Year-end Appreciation from our Co-Founders

‎"To bring about a better world, let us all strive together with vision, with courage, and with optimism."

~Dalai Lama

During this special time of the year, we want to take this opportunity to say “Thank you!” Thank you for sharing your time, talent and treasure with Women Give San Diego, so that we can positively impact the economic self-sufficiency and security of women and families in our community. And, thank you for sharing your energy and inspiration!

We are so very grateful you have chosen to engage in this dynamic Donor Circle, serving as champions for advancing the status of women and girls. We consider it an honor (and delight!) to work with this amazing group of women.

We hope you share our pride in all Women Give San Diego has accomplished in two short years. Collectively, we have:

▪ Completed a comprehensive research report on self-sufficiency and security for women and girls in San Diego County

▪ Year 1, 2010 – Granted $46,000, with $23,000 granted over two years each, to three thoroughly vetted nonprofits; leveraged $26,000 from the Gary and Mary West Foundation

▪ Year 2, 2011 – Granted $67,000 with $33,500 granted for 2 years each, to three thoroughly vetted nonprofits

▪ Formed six effective member leadership teams to reach our goals

Each and every one of YOU have helped to make this possible. Be proud!

We know you join us in sending our Founding President and inspiration, June Tuttleman, our love, positive energy and healing thoughts her way. We will welcome June back with open arms, as she restores her energy and continues her journey towards health!

Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year! We look forward to an exciting and productive 2012. Together, we can make life better for the most vulnerable women and families in communities throughout San Diego.

With admiration and appreciation,

Linda and Gayle

Co-Founders

Women Give Holiday Party 2011

The Women Give Holiday Party was held on December 6 and graciously hosted by Bobbie Gilbert in her beautiful La Jolla home and organized by WGSD member, Sasha Cline.

(Bobbie Gilbert - Hostess, Sasha Cline)

Those of us that arrived early were treated to a beautiful sunset over the ocean. Guests mingled and enjoyed appetizers and wine. There was a warm atmosphere of friends and colleagues catching up.

(Kelly Weaver, Katie Collins, Diane Adcock)

(JoAnne Berg, Megan Lim)

(Sabrina Johnson, Ciara Kennedy)

(Deirdre Maloney, Murugi Kenyatta)

(Jennifer Dreyer, Linda Katz)

(Sheona Richardson, Bumni Esho)

Our co-founder, Gayle Tauber, welcomed our members and guests to begin the program. She gave an overview of Women Give San Diego’s success since our inception in September 2009. We have:

• Completed a comprehensive research report on self-sufficiency and security for women and girls in San Diego County
• Year 1, 2010 – Granted $46,000, with $23,000 granted over two years each, to three thoroughly vetted nonprofits; leveraged $26,000 from the Gary and Mary West Foundation
• Year 2, 2011 – Granted $67,000 with $33,500 granted for 2 years each, to three thoroughly vetted non-profits
• Formed six effective member leadership teams to reach our goals Since our inception in September 2009, we have:
• Completed a comprehensive research report on self-sufficiency and security for women and girls in San Diego County
• Year 1, 2010 – Granted $46,000, with $23,000 granted over two years each, to three thoroughly vetted nonprofits; leveraged $26,000 from the Gary and Mary West Foundation
• Year 2, 2011 – Granted $67,000 with $33,500 granted for 2 years each, to three thoroughly vetted non-profits
• Formed six effective member leadership teams to reach our goals

Our very own, June Tuttleman, graced our presence and shared about the energy and strength she receives from being with the ladies of Women Give.

(Gayle Tauber, JoAnne Berg, June Tuttleman, Linda Katz)

JoAnne Berg, Chair of the Grants Leadership Team, shared an overview of the grants process and thanked the team members for dedicating their time and energy to reviewing all the proposals and conducting site visits. The Grants Team was tasked with finding organizations who were enhancing the economic status of women and girls in San Diego County as well as organizations who could offer an opportunity for members to get involved as volunteers and mentors. JoAnne introduced each grantee and presented them with a certificate.

Jose Cruz, Executive Director, and Tanya Monzo from Barrio Logan College Institute thanked Women Give for the grant and spoke about it will positively impact their girls support group that works with high school girls who will be the first in their family to attend college. Often these young women face challenges and opposition to gaining a higher education – even within their own family. This gender-specific support group provides a safe place for 40 girls to discuss their challenges to find support and solutions. Jose and Tanya invited Women Give members to get involved as volunteers by participating with the support group or conducting college mock-interviews.

Murugi Kenyatta, VP Community Development for the Foundation for Women, thanked Women Give for the grant and said “we’ve been dancing a jig since we received the grant.” The grant will help serve 535 women through their local microcredit program where they are ‘banking on women’. Murugi personally thanked a few of our members who have been volunteering with the Foundation – Bunmi Esho, Sheona Richardson and Deirdre Maloney. She finished with “If I could give you all a big old hug, I would.”

Dr. Mary Leslie, Lead Instructor, and Re-al Lewis, Administrative Assistant, from the Office Professional Training Program at Grossmont College spoke about the benefit that the Women Give grant will assist the students in their job training program by providing a full-time counselor who helps students overcome barriers to stay in school. Re-al who graduated from the program described the counselor as her personal glue: “I was suffering from post-traumatic stress and she put me back together.” They are also looking for volunteers to help with their twice yearly mentor night and donated clothing drive.

Co-founder, Linda Katz, closed out the evening by introducing guests and giving special thank you’s to:

• Bobbie Gilbert for hosting the party in her home
• Sasha Cline for planning the party
• Sasha’s mother for providing the beautiful music

Have a wonderful holiday season and we look forward to all the incredible things that will happen with Women Give in 2012!

And the grantees are...

Here are our new community grant partners for 2012:

The Foundation for Women: $3,000 per year to fund staff and supplies at one meeting site, where the entrepreneurial women clients of FFW meet weekly to support each other and receive business training.

Barrio Logan College Institute: $15,000 per year to fund the College Success Pipeline for Girls and the Circulo de Mujeres, which provides support to young women who will be first generation college students.

Foundation for Grossmont College: $15,500 per year to fund the Counselor position for the Office Professional Training program, which has successful provided underserved women with education and job search support for over 25 years.

Recap of 2011 Grantmaking Process

The Women Give San Diego 2011 Grantmaking Process began in May, when we sent information on our granting criteria and a Letter of Interest form to over 100 San Diego County organizations who work with women and girls.

We received 33 Letters of Interest, which tell us a little about the organization, their programs, and what they would be requesting funding for. The committee split these up for review, and then met in mid June to choose which organizations would be asked for a full grant proposal. We were impressed by the quality of the organizations that responded and this was a VERY interesting meeting!

We were able to narrow the field to 11 organizations that we felt had great promise as partners for WGSD, who then were asked to submit a full proposal. All 11 did so, and we met again in September to review the proposals together and decide whom we would like to hear from in person. Again, this was challenging, but it was wonderful to see the quality of the work being done in San Diego on behalf of women and girls related to economic self-sufficiency.

I think I can speak for all of the committee members when I say that we were very, very impressed by the quality of all of these organizations – but since we have limited resources, we did need to narrow it down. We also always want to be respectful of an organization’s scant time resource – if the group did not feel that they had a strong chance of funding, it would not have been fair to take more of their time in the application process.

Ultimately we decided to ask for a live, ten-minute presentation from 5 of the 11 organizations. All 5 made compelling cases for support and we enjoyed meeting their representatives in person.

It is always difficult to say “no” to someone after you have met him or her in person, and this time was no exception. But we were able to narrow the field to four of the five, and various members of the committee did a site visit with each one. It’s always surprising how much more we learn at the site visit phase about the organizations and their program, and we definitely felt good about those we had chosen to take to this part of the process.

At our final meeting, the WGSD site visit representatives reported out to the full committee on what they had learned about the organizations they visited. I also presented a synopsis of the organizations’ financial health, which is an important thing to consider when making funding decisions.

We determined that 3 of the 4 best embodied WGSD’s commitment to the economic self-sufficiency of women and girls, and also provided a strong set of opportunities for involvement for our members. WGSD members are definitely interested in community engagement, and experience has shown that our engagement with our grantees is a win-win.

Finally, we created a set of two recommendations to present to our membership for approval.

These recommendations were sent out via an online survey and also presented at our November general membership meeting. The membership voted overwhelmingly to support the committee’s recommendation of funding three organizations with a two-year grant.

I would like to thank all of the WGSD members who participated on the Grantmaking Committee this year! There will continue to be opportunities for engagement and I encourage anyone who is interested in finding out more to stop in at our next meeting. This is a wonderful place to learn more about the work being done in San Diego as well as honing your own skills as a philanthropist.

Respectfully submitted,

JoAnne Berg

Aha Moments!

"Our 'aha moment' occurred when we realized that supporting women and girls

transcended generations."

Check Women Give's Aha Moments on video: http://ahamoment.com/moments/2526

Women Give San Diego – General Meeting Highlights

Women Give San Diego held a general member meeting on Monday, November 7, 2011 at Hera Hub from 5-7pm.

Linda Katz welcomed our tenured and new members with a rewarding announcement that WGSD has reached 94 members and is confident we will be at 100 by the New Year!

Following our membership announcement, Linda updated us on our Brain Warrior, June (Jan) Tuttleman. Jan has decided that since her name resembles January and that month is cold and represents winter that she is officially renaming herself June to embody the life and warmth of the summer season. June continues to amaze us with her strength and courage and has given up her involvement in all organizations other than WGSD. With all of the support from WGSD members she feels this organization is family and so it remains one of her priorities and we are blessed for her presence.

Our recent Membership Recruitment Event, “Engage and Be Engaged,” brought 38 guests to WGSD which translated into a handful of new members for a total of 100 members. Congratulations to Megan Lim, Bunmi Esho and the Membership Leadership Team for a successful event!

Speaking of Leadership Teams, moving forward all “committees” will be referred to as Leadership Teams for their dedication to growing WGSD as a group of powerful leaders.

Leadership Team Updates include:

Grantmaking: After reviewing 41 applicants, the Grantmaking Leadership Team narrowed the grantees down to 3 organizations. The announcement of the grantees and grant amounts for the next 2 years to these organizations will be given at WGSD’s annual Holiday Mixer & Grant Celebration on December 7, 2011. Last year we granted out $43,000 and this year thanks to our increase in membership and also generous returning members who increased their giving we are able to grant $67,000! That is over a 50% increase in grant money!

Community Engagement: Bunmi Esho and Sabrina Johnson announced an opportunity on January 7^th for members to be involved in Just In Time’s Career Horizon networking event. If you are interested in helping a group of women network and create beneficial connections please contact Bunmi. There is also an open house at Bario Logan on November 17^th at 6pm for those members who are interested in getting to know one of our grantees.

Communications: Katie Collins has created a beautiful flyer titled, “A Call to Action,” which was passed around and can be emailed to the group as a communication tool to encourage membership and community engagement. We also have a new member who found us through our social media so congratulations to the Communication Leadership Team!

Website: Deirdre Maloney will be spearheading a refresh of our WGSD website and will work with the Communications Team and our founders to create a new look including a new logo. Stay tuned!

Advocacy: Jennifer Dreyer announced our 2012 Advocacy Goals which included:

· Helping revitalize the commission on the status for Women and help to fill 4 vacant seats

· Creating opportunities to educate the constituents running in the Mayoral race on WGSD and how we can fit in to their plan

· Increasing our participation at Legislative Action Day by sending 3 or more members to Sacramento as well as host a Legislative Breakfast as an educational opportunity

· Continue to keep WGSD members informed on current relative legislation

· Hosting an event to educate on what lobbying you can do as a C3 organization

Education: Erin Spiewak handed out the Top 5 Facts we should all have memorized as WGSD members to help advocate for our cause. They are:

1. 250,000 = the minimum number of women living in poverty in San Diego.

2. Close to 80,000 are single mothers with children under 18; one-third live below the poverty level.

3. There are more women and girls in San Diego County than there are in 20 of 51 States.

4. 60,000 women are currently unemployed in San Diego.

5. 1.2 million is the number of adult women in San Diego County of working age.

Upcoming Dates to remember:

· Wednesday, December 6, 2011- Holiday Mixer & Grants Celebration, Home of Bobbie Gilbert, 2575 Calle del Oro, La Jolla

· Monday, January 9, 2012- General Membership Meeting 5-7pm, location TBD

· Monday, March 5, 2012- General Membership Meeting Hosted by Advocacy Leadership Team, 5-7pm, location TBD

· Wednesday, April 2, 2012- Membership Connection & Recruitment Event, 5-7:30 pm, location TBD

· Monday, June 11, 2012- Annual Membership Meeting, 5-7pm, location TBD

Blog post written by WGSD member, Sasha Clines

Our Grantee: Supportive Parents Information Network

Supportive Parents Information Network

SPIN’s Board took the feedback they received from WGSD last year to heart and have been working relentlessly to gain experience in processes, strategic planning and effective communication. The Board consists of 10 members five of whom are former clients that bring expertise about poverty and how to gain self-sufficiency; the other five are professionals whose experience with poverty is either distant or non-existent. As you can imagine these two groups might approach governance very differently. This year started with a commitment to ensure that the Board could communicate with each other given their disparate backgrounds as well as with SPIN’s clientele. A facilitator was brought in to help the board develop communication skill sets using the Meyers Briggs methods. Once their communications problems were under control, a strategic planner assisted the Board by providing a template they could use to modify to fit SPIN. All of SPIN’s activities and volunteer positions were reviewed in light of what is needed for SPIN to sustain their past success in helping parents and families out of poverty. This month they expect to have their strategic plan committed to paper.

Las year the 2010 WGSD grant funds were used to update SPIN offices and computing capacity as well as getting help with their strategic planning efforts. This coming year SPIN, with the help of contacts provided by WGSD members, is committed to finding transition funding to cover their operations, $200,000 for each of the next 5 years. These contacts will hopefully connect SPIN Board members with people who can help fund this organization while it garners the skills to fundraise effectively. WGSD 2011 grant funds will be used in these efforts.

One of the most important things that SPIN does for their clients (primarily women in extreme poverty) is assistance in making an individualized plan for how to get out of poverty and to reach their life goals. No matter what the client’s goal is, SPIN will look at what the personal stumbling blocks are for the individual and help them plan accordingly. For many clients it is help in getting as much education as they can while on public assistance, or help with transportation to get to work, or help with a disabled family member so that they can maintain a job. SPIN is very successful in helping their clients make that arduous climb out of poverty.

Other SPIN programs that are working well are the Scholarship Team program which tutors parents and their children twice a month and the Emergency Loan Program which is run by the parents/ clients themselves. The children in the Scholarship program are more successful in school and are graduating. The recipients of the emergency loans have become active in SPIN and have repaid their loans according to their re-payment schedule. In becoming active in SPIN clients learn how to gather and harvest the voices of the poor to self-advocate. Also the program with US Bank is still helping SPIN clients by offering special accounts that are low cost and low risk. The accounts offer SPIN clients three free money orders, an ATM card which helps the client establish a credit history and saves them about $250 per year by not using check-cashers.

Both SPIN and WGSD have been dealt a personal blow through the loss of leadership of one of their own. While Jan recovers from her surgery we are all trying to keep WGSD on track until she is able to take the reins once again. This year SPIN lost a dear friend with the death of Aida Reyes, Community Outreach Coordinator for the past 10 years. All of our prayers and thoughts are with the friends and family of these two spectacular women.

Written by Dana White, WGSD Member

Meet WGSD Member: Morgan Justice-Black

In her professional life, Ms. Justice Black – a native of San Diego - is the Director of Development & Marketing at I Love A Clean San Diego (ILACSD). She is responsible for all marketing efforts related to ILACSD programs and events, oversight of all development at the organization including contract renewals, corporate sponsorships, and grants as well as leader of all grant writing activities and outreach to potential funders.

After graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara with degrees in Environmental Studies and Global Studies, Morgan moved back to San Diego and wanted to get involved in her hometown community – returning to her roots.

“Growing up in San Diego, you naturally develop environmental stewardship whether you like it or not because our activities revolve around the outdoors. The beach has always been something I wanted to protect. Throughout my schooling I was able to learn about the humanitarian and anthropological side of the environment.”

When she first came on board at ILACSD, five years ago, there were only five staff members and now there are twelve. The organization has had the opportunity to grow and tends to promote internally by tasking current staff members with more responsibilities if they are up to the challenge. Morgan worked her way up from Volunteer & Event Coordinator to Outreach Director. During a restructure, a year and half ago, Morgan moved over from the program side to development and marketing where she created the department from scratch. No small feat.

When it comes to volunteering in the community, Morgan just can’t say “no”. Through the encouragement of her high school friends including fellow Women Give member, Sasha Clines, she joined the Junior League of San Diego. At first, she was more of an observer, but quickly gained her confidence and got involved. She joined the Growing Healthy Students Committee and ended up chairing the Sponsorship Committee.

“I wanted to get back to San Diego to engage with movers and shakers that will help me find my career path and open a door to work in environmentalism – something I was interested in doing as a professional career.”

Today, she chairs the Community Partners and Advocacy Committee. The Committee is dedicated to discovering how Junior League can better serve the community as well as advocate for issues on the local and statewide level. This committee has grown from an intimate group of just a few to 20 women.

Morgan joined Women Give San Diego in 2011 – once again through the influence of her civic-minded girlfriends. Megan Lim, a Women Give and Junior League member, encouraged her to attend a membership recruitment event. At the time, Morgan was looking to further connect with women doing good things; she wanted to identify with her fellow members as well as find women mentors.

“I love being a part of the Junior League, but there has always been a little something missing. At Women Give, everyone is on an equal playing field. As a member, I can connect with the President of the organization on the first day. I like that Women Give is really open to meeting and engaging with individuals from all ages and sectors of the community.”

She recently joined the Women Give Grants Committee.

“It was really neat to read through all the applications from the nonprofits. Normally I am the one completing the grants.”

On the Committee, she enjoys utilizing her background of grant writing to better evaluate the grant proposals submitted. She finds it exciting to identify the organizations that are going to make the biggest and best impact in the focus area. In her short membership, she has excelled at getting involved and connecting with the different members.

“Becoming a member of Women Give has given me additional confidence in pursuing leadership. I’m currently going through LEAD San Diego’s Impact San Diego program; something I wouldn’t have considered before meeting Jan and other Women Give members.”

Engage and Be Engaged: Membership Recruitment Event

On Wednesday, October 5, 2001, the Women Give San Diego members gathered at Barbara Bry’s beautiful home on Mount Soledad. Despite the rainy evening, we had 82 women attend the gathering.

Linda Katz opened the evening up with a history and overview of Women Give. She gave an update on our co-Founder, the Brain Warrior, “June” Tuttleman who is inspiring us all with her strength and determination.

Bunmi Esho, Membership Team Chair, was our official mistress of ceremonies and commanded the room with the tinkle of her bell. Each attendee was assigned to a small group and rotated through five stations with the help of their “shepherds”.

Three of the stations had roundtable discussions with our grantees:

· Dress for Success

· Supportive Parents Information Network

· Just in Time

The other two stations engaged attendees in discussion:

· At the membership station, Gayle and Linda informed women of the benefits of membership and how the ladies could get involved.

· At the networking station, attendees were provided an opportunity to engage and speak with other guests. There were question prompts to help the women engage in conversation with one another.

After each group rotated through the stations, Gayle Tauber wrapped up the evening with some final comments and thoughts encouraging attendees to join our incredible and dynamic members to raise the economic status of women and girls in San Diego.

If you or a friend is interested in joining, there are two ways:

Online

1. Visit: http://www.womensfoundca.org

2. Scroll down a bit, and on the left side you will see a "Donate Now" option.

3. Select that and fill out the form accordingly.

4. Under "Special Options" in the "Special Instructions" box near the bottom, please make sure you state that this donation is for “Women Give San Diego”.

Mail/Check

1. Fill out this gift form.

2. Send gift form and a check directly to the Women's Foundation of CA. Please write on the check memo that it's for Women Give San Diego.

3. The address is:

Women's Foundation of CA, 340 Pine Street, Suite 302, San Francisco, CA 94104