Insight Impact: July 2021
News Highlights
Our 2020 Grantee: During the first quarter, Prevent Child Abuse NJ enrolled 4 schools, hired a coordinator and conducted 21 professional development sessions.
Grants Committee: The Letter of Intent process concluded with 50 nonprofits applying and 60 members participating in the review process.
DEI in 2021: Save the Date for October 26th Connections & Conversation with Ana Oliveira, President and CEO of New York Women's Foundation. Welcome our 6 Every Voice Fellows.
Membership: We’re at 169 total members enabling us to fund both the new Equity Grant and our $100,000 Impact Grant.
What’s new with Governance: Changes to our Governance Principles were approved, providing for the election of a staggered Steering Committee. 3 new Steering Committee members were also approved.
Why women and philanthropy matter: Two NJ Impact100 chapters distributed $500,000 in grants during June, while MacKenzie Scott donated another $2.7 billion to organizations across the country.
What’s up with our 2020 Grantee
Our 2020 grantee, Prevent Child Abuse - NJ is already on their way to implementing their Children’s Wellness program to build resilience, adapt to stressors in a healthy way, promote social-emotional awareness, and to experience support from a more nurturing school environment. Four of the five Essex County schools and childcare centers located in Orange, East Orange and Newark have already enrolled and a part time coordinator started in March 2021. PCA completed 21 coaching sessions and professional development sessions during the first quarter of 2021 with positive feedback from each school.
‘The most valuable part of the training was learning how to recognize trauma in our learning community’ (Educator from Speedway School, Newark)
Impact: At the conclusion of the project, 5 Essex County Schools/ ChildCare Centers will be trauma-informed and utilize healing centered approaches with children and families. About 1,500 children, 100 educators and 100 parents will be impacted by this work. The participating schools will be located in Orange, East Orange, Newark and possibly Irvington.
What’s New in Grants
Our 2021 grant cycle is in full swing. Fifty local nonprofit organizations applied for our $100K Impact Grant, submitting their LOIs (Letter of Intent) in May. Over 60 members participated in this first round of grant review.
Our five review teams met the week of June 21st and had the difficult task of deciding which projects to advance to the next phase, to submit a full application. The LOI process saves time and resources for those organizations least likely to advance to the semi-finalist and finalist stages. The review teams had robust and thoughtful discussions, and ultimately we are inviting 29 nonprofits to submit a full application due in early September.
Members unavailable to join a review team for the LOI round will have an opportunity to be a reviewer for the full application round in the fall. Stay tuned — information will be sent to all members at that time.
The Grants Committee is also working on the terms of the additional $30K Equity Grant that Impact100 Essex plans to offer this year targeting nonprofit organizations led by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color). Details to come!
What’s New in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
SAVE THE DATE: Oct 6, 2021, 7-8:30pm "Radical Generosity," a virtual Connections and Conversation with Ana Oliveira, New York Women's Foundation President and CEO. Since 2006, Ana has steered the increase of The New York Women’s Foundation’s grantmaking from $1.7M to $9M today. Ana serves as co-chair of The NYC Council Speaker’s Young Women’s Initiative and is a Commissioner for the NYC Commission on Human Rights. With years of tremendous experience in philanthropy and increasing equity, Ana will enlighten us on her take on creating space for change.
Every Voice Fellows
Welcome to our 2021 Every Voice Fellows! We recognize women actively serving under-resourced communities in Essex County who bring their perspective and experience to our processes.
Joshlyn (Crystal) Adams is an experienced project manager and community relations specialist. Joshlyn is a lifelong resident of Essex County and has a passion for serving her community and skillfully can connect people in the community with the resources they need. In addition, she is passionate about child and youth advocacy, community outreach, community health, non-profit development, and event planning.
“Coach Iya” Karade is owner of the Athletic Arts Academy gymnastics training facility in Orange NJ. She is an advocate for the protection of childhood and uses Gymnastics as a tool to simulate the importance of healthy life choices, the joy of being physically strong and active, goal setting, team work, managing failure, self determination, and achieving the impossible.
Ruth Kunstadter has dedicated her career to education (including teaching in the Montclair Public Schools and at Montclair State) and nonprofit (International Institute of NJ and Institute of International Education, to name a few), and is now combining both as the Associate Director, Corporate and Foundation Relations for Montclair State University.
Dr. Danielle R. Moss is an experienced nonprofit executive and thought leader whose work has focused on expanding opportunities for Black and Brown communities and broadening the conversation on Black women's leadership. She is currently CEO at Oliver Scholars and Co-Founder of The Ebony Vanguard, an inter-generational collective dedicated to power, progress, and play for women and girls of the African Diaspora.
Liliana Pinete is a public health physician and maternal and child health advocate serving as the Chief Operating Officer for the Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern New Jersey.
Takeyah Young is the founder of a technology and data-driven startup focused on helping organizations launch technology transfer initiatives, build commercialization capacity, and educate their communities about the importance of intellectual assets and how they can be used to build wealth.
What’s New in Membership
Membership is a twelve month effort, but February through May is the most crucial period of our recruitment drive. Our membership numbers at the end of May determine how we structure our giving for the year.
Our current total of 169 members, including 45 new members, ensures that we are able to fund the Equity Grant being introduced this year in addition to our $100,000 Impact Grant.
Our 76% renewal rate is our highest yet, and well above the Impact average of 70%!
Thanks to joint initiatives with the DEI Action Committee, including direct outreach, the BIPOC Soiree, corporate sponsorships and our Every Voice Fellowship, our membership is increasingly reflective of the rich diversity of our county.
We will continue to recruit through virtual, and now, thankfully, in-person info sessions. The more members we have, the greater our impact.
New this year is an ambassador program partnering current and new members to foster the participation that drives our work. Contact membership@impact100essex.org if you’re available to make occasional calls to answer questions and engage members new to the process, if you’d like to host or invite friends to an info session, or join the membership committee. We welcome you!
And if you have not already, please renew your membership and don’t forget to see if your company has a matching program for your membership donation.
Upcoming Member Events
Connections and Conversations (C&C)
“Creating a Family Culture of Giving”
July 20, Tuesday, 6:30-8:00, Location TBD
Fellow member Margarethe Laurenzi, Chief Philanthropic Officer at the Community Foundation, will lead a conversation about how we help to build a community of caring and philanthropy in our families. There are quite a few people who use their charitable grantmaking as a vehicle for articulating and passing on their values about what matters, what is worth fighting for, what one holds dear and wants to shape and influence, etc.
“Radical Generosity” with Ana Oliveira (see above)
Oct 6, 2021, 7-8:30pm
Networking opportunities for members
August 23, Monday, 2:00-3:30
October 19, Tuesday 10:00-11:30
November 3, Wednesday 6:30-8:00
Locations TBD
Grant Review Launch
Come & Celebrate!!
Sept 14, Tuesday at 6pm
Location TBD
What’s New with Governance
Following a thoughtful review by our Governance Committee, the Steering Committee revised our election and succession policies to ensure greater transparency and opportunities to participate in leadership. Going forward, a Nominating Committee will invite nominations, members will elect a slate, and Steering Committee members will serve staggered 3-year terms. The new Governance Principles can be found on the website under "Meet Our Team." If you or anyone you know would like to get more involved (in a committee or at the Steering Committee level), please contact Helen and Margo at co-conveners@impact100essex.org for more information.
We have also elected three new Steering Committee members - Anne Zakin, as co-chair of Membership, Danielle Moss, as co-chair of DEI, and Tyneisha Gibbs, as a "member at large". We are so excited to have such an exceptional group of women joining our leadership.
Tyneisha Gibbs
Steering Committee Member
Dr. Danielle Moss
Co-Chair, DEI
Anne Zakin
Co-Chair, Membership
Why Women and Philanthropy Matter
Impact100 Garden State and South Jersey announced their grant awards during June 2021. Garden State announced three $100,000 grants, while South Jersey announced a $100K grant and two $50K grants (see list on right). Impact 100 Jersey Coast, is providing 4 grants of $107,500 in November 2021.
2021 Grantee Recipients
Impact100 Garden State
Community Options Enterprise $100K
Family Promise of Sussex County $100K
Norwescap $100K
Impact100 South Jersey
Family Promise of Southwest NJ $100K
Farmers Against Hunger $50K
Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge $50K
MacKenzie Scott donated a third round of $2.7 billion to 286 nonprofits with no strings attached. Generous women making a difference!
Congratulations to Margo Greenfield for her selection to join the Philanos Governance Committee for 2022. We know you’ll make us proud at the national level!
Many thanks to our 2021 sponsors
We welcome your suggestions on what you’d like to see. Please send your feedback to communications@impact100essex.org. Contributing writers and editors: Mayuri Chandra, Sunita Chaudhuri, Kate Clark, Jill Edinburg, Helen Mazarakis, Mindy Propper, Renee Reso and Anne Zakin.
