ANNUAL REPORT 2017 - 2018

Women’s Impact Fund Vision A community of philanthropic women impacting the world.

Women’s Impact Fund Mission To strengthen communities by maximizing women's leadership in philanthropy through collective giving, education, and member engagement.

Dear Women’s Impact Fund Members and Friends, As our 2017-2018 programming year comes to an end, I want to thank our members, volunteers, staff, and community partners for a highly successful year. I am particularly pleased to provide a summary of our accomplishments in this, our first ever Annual Report!

2017 - 2018 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Board Chair - Deborah Majewski

Incoming Board Chair - Arrington Mixon

Past Board Chair/Nominating Chair - Anne Essaye

Secretary - Lisa Miller

Treasurer/Finance Chair - Bronwynne Henry

Incoming Treasurer/Finance Chair - Nikki Emanuel-Jarrell

Grants Chair - Gina Lawrence

Incoming Grants Chair - Anna McClelland

Member Engagement Chair - Marcie Shealy

Incoming Member Engagement Chair - Kristina Burke

Audit Chair - Katie Susong

Communications & Marketing Chair - Jean Miller

Community Impact Chair - Candice Langston

Development Chair - Ellen Rankin

Events & Logistics Chair - Courtenay Clark

Strategic Planning Chair - Christy Bostic

At Large - Natalie Allen

At Large - Katie Hallaway

At Large - Pearlynn Houck

At Large - Kelly Katterhagen

At Large - Angela Oliver

At Large - LuAnn Ritsema

2017 - 2018 BOARD OF ADVISORS Mattye Silverman - Chair

Mary Lou Babb - Founder

Claire Tate - Founder

Judy Allison

Dianne Bailey

Robin Branstrom

Peggy Culbertson

Jill Flynn

STAFF Jessica Klasinski, Operations Manager

Sophia Rossell, Operations Assistant

Toni Freeman

Mary Gallivan

Sarah Belk Gambrell

Joan Lorden

Elaine Lyerly

Carolyn Meade

Sonja Nichols

Patty Norman

Cyndee Patterson

Susan Patterson

Sally Robinson

Sally Saussy

Ruth Shaw

Jeanette Sims

Here’s just a sample of what our community of philanthropic women achieved this year: •  Fully funded our five new grantees at $455,000 •  Introduced our beautiful new brand •  Achieved 500 members for the first time in our history •  200 of our members (40% of membership) served in a

volunteer capacity •  Awarded our inaugural Spark grant of $50,000 to Tutor

Charlotte and voted to fund Spark on an ongoing basis through the annual grant pool

•  Introduced a 3-part educational series focused on developing future nonprofit leaders

•  Revised our Vision, Mission, and Values •  Announced our new Board of Advisor luncheon series to be

initiated this fall •  Hosted 23 member engagement events during the year

including conversations on Women & Race, Women Legacy Giving, and Women Entrepreneurs

It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as the Board Chair of the Women’s Impact Fund. Thank you for the opportunity to have led this amazing organization. Deborah Majewski 2017 – 2018 Board Chair

MESSAGE FROM BOARD CHAIR

YEAR IN REVIEW: 2017 - 2018

SPARK INITIATIVE This year the Women’s Impact Fund broadened its grant portfolio by piloting the Spark initiative — a flexible and collaborative grant that provides opportunities to respond quickly to developing community needs and to work with fellow funders. Our inaugural Spark grant helped launch Tutor Charlotte, a collaborative effort led by Read Charlotte and United Way to provide trained, one-on-one active reading tutors to 20,000 CMS students in grades K-1. Twenty Women’s Impact Fund volunteers will be tutoring in a Tutor Charlotte classroom this fall. Our membership recently voted to include Spark on an ongoing basis through the annual grants pool. The Spark team is hard at work identifying our next Spark-worthy project.

MEMBER ENGAGEMENT

Keeping our members connected and engaged is a priority.  Women’s Impact Fund hosts numerous education and social events each year to bring members together for networking and enrichment opportunities.  Some highlights over the past year include: •  Women and Wisdom Fall Signature Event: Women, Race and the Space

Between Us •  Social Hour for Social Issues Spring Signature Event: Fearless Female

Entrepreneurs •  Collaboration with Foundation for the Carolinas: Women’s Legacy Giving •  Partnership with the Lee Institute: Board Leadership Program •  New Member Mondays: Smaller social gatherings where new members

mingle with women with varying levels of expertise in collective giving •  In-home Socials: Casual neighborhood get-togethers •  Annual Meeting: Our largest event of the year, focused on announcing and

celebrating our newest grant recipients

BOARD LEADERSHIP PROGRAM 3 events, 67 members, 10 nonprofit organizations In February 2018, Women’s Impact Fund launched an educational series aimed at developing nonprofit leadership talent for the community. In partnership with the Lee Institute, three events were offered: •  Intro to Board Leadership — Members learned about basics of board

leadership, explored their own passions, skills and bandwidth, and heard from superstars Kelly Brooks, Dianne Bailey, and Toni Freeman about their own experiences in nonprofit leadership roles.

•  Training Program — Members took a deeper dive into the role of a nonprofit board member.

•  Speed Networking — Members and area nonprofits engaged in a structured “get to know you” event.

2018 GRANT MAKING PROCESS

In fiscal year 2018, Women’s Impact Fund members awarded $505,000 to six area nonprofits. These grants included 5 programmatic awards ranging from $70,000 to $100,000, and one Spark Initiative grant of $50,000. The program grants were given to Goodyear Arts, MeckEd, Conservation Trust of North Carolina, Hope Haven, Inc., and The Center for Community Transitions. Tutor Charlotte was the recipient of the Spark Initiative grant. Since its founding in 2003, Women’s Impact Fund has given nearly $5.5 million to exceptional nonprofits in Mecklenburg County.

2018 GRANTEES

Education | MeckEd The MeckEd Career Pathways program addresses the increasing college and career readiness gaps facing the most vulnerable student populations in Mecklenburg County. Schools and school districts are not designed to provide the number of experiences, social capital and navigational support that is necessary to remove the many barriers to success that students in poverty face. The grant will expand this in-school service program to serve additional qualifying students.

Arts & Culture | Goodyear Arts Goodyear Arts provides local artists with studio space, stipends, and showcases that are free and open to the public. In Charlotte, there is a viable growing arts audience but lack of access to the arts for the poor, marginalized, and students. In addition, many local artists cannot afford studio space or the time to create. Goodyear Arts aims to bridge the gaps between arts institutions and local artists, and widen the access of art to more diverse audiences.

Environment | Conservation Trust for North Carolina The North Carolina Youth Conservation Corps (NCYCC) program, administered by Conservation Trust for North Carolina, uses the natural world as a platform to teach young people environmental stewardship, job and life skills, leadership, community service, and personal responsibility. Funds awarded are to expand the NCYCC program into Mecklenburg County by supporting training and crew stipends for underserved youth identified to participate in the program.

Health | Hope Haven, Inc. For 40 years, Hope Haven has provided services to one of the most vulnerable populations in Charlotte: chemically addicted, homeless men and women and their families. Recognizing that the road to health for these individuals requires addressing more than just addiction, Hope Haven opened an on-site medical clinic to better respond to the additional health needs of their residents. This grant will allow the medical clinic to remain in place and allow additional resources needed to better manage patients and their individual needs.

Human Services | The Center for Community Transitions The Center for Community Transitions’ mission is to strengthen the Charlotte Mecklenburg community by helping people with criminal records and their families build healthier and more productive lives. The Families Doing Time program provides employment and transition services, supports alternatives to incarceration, and restores and strengthens family bonds. Funding will be used to expand programming to meet the ever-increasing demand for these types of services.

ALL grants were fully funded based on their requests

$505,000 Total Impact for 2018

(including Spark)

BY THE NUMBERS: 2018

Arts & Culture: Goodyear Arts $100,000

Education: MeckEd $100,000

Environment: Conservation Trust for North Carolina $85,000

Health: Hope Haven $100,000

Human Services: The Center for Community Transitions

$70,000

Letters of Inquiry

Grants Committee Members

Grantees Members

120 60 255 5

RECEIVED REVIEWED VOTED SELECTED

2018 GRANT OUTCOMES

We stand in awe of our grantees who are completing their grants this year and the enormous efforts and successes they have shown. Highlights include:

Children’s Home Society’s reproductive health program, Wise Guys, had a pre-test/post-test

outcomes increase across the board (in 4 categories) at the time of their interim evaluation, despite a brief interruption to their program. In

late 2017, CMS paused all external program providers for approximately three months, but

allowed Wise Guys to resume offering the program this past spring. Wise Guys expects to post actual results higher than those forecasted.

Our grant provided Matthews Free Medical Clinic the funds to hire one new nurse practitioner and one new registered nurse to service low-income

families. This expanded capacity resulted in 100% of new diabetic patients to receive A1C screenings

and 100% of female patients to receive gynecological screens and services.

Communities In Schools’ (CIS) Immigrant Services Site Coordinators identified, enrolled, and assessed the needs of 372 (goal of 350) immigrant

youth attending Albemarle Rd Elementary, Eastway Middle, Garinger High, and Harding High schools, as well as coordinated/delivered

services/resources in the areas of Critical Needs, Academic Assistance/Enrichment, Behavior

Interventions, Family Support, Life Skills, Mental Health, College/Career, Community Referrals, etc.

Additionally, 100% of immigrant families CIS targeted had their needs assessed and were connected to appropriate service providers.

Clients at Supportive Housing Communities (SHC) were exponentially more engaged in

employment and far less likely to relapse as a result of the support they received through increased capacity achieved with our grant.

100% of SHC’s clients remained in stable housing and 100% of the residents with mental

illness successfully avoided emergency services.

Augustine Literacy Project’s (ALP) grant was to support the hiring and training of new tutors (goal – 90) to improve reading, writing, and spelling skills of low-income children who struggle with literacy by providing free, long-term, one-on-one instruction. ALP exceeded its goal in regard to the number of CMS schools served (9), and 90% of the students in the program demonstrated improvement. Ongoing support to ALP tutors includes: tutor observations and coaching, monthly "lunch and learn" meetings, partner-school tutor coffees, workshops and volunteer recognition events.

In addition to these successes, we can report that our grantees expanded their partnerships with other service providers in our community, thereby leveraging knowledge, resources, and networks. Impact is compounded when organizations collaborate and share information, and we encourage

this partnership-building at every step.

OUR CUMULATIVE IMPACT

1,056 WOMEN engaged in philanthropy

15 YEARS supporting Mecklenburg County nonprofits

nearly $5,500,000

granted

70 GRANTS

awarded

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

- Margaret Mead

Ericka Gibson Amanda Glowacki

Terhea Golden Pamela Hackney Kristina Hitchens Ashley Holland

Betsy House Carol Hunley

Danielle Hutcheson Kathryn Kissam Kalie Koivisto Pamela Jefsen

Amalia Juchnik Alyssa Levine

Lisa Luth Sara Manning

Meg McElwain Nancy McNelis Enzinma Miller

Pia Millican Carmalita Monroe

Amy Moore

WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS

Amanda Nitto Alison O'Connor Carmen Odom Celene Oken Emma Park

Catherine Passaretti Lisa Pawela Mulrooney

Haley Poole Rochelle Rivas

Erika Ross Caroline Ryon

Whitney Simpson Tara Spil

Katie Strohschein Holly Welch Stubbing

Ann Tabor Tiffani Tedder

Elizabeth Thomas-Hollier Tracey Tozier

Terri Wade Rebecca Wren

NEW MEMBERS

Lynn Allen Emma Best Eileen Bird

Larissa Bixler Stein Whitney Brooks

Paula Brown Nelvia Bullock Anne Burkart

Ralphine Caldwell Jennifer Clifford Robin Cochran Jean Cochrane Jennifer Cory Coré Cotton

Michele Dudley Lisa Dunbar

Lorraine Elliot Kathryn Firmin-Sellers

Bernadette Johnson Flavors Kristina Fransel

Patty Funderburg Alex Garcia

*New members as of June 15

THANK YOU TO OUR

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

SUSTAINER

STAKEHOLDER

ANNUAL MEETING SPONSOR

SUPPORTER

SIGNATURE SPONSORS

WORD CLOUD

At our Annual Meeting held in May, we created a live word cloud based on input from those in attendance. A word cloud is a graphic representation of words. Each one is arranged artistically in close proximity and the size of each word’s type is proportional to the word’s frequency. Our word cloud was based on each attendee’s response to the request for one word that best described Women’s Impact Fund for them. For those that weren’t there, we hope the collection of words below resonates with you!

2525 Distribution Street | Charlotte, NC 28203 | 704.707.4292 | WWW.WOMENSIMPACTFUND.ORG