Our Focus on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion 

WGC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Efforts

This year, in 2023, the Women’s Giving Circle of Howard County continues to build a community of philanthropists and create a permanent legacy to address the needs of women and girls in Howard County. 

​To create such a legacy, a holistic approach to engage at all levels within our community is the foundation for our success. As such, we felt compelled to focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and how DEI was being integrated into every part of the WGC business strategy - people, operations, and giving. We believe Diversity is the presence of differences within a given setting. Equity is the process of ensuring that processes and programs are impartial, fair and provide equal possible outcomes for every individual. And, Inclusion is the practice of ensuring that people feel a sense of belonging.

We made it a necessity to move beyond the feel-good rhetoric and positive optics of diversity and inclusion to having DEI initiatives drive leadership engagement and be embedded into every business decision.

• We are proud to be among a group of giving circles across the country through Philanos that are investing in DEI.
• We’ve received national and local funding from the Gates Foundation-backed Philanthropy Together effort, and from the Horizon Foundation locally.
• And, we are collaborating with giving circles regionally through Maryland Philanthropy Network and other philanthropic networks.

Here's an overview of our efforts to date and our plans moving forward:

• To emphasize the value of DEI, WGC established a DEI Committee in 2019 led by Judy Smith and Hina Naseem. The goal of the committee was to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion among the Advisory Board, professional staff, and members of the Women’s Giving Circle, and coordinate and manage all DEI-related activities. Additionally, the DEI Committee was responsible for ensuring that DEI is integrated in all aspects of WGC business. The Committee’s main focus was to promote the removal of all institutional barriers related to DEI that impede the organization from reaching its goals. In doing so, the Committee increased awareness, exposure, action and social accountability. Self-awareness and self-realization were indirect results of the DEI program for WGC. 

• In 2021, after successfully implementing the first 2.5 years of our 7-year DEI plan, the committee has evolved such that it is no longer a working committee and our DEI initiatives are now embedded into every WGC committee, overseen by WGC's Governance Committee, and each committee has DEI specialists as a part of the team. These specialists are there to ensure the DEI recommendations are implemented and all conscience and unconscious biases are minimized if not removed from committee activities, decisions and outreach.  ​

• Additionally, DEI oversight is retained at the WGC Advisory Board level. DEI is an Advisory Board agenda item and oversight scoreboards are retained to assess progress, identify trends, and make strategic adjustments. Monitoring our progress is of high priority to the entire WGC Board.​

• Overall, our progress has been swift and steady. We have continued to demonstrate through action our diverse recruitment initiatives, make our members, partners and supporters feel valued, and impact the lives of women and girls in Howard County through our philanthropic activities.​

• We continue to believe that if our focus remains on the inclusion and equity efforts, the diversity portion will continue to naturally evolve. As we reach major milestones in our DEI workplan we will inform our members with periodic updates on our DEI initiatives.
• We are currently applying our learning into our 2023-2026 Strategic Plan.