The Link

June/July 2021

Oh, What a Year

At TPC’s Board meeting in June, Co-President Barbara Gaskin noted that we had a remarkable year of progress despite the obstacles presented by Covid-19. This issue presents you with a look back to some of those accomplishments, including the introduction of a new membership investment structure that we hope opens TPC up to a broader, more diverse group of women and helps us increase the grant pool.

Upcoming Events

Today, June 28, is Pride Day, the culmination of Pride Month. Please be sure to read the Diversity│Equity│Inclusion section for resources about how to carry the celebration well beyond the month of June.

July and August. We hope you can join us at one of several group parties hosted by TPC members. Check your email for the invitation that was sent last Wednesday, June 23 so you can register today. Can’t find the email? Please ask Amanda Klein, our new administrator, to resend it to you.

Right now! BEST is aiming to help the hundreds of Local 26 hospitality workers who are out of work/seeking new jobs but many don’t have resumes that are application ready. Can you work one-on-one, virtually or in person, with a Local 26 member to create or improve a resume? BEST can provide templates and guidance for those needing it. Please contact Leslie Levenson for more information.

Thursday, July 15. Project Citizenship needs volunteers at its Quincy Market HQ to help staff make follow-up calls to check in with past clients. Contact Leslie Levenson to sign up for morning or afternoon shifts.

Membership Committee 

First, a most appreciative thank you to all who participated in this year’s excellent Grant Awards & All Member Meeting! From generating ideas for connecting with former grantees to serving as Zoom and breakout room hosts to presenting to emceeing, hats off to Susan Benford, Caroline Boeckman, Pamela Civins, Bernice Cramer, Bridget Dunn, Kathy Dunigan, Barbara Gaskin, Taurean Green, Tatiana Joyce, Cheryl Katz, Cathy Konicki, Mary Laplante, Tara Lauriat, Leslie Levenson, Kelsea Médard, Sue Meehan, Jenny Morrison, Osa Osagie, and Cassandra Trujillo. (Many hands make light work indeed.) Finally, a special thank you to Nicole O’Connor, TPC member and owner of Sevenpair Studios, for seamlessly pulling all the videos and slide show together. 

Second, this team can also take a well-deserved bow for its effort to update our membership investment structure. Much research and thought went into the new levels offered, and we encourage you to not only renew your membership today, but to invite women you know to join us. As a reminder, the levels are as follows with each member receiving the same benefits regardless of the amount she can invest.

Sustainer: $2,500

Catalyst: $1,200

Partner: $600 (can be paid quarterly)

Friend: $300 (can be paid quarterly)

Finally, thank you to all who completed the membership survey. Your feedback is critical and much appreciated.

Grants Committee

TPC’s eighth grant cycle concluded when we welcomed 10 exceptional grantees at our Grants Awards & All Member Meeting on June 3. If you couldn’t attend, please set aside an hour to take in the recording of what was truly an excellent program; learn about TPC initiatives and meet our new grantees. Our grants process kicked off last fall when 110 nonprofits submitted LOIs that were ultimately distributed across 14 grant teams of 8-10 women each. After review, teams invited 51 organizations to submit full proposals, which were winnowed down to 29 that received site visits. Of those 29 remaining organizations, 22 were proposed for the final ballot. Kudos to the 121 women who participated in the process. Special thanks to our grant team Captains for their leadership, and grateful acknowledgement to the Deputy Captains, Finance Leads, DEI liaisons, Eligibility Screeners, and the Final Financial Reviewers who all invested extra time and energy to assist teams with their work. This was our first fully virtual grants cycle and, while teams made the most of the conveniences of meeting via Zoom, it is safe to say we are eager to return to in-person gatherings this fall. Please spread the word about the rewards of joining a grant team keep an eye peeled for grant team sign-up notices in September. Renew now so you can participate on a grant team!

Education Committee

The new Education Committee, which was formerly part of Member Engagement, was able to not only make us feel connected but offered a record number of events, ranging from nine Philanthropy Dialogues across two categories (those that helped us understand the work of our grantees and those that addressed current philanthropic trends and practices) and opportunities for more in-depth learning about DEI, such as the 21-Day Racial Equity Challenge. By the numbers, 69% of members attended at least one Dialogue and 40% participated in the Challenge (another chance to participate coming soon).

The pandemic did not stop our volunteer effort, which kicked off last fall when six TPC members who are passionate about voting rights put together a panel discussion for Project Citizenship (PC). “Voting is Voice” featured seven engaging panelists who discussed the history of Women’s Suffrage and current voting rights challenges with over 70 participants. PC also asked for help with written thank you notes and phone calls to donors; Science Club for Girls got much-needed help putting together a marketing plan for a special event and had TPC hands to help assemble STEM learning kits; Neighbors In Need had tremendous, steady support for delivering diapers and assembling food packages; Dignity matters had members to its Framingham warehouse to pack supplies for delivery; and GreenRoots gave out wellness kits with our help, despite the frigid temps. We gave too: Fathers’ Uplift and Dignity Matters benefited greatly from TPC members’ generosity. And there will be more to come…stay tuned about some opportunities for you to get involved with our grantees coming up this fall.

If you’re looking for something to get involved with now, an ad hoc task force to explore the role of advocacy work will be forming over the summer. This group will research practices of other nonprofits and funders, collect input from members, and make recommendations as to how TPC should approach actions that benefit the organizations we support. If you are interested in serving on this task force, please contact Jenny Morrison.

DEI Spotlight
Diversity | Equity | Inclusion

Happy Pride Month! 

Celebrating Pride can be festive, heartfelt, and joyful. It is, in many ways, a manifestation of the belief that Love is Love. Pride is celebrated in June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. But, limiting this celebration to June alone, or stopping at celebration and not actively working to also value, include, listen to, and fight alongside the LGBTQ community, can add up to Rainbow-washing or limiting the recognition of our LGBTQ peers to just one month of the year. 

We hope you took the time to celebrate Pride this month but will also take the time to learn and to take action by tapping into the following resources.

  • Documentary: The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson explores her little-investigated death while celebrating her legacy as a pioneer, in the 1960s and beyond, of what would come to be called the LGBTQ rights movement. 
  • Video: Stonewall Forever, a film from NYC’s LGBT Community Center, brings together voices from over 50 years of the LGBTQ rights movement to explore queer activism before, during, and after Stonewall, including trans people, people of color, and those who experience homelessness who have often been erased from the narrative.
  • Legislation: The Equality Act was re-introduced to Congress this year and passed in the House but has yet to pass in the Senate. The Act is urgently needed as this year alone more than 250 Anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced across the country. Many of those bills specifically target trans children. Sign this HRC petition to join thousands of others in defending transgender rights. 

Want to share feedback, ideas, or resources? Please email us directly at: Diversity@thephilanthropyconnection.org.