Volunteer Spotlight: April Hasson

What brought you to ninety-nine girlfriends?

I found out about ninety-nine girlfriends while perusing another member's website bio, and ended up going down a rabbithole reading more about the organization. That was back in 2016, and I joined as soon as membership opened in 2017. After years of grant writing in my professional life, it has been exciting being on the grant making side. I joined a Grant Review Team and loved getting to learn about organizations in our area that I'd never heard of before, and about all the great work they do. Plus, being on a Grant Review Team was a fun way to meet fellow members and get to the heart of what ninety-nine girlfriends does, which is getting impactful funds out into the community.

What keeps you engaged/interested/connected?

I've appreciated every ninety-nine girlfriends event I've ever been to. I always find them to be a thoughtful mix of connecting, learning, sharing and becoming more inspired. The member education events are definitely worth checking out, and it's exciting that we've gotten back to some in-person events as well. There are also volunteer opportunities, big and small. While I wasn't able to commit to being on a Grant Review Team last year, I have been able to help with some event planning tasks and other fun things that worked for my schedule.

What else would you like to share?

I've heard from some people that they can't commit time, and that's OK! Being able to leverage our collective giving and voting are key. Inviting friends to join our membership and spreading the word are also really helpful. We are an amazing group of women (as an encompassing term), that is hundreds strong. Use our membership directory to connect with other members. Have coffee or go on a walk with someone new. There's always wisdom to impart and learn, and everyone I've ever connected with has been very friendly!

Members! We’d love to spotlight you. Please contact Andra to learn more.

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LEARNING LINK: UNDERSTANDING RACIAL DISPARITIES AND MORE

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This Girlfriend-produced report provides a strong framework for understanding inequities in our region. It’s the Reducing Racial Disparities in our Community report, and it was produced by one of the teams of Girlfriends that researched issues we were examining in 2020. 

The other areas of study were Understanding Youth Mental Health, Improving Stewardship of Our Natural World, and Safe Homes for All. You can find those equally informative reports on our website at this link.

Impact Partner Highlights

Wisdom of the Elders

Wisdom of the Elders, a 2022 Impact Partner, is searching for an artist to design their new logo. They seek someone who will lend their expertise in bringing Wisdom a new logo and visual identity that reflects the organization’s new mission-driven focus. Could that be you or someone you know? Portfolios can be submitted to multimedia@wisdomoftheelders.org, along with a design proposal and suggested budget for consideration. 

Voz Workers' Rights Education Project

2022 Impact Partner Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project is hosting its Annual Dinner on June 23rd, and there are multiple ways for members of ninety-nine girlfriends to get involved. Tickets are available for purchase here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vozs-annual-fundraising-dinner-tickets-593154911307. Voz is also seeking sponsors at various levels for the event. More information is available through this link:  bit.ly/VozSponsors. Lastly, Voz is seeking volunteers – please contact Tanya Macedo via email at tanya@portlandvoz.org for opportunities to help.

11 Trends in Philanthropy

Since 1992, the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy has been a leader in helping to understand, strengthen, and advance effective philanthropy for strong, equitable, and inclusive communities. They just recently issued their 2023 report titled 11 Trends in Philanthropy. You can read it, watch a webinar about it, or catch some highlights by clicking this link.

Your $100 is Hard at Work

Have you ever wondered what happens to the $100 you contribute to ninety-nine girlfriends above and beyond the $1,000 grant pool contribution? Here’s your answer: Our annual administrative, event, and education expenses are supported by your $100 membership contribution. Per the 2023 budget, approximately half of your dues are expected to offset the costs of events planned for this year and to cover technology expenses. Merchant charges, licenses, and insurance expenses compile roughly 25%, and accounting/contract services and professional development expenses comprise the remaining key expenses.

Do you have a question about how things work in ninety-nine girlfriends? If so, submit it here and we’ll do our best to answer it in a future issue.

Opportunities Beckon on Communications Committee

Do you have Squarespace skills and some time to commit to helping us manage our website?

Do you have social media skills and enjoy creating content?

Do you have writing skills and enjoy communicating with a membership of awesome women?

Do you have other skills that you think would benefit our Communications Committee?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, email us today so we can share more about this important and fun committee of volunteers.

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Register for a Grant Review Team and Help Select our Finalists!

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Have you ever wanted to serve on a Grant Review Team (GRT) but just didn’t have the time? This may be your year! Grant making at ninety-nine girlfriends is going to look A LOT different this year — streamlined and simplified in order to make room for our strategic planning activities. The whole GRT commitment will take about three weeks and there will be just ONE team meeting on June 10, after which your work would be done!

Discovery Forum Highlights Successful Collaborations

At this year’s Discovery Forum, we learned about organizations that came together to address some of the toughest issues facing our region: homelessness, access to mental health resources, and gun control. This idea of building alliances across organizations ties directly to our annual learning question: How do we collaborate as communities to address issues in our region?

Impact Partner Highlight: WomenFirst Transition and Referral Center

Liaison Elizabeth Fraser shared the following from her meeting with Impact Partner, WomenFirst Transition and Referral Center: “It struck me again, despite my extensive reading on the topic, the seemingly endless list of practical needs of women facing discharge from prison. In addition to providing individual financial assistance such as paying utility bills, storage units, driver’s license fees, transportation costs for family reunification, various skill development classes are offered. “

2023: HOW DO WE COLLABORATE AS COMMUNITIES TO ADDRESS ISSUES IN OUR REGION?

This year, we will build on our previous learning questions to explore the value of collaboration to address issues in our region. We will begin the year with Sheryl WuDunn in our first quarter. Then, in our second quarter, our Discovery Forum will feature representatives from organizations that have created positive impact on our region through collaboration. We will move on to learning that comes as a result of our grant making process and some small-group collective learning in our third quarter.

Impact Partner Highlights

The BRAVO Youth Orchestras Choir Program invites anyone and everyone who desires to experience community through music to their concert on Friday, April 21 at Jefferson High School (5210 N Kerby Ave, Portland, 97217)! The event’s theme is "connected"– focusing on the idea that, through music, we are all somehow connected to one another, whether we know each other or not. This event is free for attendees of all ages, with doors opening at 6:30pm, and the concert starting at 7:00pm. 

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Watch Your Inboxes to Volunteer for Grantmaking!

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Be on the look-out for an email in May about how to join a grant review team and mark your calendars for Saturday, June 10, if you want to participate.

Our grantmaking looks a little different this year because we are engaged in strategic planning and this takes some of the bandwidth from the volunteers running our committees (including Grants Steering Committee). So, we are incorporating a tenet of Trust-Based Philanthropy by investing in current and past community partners. We have invited all of our past Impact Award winners and funded finalists to apply and you all will get to vote on who receives additional funding.

Opt in for 2023!

Has your involvement in ninety-nine girlfriends empowered, connected, and inspired you? Let us know by making your contribution today! And reach out to Girlfriends you’ve recruited and encourage them to do the same. Renew here by making your $1,100 contribution or, if this is a barrier to rejoining, try The Girlfriends Fund at $550. If this is still not possible for you, send us a note by April 23 and we will let you know by May 1 if we’re able to provide additional support.

Share our Community through this Member Education Event

This is our final event before our membership deadline, so please invite guests who you are recruiting.

While we are grateful that gathering in person is back on the table, we still deeply appreciate the barriers that are eliminated when we bring important people and conversations together virtually. This is why we are so pleased to share ninety-nine girlfriends' signature Discovery Forum coming to you live over Zoom on Thursday, April 27, from noon-1:30 pm.

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Your Friendly Outreach Skills Are Needed

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Come join the Membership Committee for the last two weeks of April. We will be working the phones to encourage members to renew, and potential members to join, and experience the impact of pooling resources through membership in ninety-nine girlfriends. A brief orientation will be provided and no experience is necessary. Please let us know if we can count on you to help with this fun and rewarding volunteer opportunity. Let’s be sure nobody misses out.

Impact Partner Highlight: Black Food Sovereignty Coalition

The Black Food Sovereignty Coalition is about to host Back to the Root in Tacoma, Washington from March 17-20– a PNW regional conference led by and for African and Black-identified farmers, food producers, and others working in food justice and ecologies. Participants at this annual event gather to network, dig into shared history, discuss experiences, learn about opportunities, and build strategies. This is a Black-centered event, and BRSC welcome all POC community members to join!