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.
Exciting News from the Fellows
Several of our Fellows are completing their time in this program that engages a group of our younger members as Girlfriends. Thank you to Rebecca Goldcrump and Van Pham for your contributions over the last three years; to Kathleen Porcello and Ana Rau for two years with us; and to April Jay Unterberger, completing her first year and welcoming her first baby.
Strategic Planners are Hard at Work
Streamlining and simplifying for an even more enjoyable, sustainable, and impactful volunteer experience are just two of the things we’re working on in our strategic planning. Stick with us and let us know what you love about ninety-nine girlfriends to keep us fueled in this work.
We have a great year ahead of us!
Watch Your Inboxes to Volunteer for Grantmaking!
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.
Your Friendly Outreach Skills Are Needed
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.
Volunteer Spotlight: Ana Rau
Impact Partner Highlight: Voz Workers' Rights Education Project
Voz Workers' Rights Education Project opened their new long-term office space and worker center, located at 3575 NE Broadway Street in Portland, in February! The facility is a significant transition to a more safe and accessible location for the employers, workers, and staff members they support.
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!
WE’RE FAMOUS! :-)
We don’t just collectively give and learn. We also collectively recruit by each sharing about ninety-nine girlfriends in our own way. Thanks to Elisa Hornecker whose contribution led to a magazine cover and a great article about ninety-nine girlfriends! How are YOU recruiting? Let us know so we can share
Share & Connect
At the December’s Awards Celebration, we asked you to help make 2023 another great year of learning and grantmaking by joining/renewing and sharing & connecting and now we’re offering some tips on how to do just that.
SHARE & CONNECT
Share some of our awesome recruiting resources. You'll find a short video, with voiceover by the wonderful Girlfriend Janine Wolf, and a new "article kit" made possible by Elisa Hornecker (see the Stroll article below) and more! Share these materials and invite your friends and colleagues to connect with us and join!
If each of us helps to bring in a new member we can continue to invest in our community and help make a difference!
Join / Renew
At the December’s Awards Celebration, we asked you to help make 2023 another great year of learning and grantmaking by joining/renewing and sharing & connecting and now we’re offering some tips on how to do just that.
JOIN/RENEW
We invite you to join/renew today. This is the easiest and fastest way to contribute. Why wait until the last minute when you can do this today! (Either way, your membership expires on 4/30/2024).
Volunteer Spotlight: Linda Williams
What brought you to ninety-nine girlfriends?
Linda Williams
What brought you to ninety-nine girlfriends?
I joined shortly after I retired from Intel in 2016. I was looking for a way to “do good” in the community, learn about the nonprofit world and grow my network outside of Intel. I found all of that with ninety-nine girlfriends. I’ve attended events where I’ve met a wide range of women, but all with the common goal of wanting to positively impact our community. I’ve listened to the proposals of our grantees and each time I am amazed at the work being done to improve the environment, social justice issues and our community.
Impact Partner Highlight: Rose Haven
International Women’s Day (March 8) is a special day for impact partner Rose Haven. It’s the one-year anniversary of the grand opening for their new space, and the date they welcomed guests back indoors after two long pandemic years. Celebrate with Rose Haven on the evening of March 8 – either at their beautiful NW Portland space or the 10 Barrel Brewing after-party featuring a special-release pale ale. Bonus: It’s an opportunity to congratulate ninety-nine girlfriends Fellow Liz Starke, Rose Haven’s Development Director. Free to attend. RSVP here!
Fellows Program Changes for 23-24
The ninety-nine girlfriends’ Fellows Program currently includes 13 younger members in their 20s and 30s. Three of them will “graduate” this spring – Rebecca Goldcrump, Van Pham, and Kathleen Porcello. A huge thank-you to the members who’ve served as these Fellows’ mentors – including Deborah Edward, Michelle Hynes, Diane McCartney, Gina Riley, and Agnes Zach.