We have a great Educational Happy Hour coming up on May 7: Nourishing Those Who Nourish Others: Tools to Keep Your Best Self with Dr. Jyothi Rao, of the Shakthi Health and Wellness Center - purchase tickets today! - May 30: Mark your calendars and plan to celebrate philanthropy in our county at theCommunity Foundation of Howard County's Spring Party - we are proud to be a fund of the Community Foundation! - June 30: And, finally, join us for a viewing and discussion of Girl Rising on June 30 to salute the founding of the Columbia Film Society and HoCoPoLitSo - we are sponsoring an afternoon that celebrates the education of girls, the beauty of story, and the power of collective action - purchase early-bird tickets available exclusively for WGC donors, and enter code FEST32 Thank you for your support of the WGC! We are committed to growing a community of empowered philanthropists that are building on the past, and working today to shape the future for women and girls through the power of collective giving. I look forward to seeing many of you soon! Sincerely, Barb Van Winkle, WGC Chair WGCChair@womensgivingcircle.org
0 Comments
 The Sweetness of Circles, Medium, March 26, 2019 - Beautiful, important piece on the history, strength and growth of black-led giving circles by authors Valaida Fullwood, Tracey Webb, and Akira Barclay. Equal Pay Day, NBC News, April 2, 2109 - As we reflect on Equal Pay Day today, let’s take a moment for a little bit of history: A little over 30 years ago, women earned 64 cents for every dollar a man earned — a pay gap of 36 cents. Kresge Pledges to Increase Portion of Endowment Invested With Firms Owned by Minorities or Women, Chronicle of Philanthropy, April 4, 2019 - The Kresge Foundation has announced that by 2025, a quarter of its U.S. assets will be invested with firms owned by people of color or women.The decision is based on equity, opportunity, and returns. Teen Girls are Leading the Way. How Can Philanthropy Support Them? Philanthropy Women, April 8, 2019 - Teen girls are becoming movers and shakers across the globe in areas like gun violence, environmental activism, and gender equality, as well as advocacy for inclusiveness and systems change of all kinds. The Most Effective Way You Can Give To Charity, Even On A Super Tight Budget,Mindfulness, April 9, 2019 - Small donations can have a big cumulative impact. Even though the big $100 million gifts are what get the most attention, about 70 percent of all charitable giving comes from individuals. The WGC was represented by one of WGC's founders - Buffy Beaudoin-Schwartz - in Seattle at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the National Giving Circle Co-Design Convening that brought together collective giving experts from across the country who are working to build a national infrastructure to strengthen and grow the giving circle movement. Read more about this effort. Stay tuned for further information as WGC takes a leadership role in helping to grow the movement nationally to benefit communities, the field, and our circle!  WGC has joined Catalist Women, a national network of over 60 women's giving circles representing over 17,000 women who have given over $125 million across the US. Catalist empowers women by supporting the creation, development and expansion of collective giving through informed grantmaking. Catalist gives a national voice to the high-impact collective giving movement and accelerate the power of our network of independent affiliate organizations. We are excited to learn and grow with other women's giving circles across the country, and to bring shared learning and resources to the WGC, and to all of you!  April 2, 2019 By Jean Chatzky, NBC News As we reflect on Equal Pay Day today, let’s take a moment for a little bit of history: A little over 30 years ago, women earned 64 cents for every dollar a man earned — a pay gap of 36 cents. Today, we earn 80 cents, making the gap 20 cents — or about half of what it used to be. For women of color, the gap is even greater. Black women earn 63 cents for every dollar that men do, Native American women earn 58 cents and Hispanic women make just 54 cents. Note: You may see slightly different numbers floating around out there, and that’s because of different data sets used. For example, The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t count bonuses, while the Census Bureau does, and some calculations use hourly wages while others rely on salary. The important thing to note is that the gender pay gap is still here and it’s still big. But there is good news — according a 2019 report from Glassdoor Economic Research, the gender pay gap is shrinking in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and four other countries — it’s nearly 3 percent narrower today than it was three years ago. Read the full article ..  Charlestown Retirement Community celebrated #InternationalWomensDay by welcoming Diana Bailey, Executive Director of the Maryland Women's Heritage Center, and WGC Advisory Board Member, as a guest speaker. Her enlightening presentation focused on the social, political and economic experiences and contributions of Maryland Women in history. #womenshistorymonth  Friends, Today we received this lovely note from a woman we helped in partnership with Grassroots, through our Emergency Response Network. This is why we do this work, together! Thank you all! Sincerely, Barb Van Winkle WGC Chair   Dear WGC Donors and Friends,
It's been a busy Women's History Month - thanks to all our donors, partners, and friends who have supported our efforts in so many ways! We started the month on the heels of raising $1,000 in two hours to support a woman in need through our Emergency Response Network - thank you for your ongoing support! We were proud to be a funder again of Girl Power! where over 800 girls came to learn about and experience STEM careers. And, we were honored to fund this year's powerful Visionary Women Art Exhibit at the Columbia Art Center, and to attend the Gala Reception on International Women’s Day! I hope you get a chance to stop by before it ends at the end of March. READ THE FULL ENEWSLETTER HERE We've got some great events coming up that I hope you can promote and/or join us!
Have you noticed our fresh look this month? I hope you like our just-launched, new, updated website - let us know what you think! Also, please make sure to follow us on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram - we post information consistently about our work, events, grants, and topics of interest to our donors, partners, and the community. Thank you for your support of the WGC, which is growing a community of empowered philanthropists that are building on the past, and working today to shape the future for women and girls through the power of collective giving. I look forward to seeing many of you soon! Sincerely, Barb Van Winkle, WGC Chair WGCChair@womensgivingcircle.org "I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life" – Maya Angelou W WOW! What a day at the JHU Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) on March 10, 2019 for GIRL POWER! We are honored to be a long-time sponsor of this wonderful #STEM event for girls! #womenshistorymonth #girlpower  WGC is proud to sponsor this event. Friday night’s Gala Reception on International Women’s Day was powerful! Visionary Women will be available to view through March: VISIONARY WOMEN – March 8-31, 2019 Gala Reception: Friday, March 8, 6-8:30pm The Journey, Art About Women By Women Main and Window Galleries, Columbia Art Center #iwd2019 #visionarywomen #womenshistorymonth  Celebrating International Women's Day! "I am grateful to be a woman. I must have done something great in another life" – Maya Angelou Your support of the WGC is growing a community of empowered philanthropists that are building on the past, and working today to shape the future for women and girls through the power of collective giving. #internationalwomensday Thank you for your support!  WGC is proud to sponsor this event: VISIONARY WOMEN – March 8-31, 2019 Gala Reception: Friday, March 8, 6-8:30pm The Journey, Art About Women By Women Main and Window Galleries, Columbia Art Center An invitational art exhibit and series of events celebrating the talents and art of women from Howard County and Maryland during National Women’s History Month. March 8, International Women’s Day, has been chosen as the focal point of the observance and is an opportunity to amplify women’s voices and recognize and honor the contributions of women in our community.
The Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County is sponsoring the Juror Awards for the Visionary Women Art Exhibit.   WGC Emergency Response Network Request – We Did It! Many thanks to everyone who took action today and donated to help a woman in need in our community. We asked, and you, our network of women philanthropists, responded – and we quickly raised $1,000! Thank you all! #WGCERN
EARLIER REQUEST: The Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County has received the following request to help with an immediate need in the community through our Emergency Response Network (ERN) – can you lend a hand? Our partners at the Howard County Autism Society are requesting $1,000 in assistance for a client in need of respite supports. She is a single mother with a disability who has three children with disabilities (one of them with autism). On behalf of our partners at the Howard County Autism Society we are asking for $1,000 from the Emergency Response Network to help support this mother in need. Can you lend a hand? WGC will pool your contributions and send the funds directly to the nonprofit. We will only accept enough funds to cover this request. The WGC Emergency Response Network was created to provide an opportunity for WGC donors to directly help women in need. When our nonprofit partners are working with a woman or girl with an immediate need, they submit a request to the WGC. Emergency Response Network Requests:
Thank you for your support of women and girls in our community through the WGC’s Emergency Response Network (ERN). We are making a bigger difference together than we might otherwise be able to alone – the reason for our giving circle! If you have any questions about the WGC or our Emergency Response Network, please email wgcchair@womensgivingcircle.org.  WGC is proud to fund this amazing program again this year: JHU Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) hosts Girl Power, a STEM expo for middle and high school girls, with support from the Maryland Space Business Roundtable and Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County.
The event features hands-on activities, cool demonstrations, and take-home material for the girls to encourage an interest in STEM careers. Girls have the opportunity to talk to professional women in STEM careers such as aerospace, computer science, electrical engineering, geology, information technology, and space mission engineering. There is no registration required. Girl Power is scheduled for March 10, 2019, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Mark your calendars and help spread the word! More information will be available soon. This event attracted over 700 elementary and middle school students for a crowd of 1,000+ We appreciate all the work you have done in the past to celebrate and highlight women in STEM! Dear WGC Donors and Friends, We’ve had a great start to the year so far – thanks to all our donors, partners, and friends who have supported our efforts in so many ways. READ THE FULL FEBRUARY ENEWSLETTER HERE And, we’ve got some great things planned the next few months. We are proud to be a funder of Girl Power! on March 10 – please plan to take your children or grandchildren, and help us spread the word! We are also proud to fund Journey Camp for Girls, which is now accepting applications for another amazing week of leadership and empowerment for rising 7th, 8th, and 9th grade girls. Applications are due April 30 – please help us spread the word! And, mark your calendars for our Pre-Party Toast on May 30th, in advance of the Community Foundation of Howard County’s Spring Party – more information to come. Finally, please make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – we post information consistently about our work, events, grants, and topics of interest to our donors, partners, and the community. I look forward to seeing many of you soon! Sincerely, Barb Van Winkle, WGC Chair WGCChair@womensgivingcircle.org  The WGC Emergency Response Network was created to provide an opportunity for WGC donors to help women in need. When our nonprofit partners are working with a woman with an immediate need, they submit a request to the WGC ERN. We enhanced the ERN in the Summer of 2018. Since that time have sent 7 WGC ERN requests to our donor base, and have received donations totaling $5,500. Emergency Response Network Requests:
Thank you for your support of women and girls in our community through the WGC’s Emergency Response Network (ERN). We are making a bigger difference together than we might otherwise be able to alone – the reason for the success of our giving circle! If you have any questions about the WGC or our Emergency Response Network, please email wgcchair@womensgivingcircle.org.  GIRL POWER – March 10, 2019! WGC is proud to fund this amazing program again this year: JHU Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) hosts Girl Power, a STEM expo for middle and high school girls, with support from the Maryland Space Business Roundtable and Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County. The event features hands-on activities, cool demonstrations, and take-home material for the girls to encourage an interest in STEM careers. Girls have the opportunity to talk to professional women in STEM careers such as aerospace, computer science, electrical engineering, geology, information technology, and space mission engineering. There is no registration required. Girl Power is scheduled for March 10, 2019, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Mark your calendars and help spread the word! More information will be available soon. This event attracted over 700 elementary and middle school students for a crowd of 1,000+ We appreciate all the work you have done in the past to celebrate and highlight women in STEM!  2018 was a year of impact and meaning, and it’s because of you. We brought people together with common interests to learn about issues impacting our community and to fund programs that benefit women and girls in Howard County. How did we do this?
We’ve been part of the Howard County community for over 17 years, have raised over $1 million to support our efforts from over 1,000 donors, and have given over 100 grants to nonprofits that support women and girls in our community. And we’ve done all this together – as a Giving Circle. It takes all of us investing our time, talent, and financial resources in various ways to ensure we are having an impact. Here’s how we’ve had an impact together in 2018:
I hope our 2018 efforts have inspired you as much as it has all of us – it fuels us to continue working together to support women and girls in our community as we look to 2019. Perhaps it’s needed now more than ever. Please give to the WGC during this giving season – we can’t do it without you. Thank you! Barb Van Winkle WGC Chair  Many thanks to everyone who took action today and donated to help a woman in need right here in our community. We asked, and you, our network of women philanthropists, responded – and in a short period of time we raised $1,000! The WGC Emergency Response Network was created to provide an opportunity for WGC donors to help women in need. When our nonprofit partners are working with a woman with an immediate need, they submit a request to the WGC. Emergency Response Network Requests:
Thank you for your support of women and girls in our community through the WGC’s Emergency Response Network (ERN). We are making a bigger difference together than we might otherwise be able to alone – the reason for the success of our giving circle! If you have any questions about the WGC or our Emergency Response Network, please email wgcchair@womensgivingcircle.org.  Thank You! On Sunday, January 6 we had a wonderful WGC-Hosted Event, “Making Waves” by Rissa Miller at Kittamaqundi Community Church. This script-in-hand reading of the play in partnership with Try it Out Theatre was well attended and we had a lively discussion after the play about women in the workplace that touches on salary disparity, sex-based discrimination, and the #metoo movement. Thank you to Malynda and Rich Madzel for partnering with us. Thanks also to Steve and Patti Wecker and Vince Culotta, owners of CURED and 18th & 21st restaurants for their ongoing support and for providing attendees with coupons for brunch or lunch! WGC will continue providing opportunities for donors and others to learn together about the WGC and the issues we fund.  Dear WGC Donors and Friends, At this month’s WGC Advisory Board meeting (pictured) some of our board gathered to reflect on the year, and plan for 2019. What we discussed is that we’ve had a year full of impact and meaning, and it’s because of you. We brought people together with common interests to learn about issues impacting our community and to fund programs that benefit women and girls in Howard County. READ THE FULL ENEWSLETTER HERE How did we do this?
We’ve been part of the Howard County community for over 17 years, have raised over $1 million to support our efforts from over 1,000 donors, and have given over 100 grants to nonprofits that support women and girls in our community. And we’ve done all this together – as a Giving Circle. It takes all of us investing our time, talent, and financial resources in various ways to ensure we are having an impact. Learn more here I hope our 2018 efforts have inspired you as much as it has all of us – it fuels us to continue working together to support women and girls in our community as we look to 2019. Perhaps, it’s needed now more than ever. Please give to the WGC during this giving season – we can’t do it without you. Thank you! Barb Van Winkle, WGC Chair WGCChair@womensgivingcircle.org  December 2018 Dear WGC Friends and Supporters, We’ve had a year of impact and meaning, and it’s because of you. We brought people together with common interests to learn about issues impacting our community and to fund programs that benefit women and girls in Howard County. How did we do this?
We’ve been part of the Howard County community for over 17 years, have raised over $1 million to support our efforts from over 1,000 donors, and have given over 100 grants to nonprofits that support women and girls in our community. And we’ve done all this together – as a Giving Circle. It takes all of us investing our time, talent, and financial resources in various ways to ensure we are having an impact. Here’s how we’ve had an impact together in 2018:
I hope our 2018 efforts have inspired you as much as it has all of us – it fuels us to continue working together to support women and girls in our community as we look to 2019. Perhaps it’s needed now more than ever. Please give to the WGC during this giving season – we can’t do it without you. Thank you! Barb Van Winkle WGC Chair  We had a great tour of the Undesign the Redline exhibit hosted by the Howard County Library System at the Central Branch. It was great to have so many WGC donors and supporters join us at this interactive exhibit that explores the history of structural racism and classism, how these designs compounded each other from redlining maps until today, and how we can come together to undesign these systems with intentionality. Many thanks to our tour guides – former WGC Advisory Board member Maura Cleary Dunnigan and Tina Sheets Horn. We highly encourage everyone to visit this exhibit!  WGC Donor Private Tour – Undesign the Redline Exhibit December 11, 2018, 5:00-6:30 pm Howard County Library Central Branch Please join us for a Private Tour for WGC Donors of the Undesign the Redline Exhibit at the Howard County Library Central Branch. Undesign the Redline is an interactive exhibit that explores the history of structural racism and classism, how these designs compounded each other from redlining maps until today, and how we can come together to undesign these systems with intentionality. We are fortunate to have this exhibit in Howard County, which will be led for us by former WGC Advisory Board Member Maura Dunnigan. There is no cost to participate. Please register here by December 10, 2018   Dear WGC Donors and Friends,
We’ve had a great fall, after a wonderful Annual Celebration last month! And now we are not only planning for 2019, but organizing a number of upcoming opportunities for you to engage in WGC efforts that fall in line with WGC’s mission, vision, goals and stated values – one of which is that available resources should be directed to achieving systemic change in the political, social, and economic institutions that influence the lives of women and girls. READ THE FULL ENEWSLETTER HERE Mark your calendars for these upcoming WGC efforts: WGC will send an Emergency Response Network request this week to our entire donor base. I hope you will consider sending a donation in – of any size – to help us support this woman in need in our community – stay tuned. This year WGC will be participating again in Giving Tuesday on November 27, 2018. Giving Tuesday is a day that promotes philanthropy right after Thanksgiving, by providing an opportunity for people to be as excited about giving to causes and organizations that they love as they are about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I hope you will join with us on this important day! Please join us for a Private Tour for WGC Donors of the Undesign the Redline Exhibit on Tuesday, December 11, 6:30 pm at the Howard County Library Central Branch. Undesign the Redline is an interactive exhibit that explores the history of structural racism and classism. And, join us for our first event of 2019 – WGC is excited to present the play Making Waves by Rissa Miller, in partnership with Try it Out Theatre, January 6, 2019 from, 2:00 – 4:00 pm at the Kittamaqundi Community Church. This play is about women in the workplace and should be a great opportunity to enjoy local theater while learning together. We look forward to a busy, fun, and most importantly, meaningful holiday season – together. Sincerely, Barb Van Winkle, WGC Chair WGCChair@womensgivingcircle.org |
