The Link

April 2021

TPC Is Hiring

We will be bidding a fond farewell to Alison Yoder, TPC’s part-time administrator, in early June. Alison, who many of you have met over the past several years, will be taking advantage of a career opportunity. We thank her for her 5+ years of dedicated service and wish her all the best.

We believe there is no better resource than TPC’s membership as we begin a search to identify candidates to fill this critical role. The attached job description lays out the qualifications and skills required. We ask that you review it and pass it along to anyone in your network who may have an interest in applying.

Strategic Planning Update

Since the launch of our strategic plan, TPC committees have been busy, working to bring the plan to action. Following are a few updates with the promise of much more to share over the next few months.    

The Membership Committee is hard at work designing a new scaled membership model intended to both increase the size of our grant pool and make membership more accessible. Contact Caroline Boeckman or Kelsea Médard if you have thoughts on this effort or would like to discuss further.

Grants Committee task force has been formed and is looking at our grantmaking process and how well it currently aligns with our three-year strategic plan. There has been strong consensus that in keeping with our mission to educate women about grantmaking that our process will continue to involve a large percentage of our membership and support a broad spectrum of nonprofits. In addition, the team is evaluating a few pilots to address our new strategic goals, one involving experimenting with multi-year grants and another ensuring that some of our funding supports organizations working toward systemic change, especially as it relates to racial equity. Contact Sue Meehan if you have thoughts on this effort or would like to discuss further.

The Education and DEI Committees are working together to develop additional educational programming and resources to build on the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge experience many of our members have had. Contact Jenny Morrison or Osa Osagie if you have thoughts on this effort or would like to discuss further.

Follow Us!

For those of you who are members of LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter, please take a moment to follow TPC next time you’re logged in. We’d like to expand the number of women we reach, so please share our posts with your connections! 

Upcoming Events and Grantee Needs

May 9, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. Please join past TPC grantee Louis D. Brown Peace Institute in its 25th Annual Mother’s Day Walk for Peace to celebrate and remember the lives of loved ones lost to homicide. If you’re not able to walk, please consider a donation to this healing organization.

May 24, 6:00 to 7:15 pm. Please join us Monday evening for our final Philanthropy Dialogue of this grantee year. The topic will be Housing and the discussion will feature Norieliz DeJesus, Director of Policy and Organizing, from La Colaborativa along with one of the clients La Colaborativa serves. We are also hoping to be joined by a representative from the Mass Law Reform Institute.

Save the Date! TPC’s Grant Awards & All Member Meeting will be held on the evening of Thursday, June 3. We’re busy working out the details now but wanted you to be sure to put the date on your calendar for this virtual event. You will hear updates from several of your fellow TPC members as well as learn how the ongoing efforts of Grant Teams this spring will pay off as we meet our new grantees in June. Stay tuned!

Heather Wightman Executive Director

Grantee Impact 1: RIA, Inc.
Liaisons: Becca Cuntala and Valerie Godhwani

The mission of RIA, Inc. is “To stand with and support women with experience in the commercial sex trade, and its associated exploitation, trafficking, and prostitution, by providing a range of community-based services.” RH is committed to helping women – through the transition – from exploitation to independence, with an emphasis on empowerment, resiliency, and healing in the face of pervasive trauma and sexual abuse. (Read more…)

Bonnie Bertolaet Executive Director

Grantee Impact 2: Science Club for Girls
Liaisons: 
Nancy Hsiung and Rebecca Maynard

With women comprising fewer than 26% of the STEM workforce and with women of color and Hispanic origin fewer than 4%, Science Club for Girls (SCFG) is a transformative, impactful organization with life-changing results. SCFG generates excitement, confidence, and literacy in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for girls K-12 from primarily underrepresented communities (racially, economically, and first-generation college bound) by offering free, experiential programs and by maximizing meaningful relationships with women mentors in STEM. (Read more…)

DEI Spotlight
Diversity | Equity | Inclusion

The recent shootings in Atlanta and the rise of Anti-Asian attacks in the last year are unequivocally hate crimes. They cannot be explained away as the result of “bad days,” religion, or even racism alone. Incidents like this are the result of white supremacy, xenophobia, and nationalism driving false narratives about COVID, and longstanding and oppressive stereotypes about Asians and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). In the case of Atlanta, the brutal murders of Asian American women cannot be separated from the fact of their gender and the ways in which women are objectified, and the particular ways in which Asian and AAPI women are fetishized and exploited in our society.

The Philanthropy Connection stands in solidarity with our AAPI members and the AAPI community of Boston and nationwide. TPC condemns these hate crimes and commits to taking action as an organization and supporting members to take individual action as well. TPC suggests the following action items for members:

  • Learn about, donate to, and engage with nonprofit Stop AAPI Hate – “In response to the alarming escalation in xenophobia and bigotry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council, Chinese for Affirmative Action, and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University launched the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center on March 19, 2020. The center tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian American and Pacific Islanders in the United States.”
  • Learn – PBS Film Series ‘Asian Americans’ – “Told through intimate and personal lives, the series will cast a new lens on US history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played in shaping the nation’s story.”

We are compelled to acknowledge that this month is particularly tough. Our country is not only reckoning with AAPI hate crimes and the ongoing COVID pandemic, but also with gun violence and the trial of Derek Chauvin. TPC stands by our Statement of Solidarity and Action released after George Floyd’s murder. We are hopeful that justice will be served in this case. If you or someone you know needs to talk, the National Mental Health Alliance offers 24/7/365 free resources.

Want to share feedback, ideas or opinions about TPC’s ongoing DEI work? Please email the DEI Committee directly at: Diversity@thephilanthropyconnection.org.