Women's Giving Alliance at 20: With almost $8 million in grants, 'we are making a difference'

It all started on a plane.

Passing the time during a flight in 1999, Jacksonville resident Courtenay Wilson came across an article about a Seattle woman who founded a "collective giving circle." The group encouraged local women to become "strategic philanthropists" by pooling their resources to support shared causes.

Wilson was so excited about the concept that upon her return home she shared it with Andy Bell, then president of The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, and four other friends who were trustees of the foundation. In 2001 they founded the Women’s Giving Alliance, with supporting women and girls as their shared cause.

"The five founders … had been looking for a way to focus on women in philanthropy as well as a vehicle to address important issues affecting women and girls in our community," Wilson said recently.  "We did our homework, were organized and had the backing of The Community Foundation. The first year we hoped to have 100 members, but ended up with 167 founding members and knew we had created something special. It was the right time."

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Twenty years later, the alliance now has 429 members — about 1,000 women have come in and out over the years — and a $5.9 million endowment. They have awarded about $7.7 million in grants to 68 nonprofits, impacting some 30,000 women and girls in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties and recently Putnam County.

"I couldn’t have imagined the far-reaching impact 20 years later that WGA has had in the community," Wilson said. Being a founder and an ongoing member, she said, "has certainly been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Dreams can come true."

For the last five years the alliance has focused on breaking the cycle of female poverty by addressing such issues as the gender pay gap, affordable housing, quality child care, mentoring for girls, job and skills training and mental health services. The latest cycle of grants awarded May 18 — a record $660,000 — went to 17 Northeast Florida nonprofits that provide critical services ranging from affordable housing to career readiness.

One of the nonprofit beneficiaries this year and previously is the MaliVai Washington Youth Foundation, an afterschool program that works with low-income teens on life skills and more. About 60 percent of the students in its program are girls. This year's $32,700 grant from the alliance will offset pandemic-related costs.

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"The Women’s Giving Alliance has been a huge support … in our work with girls in the community," said Terri Florio, the foundation's executive director and CEO. "Through their generous support, we have been able to expand our ‘girls-only’ programs to serve additional girls and to provide additional activities. None of this would be possible without their support. We are fortunate to have WGA in our community to expand the services and programs available to women and girls."

Sanctuary on 8th Street, another after-school program in Jacksonville, has received alliance funding in the past.

"We are grateful for WGA," Executive Director Rick Cartlidge said. "The grant that we received … has allowed us to increase our mental health counseling and provide regular yoga, art and coding classes."

Gail Patin, CEO of the Hubbard House domestic violence shelter, said the alliance is a longtime supporter. This year's $50,000 grant will be used to expand the nonprofit's thrift store that funds survivor services.

"By helping Hubbard House build this reliable, sustainable funding source, WGA ensures survivors will continue to get the help they need, when they need help the very most," Patin said.

Alliance sees problems, works to address them

Wilson's fellow founders were the late Ann Baker and Doris Carson, as well as Helen Lane and Delores Barr Weaver. Their initial goal was to get 50 members the first year: They recruited 163.

Jan Healy was one of those 163 "founding members" who joined the fledging philanthropic endeavor that first year. At the time, she said, she had "no idea" what it entailed. All she knew was that one of her friends, Baker, asked her to help.

"I trusted her completely," Healy said. "I knew this new organization … would be a significant force for good."

Healy, who is the alliance's 2021-22 president, was even more excited once she understood how it would work. Nonprofits that meet certain criteria apply for grants of up to $50,000; what they do and how they want to spend the money are closely scrutinized.

The grants come from members’ yearly contributions — $1,500 a year or $750 for the first year if they are 40 and under — a portion of the endowment fund and individual gifts.

"I immediately loved the idea," Healy said. "As an individual, it is difficult to make a meaningful contribution of time, talent or treasure. The concept of pooling resources for a focused purpose resonated instantly with me as impactful. … I believe we are making a difference for those most vulnerable in our community."

And they are making a difference in each others' lives.

The alliance "actively invites women of different backgrounds, perspectives, opinions, passions, experiences, personalities, ideologies and lifestyles," she said. "We believe that bringing together diverse voices — and the conversations and connections that result — makes us stronger."

Her fellow members, Healy said, are "from all different walks of life, from different age groups, different parts of town and they have completely enriched my life. … It is a great opportunity to meet a lot of women who are doing interesting things in the world. I treasure those relationships."

Kara Williams is a past onboarding co-chairwoman, who welcomes new members and helps them navigate the organization.

"You see these women who may look just like you or may look completely different from you," she said. "One may have millions in her account and one may have her last two paychecks in her account. They are equal when it comes to the Women's Giving Alliance and that's what counts.

"I feel honored, I feel blessed, to be a part," she said.

Healy's work with the alliance led her to found her own nonprofit, Renewing Dignity, that works to eliminate period poverty and period stigma. The impetus was statistics she heard at a 2018 alliance meeting, such as one in four women in the United States lack access to period products — tampons and pads — because of poor income.

"We learned that a common challenge facing agencies centered around a lack of menstrual products for the women and girls they serve," she said. "Few people think to donate sanitary products and many women and girls miss work or school because they don’t have tampons or pads."

At a subsequent alliance meeting, members and guests brought hundreds of boxes of tampons, pads and incontinence products to donate to three local food pantries. That drive led to the nonprofit. Alliance members see a problem and work to fix it, Healy said, and don't let sensitive topics stop them.

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Grant recipients extensively researched, held accountable

Healy said many factors led to the alliance's success, beginning with the founders' decision on "day one" to create an endowment, a special fund set up to provide long-term support for a particular organization or cause. "Our founders were visionary," she said.

Also key has been the affiliation with The Community Foundation of Northeast Florida, which Healy said "provides a wealth of professional resources that we would not be able to access on our own as an all-volunteer run organization."

With foundation help, members do "extensive research" on nonprofits and the issues they address, past President Sandy Cook said. "We hear from them. So it's not just us deciding what they need. They tell us and that's been critical to our success," she said.

The alliance's work, she said, "changes the way you think about philanthropy."

Williams said the research includes site visits and "loving and caring" agency accountability.

"The women are actually invested in the work that these agencies are doing," she said. "They actually go out and make sure that the money is being spent where they say they are going to spent it."

Rena Coughlin is CEO of the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida, which supports and advocates for the area's nonprofit sector.

"The WGA is a resounding success — empowering women as philanthropists, investing in nonprofits that support women and girls and bringing rigor and thought leadership to a novel model of collective giving," she said. "Jacksonville should be proud of WGA, a growing and active example of homegrown investing. Hundreds of women have become more knowledgeable about our community while actively working to improve it, and tens of thousands of dollars have been thoughtfully invested. What’s not to love?"

During the alliance's last annual meeting, in October 2021, leaders said they had researched the "best practices" of collective giving and would use the results in the future to streamline the process.

They spoke to other similar groups across the country. And they spoke with grant recipients about what kind of support they need, particularly as they "continue to navigate pandemic-related challenges," according to the alliance.

The ongoing goal of ending poverty for women and girls is daunting, particularly in a pandemic. But the alliance's education, advocacy and grants will improve their lives.

"We have a dedicated, smart, engaged membership that believe in research, best practices and collaborating closely with our nonprofit community as partners in our mission," Healy said. "WGA has led the community in beginning open conversations about critical issues in Northeast Florida, including mental health, juvenile justice reform, combating sex trafficking and the issues contributing to female poverty. We expect to continue leading."

bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109

WOMEN'S GIVING ALLIANCE

To donate, join or get more information, contact the alliance at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, 245 Riverside Ave., Suite 310, Jacksonville 32202; (904) 356-4483; KSmyth@jaxcf.org, or go to wganefl.org.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville-based Women's Giving Alliance celebrats 20 years