The Link

October 2021

It’s Time to Renew Your Membership!

If you have not already renewed or pledged to renew your TPC membership, we ask that you do so as soon as you can. Your timely renewal or pledge has a substantial impact as we determine the size of our 2022-23 grant pool, and plan for TPC’s annual budget. Also, please remember that you need to be renewed or pledged by November 1 to join a Grant Team. (Recruiting leadership teams is under way and there is a need for Finance Leads. Please contact Sue Meehan if interested.)

Invite Friends to Join TPC: Sharing TPC’s new investment structure is another significant way to help broaden our reach and increase the size of our grant pool! Posting on social media really works as do personal emails. With our new structure, TPC is more accessible so please help us spread the word! Need help with how to ask friends? Access an email template that you can send to friends and colleagues. Social media savvy? Use this suggested text for a social media post. We are already seeing results from these posts so please take some time to help grow TPC!

Writing Thank You Cards: TPC’s Membership Committee needs a member to assist with writing welcome notes for those who have joined TPC. The notes are short and writing them is quite simple. Please contact Caroline Boeckman at if you are interested in volunteering to assist with the notes.

Congratulations to Gladys Vega!

We are delighted to tell you that Gladys Vega, Executive Director of last year’s grantee Chelsea Collaborative, has been selected by the MA Conference for Women as one of three winners of the “Share Joy” promotion. The panel of judges selected Gladys because of her selfless, joyful support of all those in need in the community of Chelsea. Though nominations this year were anonymous, TPC had nominated Gladys the previous year for her relentless energy and drive to help Chelsea residents combat the devastating effects of COVID-19 in their community. Gladys will be able to share her story during the conference, reaching the more than 10,000 women who will attend virtually. In addition, she will receive a gift card. We are pretty sure she will use it by giving back to the community she works for so tirelessly.

Recap of September 20 Grantee Networking Event

TPC hosted its first-ever event specifically designed for grantees. Facilitated by TPC Co-President Barbara Gaskin, this virtual networking event brought together 12 leaders from this and last year’s grantees. Mieke Rice, TPC’s Liaison Coordinator, provided a summary of the lively, informative discussion. (Read more…)

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, October 27, 6:15-7:15 pm, via Zoom. Please register to attend an informational meeting if you’re interested in learning more about participating in the shorter 7-Day Racial Equity Challenge. This session will provide details about the Challenge – an affecting, amazing experience in which more than 110 TPC members have participated.

November 1 through November 7. If you already know you would like to participate, please register for the 7-Day Racial Equity Challenge. The Challenge offers participants a self-guided learning journey to examine the history and impacts of racism and other structural inequities. The Challenge helps us as a collective to deepen our learning about and commitment to racial equity. You may register even if you participated in the 21-Day version.

Monday, November 15, 6:30-7:30 pm, via Zoom. Finding Your Lane: Now that I’ve participated in the Challenge, what can I do? Join your fellow participants for this opportunity to discuss the impact of taking the Challenge and potential next steps as you apply what you have learned.

Tuesday, December 7, evening (TBD).  Please mark your calendar for a Philanthropy Dialogue with Bread & Roses and Neighbors In Need. Watch your in-box for an invitation to register.

Member Impact: Super Volunteer, +1

“We both got jobs!”

That was the very gratifying text TPC member Linda Corinne and her husband Don received after helping Jissely and Delroy create basic résumés over a one-hour Zoom meeting. TPC volunteers Elyse Pipitone and Mary Wasmuth also signed up with BEST Hospitality Training and have guided job seekers with the résumés needed to find positions at the new Omni Seaport Hotel. “I truly believe that your help to make my résumé look professional was very effective,” Hasaan told Mary in a thank you note; he was hired as dining staff.

DEI Spotlight
Diversity | Equity | Inclusion

Many of you are likely aware of the recent tragic story of Gabby Petito. This NPR article addresses some objections to the mass media coverage of Gabby’s case by members of the Native American community, and briefly outlines the lack of coverage of an “epidemic of missing and murdered Native American women” in Wyoming and the wider U.S. This Instagram post from Anti-Racism Daily (great follow if you don’t already) also provides an overview of the issue. This Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we thought it would be helpful to acknowledge these issues, as the Native American community is all too often overlooked, and to explore ways that we can educate ourselves on the matter and/or help.

We don’t intend to detract from the tragedy of Gabby Petito’s story merely to highlight the disparity in media coverage across race and ethnicity when something like this happens. A local Wyoming newspaper, near where Gabby Petito was found, noted that since 2000, Indigenous people have made up 21% of homicides in Wyoming, even though they are only 3% of the population, according to a Wyoming report on missing and murdered Indigenous people. The report states that 30% of Indigenous murder victims – and 18% of murdered Indigenous women and girls – had newspaper media coverage, compared with 51% of white murder victims.

Additional resources on this and related topics:

• Toolkit: Activist’s Guide for Supporting Indigenous Peoples’ Day
• Article: News Media Can’t Shake “Missing White Woman Syndrome,” Critics Say

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