Leading with an Invitation to Impact
Wendy Steele, President and Founder if Impact100 Global is an economic force.
Part wisdom gatherer, curiosity seeker and pattern master, Wendy studies the environment around her. She finds the rules, assesses the barriers, and follows her instincts. And with a precise and loving hand, she proceeds to break and shape her observations...into something meaningful and exact.
As the founder and CEO of Impact100, Wendy’s roots before Impact were 20 years in banking. ”I understood money and numbers and had little experience with non-profits.”
At the time Wendy lived in Cincinnati where she quietly began studying the city. It had an enviable share of Fortune 500, even 100, companies with women seated in leadership positions. Yet Wendy noticed that in matters of community, women were not well represented.
Her burning question became, “Why in Cincinnati aren’t women more involved in community?” Wendy made the rounds, probing for reasons at business events and ladies lunches.
“Giving takes too much time.” “I’ve given in the past, but I don’t know what happens to the money.” “My gift really won’t matter.”
Following a vacation with her kids in northern Michigan, Wendy sat down with a spiral notebook to reflect. She listed the reasons women shared for not giving time or money in their local community.
The responses were baffling.
She flipped her exploration to solutioning and the model for Impact100 spilled onto the page. The vision. The mission. The framework for giving. The mathematical model that could compound smaller gifts into transformational opportunities: 100 women giving $1,000 each to sponsor $100,000 grants for community was born.
And so did the categories for giving, which have for the most part, remained consistent among Impact100 charters: Arts & Culture, Education, Family, Health & Wellness, and Environment, Preservation and Recreation.
That spiral bound business case and vision was kickstarted with believers, a few rocket fuel investors, and a few basic truths.
· Women are nurturers by heart and when bonded by Purpose unstoppable in finding and funding solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.
· Gifts of $1,000 compound to make $100,000 gifts can transform organizations and the communities they serve.
The Impact 100 model has proven the test of time. With 60 chapters concentrated in the USA with a growing number of global chapters, women have come together to support $123 million in community programs since inception 22 years ago.
“The model is a win-win for those who gather together to make an impact and those who apply and receive their gifts. It truly has proven to be a transformational model that we want to scale to other communities in need,” Wendy Steele.
Get involved!
- by Rita Mann, Impact Member -
· Learn how Impact100 Global works: https://impact100global.org/about-us/#our-model
· Become a Global member! Donor Information (donorperfect.net)
· Look for ways to bring Impact100 to other communities. Chapters - Impact100 Global
