No Time Like the Present: Take Action! |
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From Ann Vaughn, President
Learn! Join! Renew! Volunteer!
It feels good to take action these days and there is no shortage of ways to do that in our DC community and through Impact100 DC.
First, don't miss Nonprofit Liaison Sharon Dennis's column below about supporting our Finalist organizations.
Then, make sure you check out our website for ways to join at www.impact100dc.org. The membership recruitment period for our 2022 grant cycle runs through December 31. By doubling our membership we can double the grant support we can offer. Your participation in Impact100 DC can be as simple as joining and voting for the grantee at our annual meeting. Or you can get involved in any way that suits your interests, with plenty of opportunities for leadership and deeper commitment.
Already a member? Check out recruiting suggestions below. Let's reach new heights together!
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Renew! Recruit! Help Us Reach 200! |
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Where:
Ben's Chili Bowl
1213 U Street NW
When:
12:00-1:30pm on Thursday, November 11
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Join us for a Member-Guest lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl to meet other members and help grow our community. Virginia Ali, owner of this historic DC institution, will be on hand to greet us! |
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OTHER WAYS TO HELP US BUILD A BIGGER IMPACT100 DC!
#1 Renew!! Check this item off your to-do list by clicking here!
#2 Check out our member recruitment toolkit. We've loaded it up with Q and A's, our founding year Annual Report, a sample recruitment letter, and a downloadable informational brochure.
#3 Connect your friend/colleague with Impact100 DC president Ann Vaughn (avaughn@impact100dc.org) or any member of the membership team by zoom, phone, or email:
#4 Organize a zoom or in-person recruitment event and invite any current members or board members to share more information.
#5 Sponsor a relative, friend, or colleague for membership.
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Deepen Your Connection to our 2021 Finalists |
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Bridges to Independence Trunk or Treat event in October 2021 |
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Volunteers Latina Fauconier (Impact100 DC VP) and her daughters at Trunk or Treat |
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From Sharon Dennis, Nonprofit Liaison and Grants CoChair
Likely many of you know about Bryan Stevenson and his work with individuals on death row. He became involved with this work following a course in law school that brought him into daily contact with these prisoners for a month. “In proximity to the condemned,” he has said, “everything changed for me. I found a calling.”
We can “get proximate” to the individuals we learned about during the grant review process by keeping in touch with those organizations and staying abreast of opportunities for giving and volunteering. Towards this end, we’ve created a page on our website dedicated to the 2021 finalist organizations and the myriad ways you can support them. Some of these opportunities are long term, such as mentoring a student who is part of the Generation Hope Scholars program. Others won’t take more than a couple of hours. If you’re a runner, maybe you’d like to participate in Arlington’s 16th Annual Turkey Trot, where Bridges to Independence is a beneficiary? Bridges is also looking for people now to sponsor a Bridges’ family at the holidays to provide gift cards for children and adults alike. Some of us got very “proximate” to the children of the Bridges’ community during their festive “trunk or treat” event for Halloween (see photos above).
Others of us recently participated in the virtual book launch for Free Minds Book Club’s latest book, When You Hear Me - You Hear Us. Hearing their Poet Ambassadors read aloud from the poetry written by incarcerated men and women was haunting. Speaking of books, don’t forget to order a copy of Nicole Lynn Lewis’ new book, Pregnant Girl: A Story of Teen Motherhood, College & Creating a Better Future for Young Families, which is available to order on the Generation Hope website. Nicole’s powerful and inspiring story is the story of Generation Hope. Her first-person account of her harrowing days, first as a pregnant teenager, and later as a single mother at the College of William and Mary, will grip you and bring you even closer to understanding the need for the important work her organization is doing on behalf of teen parents and their children.
I myself just signed up for action alerts from the Audubon Naturalist Society, where Eliza Cava (whom many of you met at the Big Give) is leading the charge to educate local residents about ways we can influence environmental legislation and regulation in our region. Check out their upcoming Conservation & Environmental Advocacy 101 workshop on November 3, 1-3:30 pm, which will help you move from upset to action on environmental issues in these polarizing times.
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October Member Profile
Joan de Pontet speaks with
Dr. Heather L. Johnson
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Heather Johnson went to Yale Medical School when women who wanted to be professionals simply didn’t get married, or if married, they did not have children. She did it all despite the challenges and served in the military 8 years to repay her school debt. Dr. J remembers sitting behind a screen in the neonatal intensive care unit at Walter Reed and using their breast pump when her kids were infants. “My interns and residents stood on the other side of the screen asking patient care questions.” Today, women represent half of medical school students, and her daughter who is a physician at Johns Hopkins has the benefit of attractive nursing rooms with vending machines that sell replacement pump parts.
As an OB/GYN, Dr. J delivered 3500 babies and says her work has been a gift, something she loves. After retiring from obstetrics, she has continued her GYN practice, and with her new found “free time,” has published two books: What They Didn’t Tell You About Having a Baby and What They Didn’t Tell You About Menopause. Her books and lectures are full of reliable, non-judgmental information given in an eminently relatable manner with frankness and humor. While women are better today at making their needs known, she proactively answers questions that so many women wished they had asked. Curious? Go to her website, askdrheatherjohnson.com. It is a fund of information.
Last week as a guest speaker at her undergraduate college, Valparaiso, an alumna asked how Dr. J achieved work/life balance. She laughed and said she had none! She said that other than serving on several hospital boards, there was little time earlier in her career for volunteer work. When Dorothy Hsaio reached out to her about Impact100 DC, she was attracted by the level of commitment, the inclusivity, and the caring. Heather is a hands-on person literally and figuratively. She is interested in learning about community needs and was impressed by the grants process as a member of the Health and Wellness Focus Area Committee. Impact100 DC has been exciting and energizing for Heather, especially being in on the ground floor of such important work.
Thinking about Impact100 DC’s upcoming year, Heather said she is looking forward to more opportunities to meet with other members. But she noted that virtual meetings made necessary by the pandemic may have helped develop more efficient ways of working together, making involvement possible for busy people. She has already brought in two friends as members. She is considering joining a different grants team next year, perhaps Arts and Culture, to broaden her knowledge of needs and impactful programs and to keep the energy flowing.
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IMPACT100 GLOBAL DAY OF IMPACT |
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Don't miss an opportunity to put Impact100 DC in an even larger context!
As many of you know, Impact100 is a global model that began with the founding of the Cincinnati chapter twenty years ago by Wendy Steele. There are now over 60 chapters in the US and beyond. Wendy is also the founder and CEO of Impact100 Global, which serves as a resource and amplifier for the work of local chapters. On Thursday, November 4th, Impact100 Global is hosting a virtual event to celebrate the 20 year milestone and $100 million in collective giving. All are welcome.
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We are in the process of developing a members-only portal on our website which will contain a member directory. If you have not yet filled out your form to opt in or out of a member directory, please do so asap! Please click here. |
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Are you interested in being more actively involved in Impact100 DC? We are looking for volunteers in almost every area, but especially communications and marketing, for both discrete tasks and leadership roles. Contact: president@impact100dc.org
Member Survey
If you have not yet done so, please take a minute to complete our member demographic survey, a key element in measuring our progress in building a diverse and inclusive community. Your responses will NOT be shared in any way.
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Impact100 DC
PO Box 40121
Washington, DC 20016
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Contact:
President@Impact100dc.org
Membership@Impact100dc.org
Phone: 202 379-4773
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