A few weeks ago, Phyllis blogged about being a guest editor on Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty site.

And now, her post is live.  "From Orphan to Millionaire: The story of an amazing woman," discusses a woman who has been a source of inspiration to Phyllis, both for her business saavy and her philanthropy. 

"Based on what I know about Madame Walker, I assume that her products would fit into the former category. Because her life tells the story of a woman who didn’t necessarily seek to enrich herself, but to enrich every woman around her.   This is how good business, in the truest sense of the word “good,” is conducted. Not with only a profit motive, but with a people motive," Phyllis writes.

Read the full column.

One of the many things I appreciate about The Women’s Foundation is how deliberately it works to bring people together–both donors and Grantee Partners–to build community. For example, as a member of the 1K Club, I’m occasionally invited to special events that showcase Grantee Partners and their outstanding work.

Last Thursday, I attended such an event: the graduation ceremony for the latest class of the Training Futures program. This group of 48 women and men had completed a 25-week office skills training program for underemployed and unemployed workers.

Their graduation was held at the Gannett headquarters in McLean.  As students were called up to receive their diplomas, they were each complimented in a special way and challenged to move forward to continued success.

The pride in each of the graduates was palpable. Each graduate had been trained and given skills to become productive workers. They also developed ties to a nurturing community and support group that will be there for them when they need it.

This class represented more than 20 different nationalities and a variety of skill levels. We were told that the program creates an office simulation for trainees. Students are taught a full-range of current computer office programs, keyboarding, business English and math, filing, how to use a calculator, and customer service. They also are expected to dress professionally, arrive on time, complete office assignments, and interact professionally with their fellow classmates as well as their teachers.

In the process, Training Futures creates a community of support for their trainees who learn they are not alone, that others do care about them and want to see them succeed. They also work in internships and can earn up to 17 college credits from Northern Virginia Community College during their six months of training.

Obviously, this was a triumphant experience on many levels. Training Futures was able to show what they do and how effective they are (more than half of the 48 graduates have already found jobs and the others are interviewing), and thank the funders who continue to support them.

I look forward to celebrating the successes of other Grantee Partners in the years to come as The Women’s Foundation continues to both build and invest in our community.

Laura Forman is a member of the 1K Club and serves on the Open Door Capacity Fund Committee.  She is president of Laura Forman Communications LLC.

Training Futures is a program of Northern Virginia Family Services, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.

I came to Washington Area Women’s Foundation thinking that, somewhat naively, it focused solely on service work.

What I discovered instead was an exemplary model of praxis indicating that service, advocacy, and philanthropy cannot be considered insularly. To borrow the words of Patricia Hill Collins, these entities embody a kind of "intersectionality."

While in Washington, I have taken part in a number of efforts that I first perceived to be a more purist form of advocacy work—protesting anti-choice groups, attending a Code Pink anti-war gathering, marching for equal marriage in the D.C. Pride Parade, and taking part in a political rally.

Through my participation in these efforts and interning at the Women’s Foundation, I have experientially learned that such political and activist endeavors are made possible in large part by the behind-the-scenes activist spenders.

That being said, here are three other things I’ve learned as an intern at Washington Area Women’s Foundation:

1. Philanthropy truly is for everyone. Even the poorest of graduate students (like me).
2. Giving is a form of civic activism.
3. Women need to break the glass ceiling of philanthropy by banding together, giving together, and strategizing together about how their money is spent.

On an equally serious note, I have also learned that purple, orange, red, and gold are pretty much the most amazing colors ever.

I’ve had a wonderful month interning at the Women’s Foundation and feel so fortunate to have met and gotten to know everyone in this community!

Nancy Thebaut is a summer intern with The Women’s Foundation. This fall she will be starting a master’s degree in art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art.  Today is, sadly, the last day of her internship with The Women’s Foundation.

On Saturday night, Fashion Fusion in Washington, D.C. will bring together the hottest local fashion designers and a fun way to give back to women and girls in our community. 

Proceeds from the event will benefit The Women’s Foundation. 

We, in turn, make grants to great organizations like Facilitating Leadership in Youth (FLY), featured in this ABC9 news piece on the fashion show.  FLY fosters the academic and personal success of young women in Anacostia.  One of their former students, Tawanda, is now a sophomore in college, and is featured in the video. 

You can also read more about the event at Classy Fabulous, a fashion blog co-written by a member of FLY’s staff that covers local fashion and fashion events, and particularly those that benefit women’s causes.  The tagline is Creating Sisterhood through Fashion.

Sounds like the perfect tagline for Fashion Fusion as well, which at its heart hopes to use fashion to bring women together and provide an opportunity for them to give back through their participation to local women and girls.

Which is why their actual tagline is Inspired Giving, Inspired Style.

Fashion, giving, fun.  Certainly an inspiring combination!

The Women’s Foundation is proud to announce that the board of directors has recently approved grants totaling $645,500 to be invested in the Washington metropolitan area.  This brings our 2008 grantmaking total to more than $1.1 million.

See where and how we’re investing.

Our grants are made with gifts from people throughout our community who—through The Power of Giving Together—make their charitable investments go further by pooling their dollars to make grants that have a significant impact on local nonprofits that are changing the lives of women and girls.

At The Women’s Foundation, we give more, by giving together.

Join in The Power of Giving Together!

In the June 20, 2008 edition of the Washington Business Journal, Phyllis Caldwell, president of The Women’s Foundation, addressed the need to give–and to give strategically–in tough economic times. 

"In tough times, it’s easy to convince ourselves that it’s okay to look the other way," Phyllis writes. "The natural instinct is to hold on tight to what we have when all else is falling apart. Who can think about philanthropy in a time like this? Charity seems a luxury. It’s easy to convince ourselves to stop giving or to give less than we would normally the same way we might curtail going out to restaurants.  In fact, the reality is just the opposite. During rocky economic times, it’s even more crucial that we as individuals and businesses support the nonprofits and service organizations helping vulnerable individuals hit hardest by the economic downturn."

Check out the Phyllis’ full op-ed for more on the importance of giving, and how to stretch your philanthropic dollars by giving strategically in tough economic times.

Lisa Kays is Senior Communications and Marketing Officer at Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

No, really.  That’s what Kimberly Palmer advises in her column at U.S. News.

"While it may sound like a crazy time to talk about giving money away, with the economic pinch many of us are feeling, it actually might be the perfect time," she writes.  "As Brent Kessel, author of It’s Not About the Money, recently told me in an interview, acts of generosity can help us feel content with what we have. ‘The irony is…you can’t be giving money away and feel like you don’t have enough,’ he says. ‘The act itself changes the message you tell yourself.’

Kimberly cites some smart ways to make your philanthropic dollar go further, including giving circles and the Women Moving Millions campaign.

Not surprisingly, Kimberly’s column starts with an observation from a friend of hers, Lisa Philp, head of philanthropic services at JPMorgan Private Bank, that there was a gender shift happening in her clientele.  Instead of working primarily with men like she used to, her clientele is now two-thirds women.

There are now more women in business.  More women heading family foundations.  More women getting involved in women’s philanthropy at all levels–from giving to their local women’s foundation, to volunteering for organizations serving women and girls, to pooling their resources through giving circles.

"The women’s funding movement has grown by leaps and bounds," Philp says in Kimberly’s column.

Due in no doubt to the satisfaction that is gained from giving with greater impact by giving together–models and structures created largely through the advent of women’s philanthropy.

A rich tradition that doesn’t require a rich bank account to make a big difference.

Philanthropist Laurie Emrich, a "woman moving millions," and a founding board member and supporter of The Women’s Foundation, as well as many international women’s funds, describes how her journey from Denver to Africa to Washington, D.C. was an intellectual, spiritual and emotional one leading to her commitment to give back to her community and to "participate in the long-term building of an inclusive, community-based, multi-racial movement for justice."

Read more about Laurie’s journey to social justice and philanthropy in her own words here.

Laurie explains in her piece that she derives inspiration from the words of 1960s rhythm and blues singer-songwriter Wilson Pickett: "Ya gotta shake whatcha brought whicha."

Laurie’s story is one of transforming the gifts and abundance she has received into a true spirit and lifetime of giving back. 

She inspires us all to consider what we all "brought whicha," and how we can use it–whatever our gifts–to better our communities and the world.

Last Monday, I met with 12 other women for three hours and discussed our shared goal: improving the lives of young women in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

This might sound like wishful thinking, but it was much more than that.  We are members of The Women’s Foundation’s Rainmakers Giving Circle and have pooled our charitable contributions in order to make a bigger impact than we would by writing individual checks.

Our task on Monday was to review and sort through 34 proposals from nonprofit organizations seeking funding from our circle and narrow the field to those we want to consider further and visit.  It was daunting, but we were up for the challenge.

I left the meeting feeling overwhelmed by the vast needs of so many at-risk populations in this area but, at the same time, exhilarated by the circle’s collective energy and humbled and inspired by the good work of the 34 organizations we reviewed.

This is my fourth year as a Rainmaker, and the proposal review meeting is my favorite part of the grantmaking process.  I love the free flowing sharing of ideas, as well as the dynamic and organic nature of the discussion. The conversations take unexpected twists and turns, are always lively and sometimes intense, but never contentious.

Many questions are raised, discussed, partially resolved, discussed again and sometimes even left unanswered.

Do we want to find the “diamond in the rough” where our money will help a program get off the ground?  Or should we support an established organization with a strong track record and add our name to a reputable list of funders?  Should we decline a prior grantee organization that seems to be having managerial problems?  Or stick with it so as not to abandon the organization at a fragile time?  Does a particular issue push our buttons, tug at our heartstrings and compel us to say, "Yes!…Let’s keep that organization on our list"?  Or, should we ignore our emotions and just look at the statistics?

These questions and many others make the review process exciting, frustrating and, ultimately, rewarding.

The Rainmakers have a few requirements for the proposals, such as the age of the target population and a specific geographic focus, but we have a lot of discretion in reaching our decisions—and that discretion generates rich debate.  I have learned that grantmaking is an art,  not a science, and the life experiences of each member as well as the “pulse” of the circle as a whole make a tremendous impact on the decisions that we reach.

By the close of our meeting, we had narrowed our 34 organizations to eight that will remain on the docket and receive site visits in the next phase of our grantmaking process.

We didn’t raise our hands to vote or record our preferences on pieces of paper that were tallied.  Instead, we reached our decisions by consensus, ultimately selecting a slate of organizations that likely does not match any one individual member’s dream list of organizations, but represents the collective thinking of our giving circle.

Since we have joined together to leverage our charitable giving, I can’t think of a more fitting or satisfying result.

Debbi Lindenberg is co-chair of the Rainmakers Giving Circle.  In her professional life, she is an attorney working as a grantmaking consultant to foundations.

On Saturday afternoon, I was invited to join three of our board members–Deb Gandy, Donna Callejon, and Rachel Kronowitz–to see the Washington Mystics women’s basketball team take on the Los Angeles Sparks.  The Mystics didn’t end up winning, but what struck me was that regardless, a local nonprofit did.

For every three pointer the Mystics score this season, a $100 financial gift will be made to Girls, Inc. of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area.  The Mystics made 163 three pointers last year, so Girls, Inc. could receive about $20,000 this season.

This struck me not only because Girls, Inc. is a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation, and I was thrilled to see their work and investments in girls highlighted in such a big public forum, but also because it got me to thinking about the interaction in our society between celebrity and charity.  As the big name players took to the court before the game to announce their team’s gift, they spoke passionately about the importance of giving and why they were investing in women and girls.

Many of the players also have their own personal philanthropy.  Nikki Teasley gives her time and talent to the American Kidney Fund.  Members of the team participate in a partnership between the Mystics and Sibley Hospital to raise money and awareness for underserved and uninsured women in D.C. facing breast cancer.  Sheila Johnson, president of the Mystics, is a major philanthropist in her own right.

Whether as individuals or together, because of their place in the public spotlight, they have the ability not only to give of themselves but to get others to give, too. 

It got me to thinking about what we expect from celebrities in terms of their giving and charity.  Oprah has become nearly as famous for her philanthropy as she has for her talk show.  Bono, and recently  Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, have significantly increased public interest in Africa as a giving priority.  Last month, at the Women’s Funding Network Conference, Angela Bassett offered a keynote address as part of her role as spokeswoman for the Good Deed Foundation. 

These celebrities have given of their time, talent and treasure in their philanthropic endeavors.  Many would say that having a celebrity behind a cause or issue–even if they just lend a name, and no dollars–could be more valuable than a gift of millions. 

And for some celebs, like the Mystics, gifts of millions aren’t realistic.  The average WNBA player makes between $46,000 and $60,000, not the millions made by professional male players.

So our expectation of celebrities to give isn’t necessarily based on means, but on their status as a celebrity.  Because they have the power, through their public prestige, to encourage others to do the same.  To be models for the behavior we’d like to see in others and ourselves–not only on the big screen or on the court–but as neighbors, community members and concerned citizens.

So it would make sense that we view it as a bit of an expectation that celebrities will give.  Not only because they can, but because their doing so can motivate so much more giving from others.

But really, don’t we all have the power to be celebrities in our own right? 

We all have friends, colleagues, family and associates who rely on us, trust us and listen to us.  If we model giving, if we reach out and show by example that we give, wouldn’t at least some of those around us do the same?

Based on my observations and experiences with our giving networks and giving circles at The Women’s Foundation, many of which are comprised of friends of friends of friends, it seems that even if we’re not Angelina or Brad, that we all have the power to inspire giving.  As Barb Strom Thompson, co-chair of our Washington 100 network, often says in explaining the rapid success and growth of our leading giving network, "When you hear about something good, the first thing you want to do is tell your girlfriends!" 

So while we may not be Mystics players, I’d say we’ve all got the ability to score a few points for the causes and issues we care about. 

Phyllis Caldwell is president of Washington Area Women’s Foundation.