Volunteer Spotlight: Nicole Bennett

What brought you to ninety-nine girlfriends?

They knew I had been searching for an organization where I might find connection to like-minded people, make a difference in the community, and could offer my time and energy toward systems change that would move the dial toward racial equity in our community. I jumped in right away on a Grant Review Team and the training and engagement as a racial equity facilitator last year. I have been excited to discover this incredible group of women who are so intentional in their commitment to the work of philanthropy and to the open and thoughtful examination of the potential systems within the organization that may inadvertently be keeping the giving process from being fully equitable. I have thoroughly enjoyed the engagement and honest conversations with other members in structured groups, break-out-groups as part of racial equity presentations, and during the work of the Racial Equity Committee.

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What Is Trust-Based Philanthropy (TBP)?

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In preparation for the coming months of our grantmaking process, we encourage you to learn more about how ninety-nine girlfriends’ grantmaking is grounded in trust.

The giving circle model is built on large amounts of trust: trust between members, trust between grantees, trust in collective giving.

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Activities Are Ramping Up!

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Watch your email inbox because we’re getting to a really exciting and educational part of our year. In October, your Member Education Committee will offer several small-group discussion opportunities to learn about gender, systemic racism, and how to have an inclusive conversation.

Next we we move on to Meet the Finalists (a signature event where you learn about this year’s finalists for Impact Awards), voting for Impact Awards, and our signature Awards Celebration. It’ll be a few months of wonderfully engaging activities and opportunities to learn and connect before our winter break (January-February).

Volunteer Spotlight: Holly Cook & Sara Daley

Holly Cook

What brought you to ninety-nine girlfriends?

A neighbor told me about ninety-nine girlfriends one evening as we were walking home from a get-together. She said something like "I wonder if you would be interested in this group I'm in. It's a group of women. We each put in $1,100 and....". I zoned out thinking that she was going to say something about getting a list of women's names, you send each woman on the list a pair of underwear and then, when your name gets to the top of the list, you get eleventy thousand pairs of new underwear! But then I heard her say, "...and then we give all the money away." What?! Please say that again. I had never heard of a collective giving circle. The idea of pooling resources, learning about the needs of our community and participatory philanthropy all alongside women who were interested in similar goals...well now that is exciting! You can keep your underwear. I was hooked.

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Call for Fellows Mentors

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A few Fellows are still looking for Mentors -- girlfriends who can help them get connected in and beyond our organization. We are particularly looking for Mentor candidates who have expertise in career coaching, nonprofit communications, event planning, or fundraising. A love of local coffee shops and/or outdoor activities would be a plus. Interested? Please contact Michelle Hynes, program co-lead. Learn more about the Fellows Program here.

Volunteer Spotlight: Heidi Sobol

What brought you to ninety-nine girlfriends?

In 2016, I met Halle Sadle, one of the original girlfriends, as her husband was an actor in a play that my husband was directing. She saw that I was new to Portland and working part-time from home, so I hadn’t met many people, and invited me to the first award dinner which was the following week. It was quickly clear to me that this was a way for me to meet people, learn more about my new home city, and learn about philanthropy and the non-profit world as well.

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Register for Discovery Forum 2022 by Sunday, June 5th

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Join us for this year’s Discovery Forum, the kickoff of our Member Education programming for 2022!

Each year, ninety-nine girlfriends offers interactive educational programs informed by our annual learning question. This year's question is “How can systems change and advocacy advance racial equity?"

Discovery Forum 2022 features a panel of speakers from local nonprofits sharing their experiences with systems change and advocacy, and the impact those have had on the important issues they are working to address. We will also have an interactive table discussion among members to learn more about systems change and each other.

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Pronoun Project Begins

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At our recent event, we began a project we are calling the Pronoun Project. Through this we are asking our members to add their pronouns to their name tags so other Girlfriends know by which pronouns they would like to be referred. This is part of our ongoing effort to be inclusive and to help every single Girlfriend feel a sense of belonging in our community. Read more about the importance of pronouns here and look for the labels at your next in-person event so you can update your name tag too. Your Member Education Committee will be presenting a program on understanding gender that we hope will be of interest to you. Watch for more about that in the fall.

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Grants Steering Committee Update

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Have you been in the eye of a hurricane? It is calm and quiet in an eerie way. That is where most of the Grants Steering Committee is now, in the eye of the hurricane. The Impact Award application was released on May 6. While we are waiting for the flurry of applications (due June 6) and the hard work of the Grant Review Teams (GRTs) to begin in earnest, we are enjoying the relative quiet. This lull involves the Outreach Team answering the questions of potential applicants and the Intake Team learning how to use our intake software. But, while some of us are enjoying the pause, one of our teams, the Grant Review Team Coordination Team (GRTCT), is fully in the storm. These Girlfriends are preparing trainings for our GRTs on consensus building and implicit bias within the framework of ninety-nine girlfriends grants. They are also planning a training for the entire Grants Steering Committee on Trust Based Philanthropy, which is essential to the work we do. We are filled with gratitude for the GRTCT for preparing us all for the next big push! Onward!

Volunteer Spotlight: Karen A. Rich

What brought you to ninety-nine girlfriends?
Molly Cliff Hilts. Molly was the first friend I made in 1994, when I moved from Manhattan to Portland. We met in a water aerobics class, were both pregnant, and we became fast friends. We lived in different parts of the city, started a very eclectic book club, each had two sons, and lived our lives meeting here and there over the years. Then, we reconnected in 2016, when she invited me to the home of Jinx Faulkner to learn about a new all women’s nonprofit called ninety-nine girlfriends. That group of smart, funny, kind, and accomplished women was inspirational. I joined to learn more.

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Share Your Matching Funds

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Do you have access to matching funds? We’d love to help you access those to amplify our work. We’ve been able to do great things in the past as a result of the generosity of our members and their matching funds. We’ve increased our grant pool, used them for the Fellows, tried out a scholarship program, and more. We guarantee if you share your matching funds with ninety-nine girlfriends they will be used with wisdom and discretion. Let us know if you’d like to learn more or if we can help you access matching funds.

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Contributing to Our Community

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Our 2022 grant-making cycle is now open and we are excited to announce that we are investing $450,000 in our community this year. We will grant one Impact Award of $70,000 and one Finalist Award of $15,000 in each of our five focus areas. Plus, all semi-finalists that don't advance to the next round, will receive a recognition gift of $2,500.