Volunteer Spotlight: Pip Meagher

Pip Meagher

What brought you to ninety-nine girlfriends?

I was invited to join by my amazing mother-in-law, Gun Denhart. Gun has connected me with many wonderful, community based organizations over the last few decades so I always pay attention when she recommends anything new. Being involved in a volunteer capacity within the community is not new to me so I was immediately curious to learn more as I didn’t know much at all about the model of collective giving that ninety-nine girlfriends was focused on. I met with co-founder Eileen Brady shortly thereafter and before you knew it I was co-leading a grant review team with Maura Koehler-Hanlon. That was in 2016 and I have never looked back.

Urban Gleaners

One of our 2017 Impact Partners, Urban Gleaners, is seeking a new Executive Director! In their own words, “​​Urban Gleaners has a 16-year history of feeding children and families who are food-insecure in Multnomah and Washington Counties. Our mission is to collect delicious, fresh food before it can go to waste and get it to food-insecure children and families. Pure and simple. We see healthy food as a fundamental right in a just society.” They prefer to receive applications by 5p on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, and will start
scheduling interviews soon after that (position will remain open until filled). Learn More

Membership for 2023 Opens December 1!

Girlfriends will be able to renew or join for 2023 beginning December 1, 2022!

Start thinking about who you know that might want to learn more about ninety-nine girlfriends and invite them to the Awards Celebration happening on Tuesday, December 13. This event is a great way - on a fun and celebratory evening - to learn about our incredible Impact Partners and to meet some of the amazing Girlfriends who fuel this community.

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The Girlfriends will Test a Hybrid Model at the Awards Celebration

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In the interest of inclusion and taking what we’ve learned in the pandemic and carrying that forward, while honoring the wonderful live event experiences we enjoy sharing, we will be testing the hybrid event model at our Awards Celebration on Tuesday, December 13. The event will be in-person and we encourage you to register and join us for a wonderful evening of celebration of our new Impact Partners and the work we’ve done over the past year, while we welcome new friends and colleagues who want to learn more about ninety-nine girlfriends by attending this event. If it doesn’t work for you to attend in person, please register for the virtual event and you can log onto zoom and watch the event from home. The virtual option will be free and the in-person option will offer a sliding scale that will help us recoup a small portion of the cost of the event. Be sure to register for the option that works best for you HERE.

Become a Liaison for our 2022 Impact Partners!

Would you like to learn more about our Impact Partners throughout the year and play a vital role in helping ninety-nine girlfriends in supporting them beyond the award? We are currently recruiting members to serve as liaisons for the incoming cohort of impact partners. Liaisons play a critical role as ambassadors, advocates, and allies to the organizations we support. This is a great role for someone who loves being in conversation with new people, building connections, and gathering and sharing information. For more information, contact Van, Impact Team Lead.

Help Keep Us Organized!

Do you know your way around a 10-key? Are you tech-savvy? The Operations & Finance Committee is looking for a couple of Girlfriends to help with data entry and information management!

Data entry would be mainly within QuickBooks. If this is a new program for you, no worries! If you have a strong attention to detail, Operations & Finance Co-Chair, Lan, can teach you the needed basics. Our all-volunteer run organization utilizes a variety of programs to keep ninety-nine girlfriends running. We're looking for a member that can organize and update the access info to these programs and help with onboarding new volunteers who will use them. Programs include: Google Drive, Zoom, Stripe, and more.If either of these volunteer roles spark your interest, send Lan an email to learn more.

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Register for Meet the Finalists!

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Did you know that one of the best ways to support our finalists is to show up at the virtual Meet the Finalists event? It’s true. They feel the love - even through the screen and the chat - just ask last year’s finalists. Also, this event and our awesome Voter’s Guide will greatly inform you when it comes time to cast your ballot for this year’s Impact Award Winners!

Volunteer Spotlight: Josie Greer

Josie Greer

What brought you to ninety-nine girlfriends?

Like ninety-nine girlfriends, I believe in the power of collective giving and have witnessed its immense impact on the community. As someone who works for a local nonprofit, it’s inspiring to see how caring the community can be. I heard ninety-nine girlfriends is a compassionate organization with members who want to make a difference, which is why I wanted to become involved. Also, as a young professional focusing on nonprofit communications and development, I’m interested in learning more about philanthropy and connecting with others who care about the community!

Grantee Partner Update: Bradley Angle

Bradley Angle created a set of videos that delve into their programs for Domestic Violence Awareness Month – check out their YouTube channel! They also just started accepting cryptocurrency donation–for more information, visit their website.

To learn more about our Impact Partners’ accomplishments, challenges, and other insights, remember to check out their recently-completed reports to ninety-nine girlfriends!

Grantee Partner Update: BRAVO

BRAVO is expanding to its fifth site and is recruiting volunteers 2 or 3 days a week after school for tasks like setting up/breaking down classrooms, classroom management, and light admin duties. Volunteers would need to have a background check with Portland Public Schools (BRAVO will facilitate this), have the patience to work with kids, be flexible and be committed for at least a school term however they don't need any musical experience. If this feels like you, sign up here.

Inclusive and Inspiring, Awards Celebration Welcomes Guests

The Awards Celebration is coming up in mid-December and it’s a very exciting time for our community! This is a great opportunity for you to introduce friends/family/colleagues to our collective giving circle and invite them to join us for the evening and on this collective-giving adventure.The event is fun and festive as we welcome our Impact Partners to the ninety-nine girlfriends family, celebrate our year, and open up membership for 2023.

Who can you include in the fun? You can invite more than one guest! Start thinking about who you might invite while a task force cooks up their magic to make this a fun and inviting evening for all.

Share the Excitement: Host a Meet the Finalists Watch Party!

Would you (and one or two other Girlfriends) like to host a Meet the Finalists watch party at your home or office? You get to decide the details (how many people, food, drinks, whatever you like). We are exploring ways for Girlfriends to connect in person while attending this virtual event and we would love to have your help! Please let us know if we can count on you to party.

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Get to Know This Year’s Finalists

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The Grants Steering Committee is looking for one volunteer support person for each of our 10 finalists (who have yet to be determined). You would work directly with the nonprofit to assist with the recording of their video for Meet the Finalists and would deliver the video to our videographer. You might help with encouragement, advice, equipment, location, and/or anything else the organization needs to get ready for Meet the Finalists. This is a unique opportunity to learn and ensure a positive experience for our future Impact Partners! Reach out to us if this sounds like your thing.

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Become a Liaison for our 2022 Impact Partners!

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Would you like to learn more about our Impact Partners throughout the year and play a vital role in helping ninety-nine girlfriends in supporting them beyond the award? We are currently recruiting members to serve as liaisons for the incoming cohort of impact partners. Liaisons play a critical role as ambassadors, advocates, and allies to the organizations we support. This is a great role for someone who loves being in conversation with new people, building connections, and gathering and sharing information. For more information, contact Van, Impact Team Lead.

Exciting Times for the Fellows

Our Fellows program engages a small, diverse group of members ages 20-35 in professional development, mentoring, and leadership opportunities within ninety-nine girlfriends. Currently, there are thirteen members who are in their first, second, or third year as Fellows. In recent months, lots of different kinds of life events have happened for people in this group! Cristal Finley got a new job as Senior Business Finance Officer at Prosper Portland. Katrina Machorro became the new Chief Impact Officer at Brown Hope. Ana Rau had a new baby (as did Fellows grad Emma Hoyle). April Jay Unterberger got married. Several Fellows moved houses. And, in the midst of all of this, many raised their hands for leadership roles on Grant Review Teams, the Financial Review Team, and the Communications Committee! Look for them in volunteer spotlights in future Member Updates.

Join the Task Force to Plan our Awards Celebration!

The Awards Celebration, one of our signature events, is scheduled for December 12 or 13 and we’d love help planning the details. We have a small but mighty team and we’d love to have more help. How can you help? Bring your skills, ideas, experience at this event, beginner’s mindset, or whatever you have to offer. It’ll be fun to put together our first in-person awards celebration in several years! This event will be in-person, celebratory, and the kick-off for our 2023 membership recruitment. It will be fun and engaging and we need help to make it that way!

Share the Excitement by hosting a Meet the Finalists Watch Party!

Would you (and one or two other Girlfriends) like to host a Meet the Finalists watch party at your home or office? You get to decide the details (how many people, food, drinks, whatever you like). We are exploring ways for Girlfriends to connect in person while attending this virtual event and we would love to have your help! Please let us know if we can count on you to party.

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Community Counts - Build It With Your Girlfriends!

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Many, many Girlfriends, and maybe you are one of them, have been working hard all year to plan and pull off events, to learn about grantmaking and review applications while looking for organizations that align with our values and funding priority, and to connect Girlfriends with opportunities to be informed, volunteer and engage.

Volunteer Spotlight: Tina Romine

Tina Romine

What brought you to ninety-nine girlfriends?

My interest in learning more about the non-profit community in Portland and the opportunity to make an impact locally with my time, talent and treasure is what brought me to 99GF. I followed 99GF for at least a year online prior to joining and was always impressed by member education offerings and the concept of collective giving with a group of like-minded women interested in making a positive difference. It also helped that a few volunteer friends of mine were members and spoke very positively about the organization and their experiences as members.