Women & Girls Turns Fifteen
The feeling was one of success and great optimism at the 15th Anniversary celebration of the Community Fund for Women & Girls on November 16, 2010.
Entering the
Yale Art Gallery on a rainy evening, guests received a warm welcome from Linda Koch Lorimer, Vice President of Yale University and Secretary of Yale Corporation.
A long-time supporter of the fund, Lorimer spoke of the gifts of intelligence and optimism as being at the heart of the Community Fund for Women & Girls. And of a new “sister’s connection” of caring and contributing to the local community. Afterwards, guests were shown a new documentary created by the Fund entitled,
I’m A Philanthropist: How Women Are Changing America’s Charitable Landscape.
The film was designed to be shared, “with individuals, groups and organizations to advance our complementary missions and further promote the many contributions of
women in our society,” explained Helene Robbins, Chair of the Community Fund for Women & Girls. (Visit the video section of the Fund's
Resources for Women's Philanthropy page to see the documentary and for information on how to obtain a copy of the dvd).
Following Lorimer's remarks, event co-Chair Lesley Mills emphasized that the work of the Community Fund for Women & Girls is not only captured through making
strategic grants but also by growing women’s philanthropy for the benefit of the community.
The documentary was one way to get, "women talking about, excited about and claiming their own philanthropy,” echoed Robbins when it was her turn at the podium.
Robbins next shared the personal journey that inspired her to create the Ercolano Astorino Fund for the benefit of women & girls' programs in perpetuity. Her fund was established as part of the
Giving Women Endowment Building campaign and is named for her two grandmothers. One a seamstress, the other a homemaker who cared for foster children.
"I wanted to honor those two women for whom I was named and I wanted to create a vehicle that would serve as a lesson in philanthropy for my daughter and granddaughter," said Robbins. "My story is part of the Fund’s
Giving Women effort and there are many other stories that have been told through this endeavor. We launched Giving Women to bring the Fund’s endowment to $2 Million. Being halfway there, we are very excited about what the progress is allowing us to do."
The progress to which Robbins referred was evident in the last announcement of the evening delivered by Treasurer Eugenie Gentry. With enthusiasm and appreciation for the Fund's donors, Gentry announced that the Fund will award its first ever multi-year grant totaling $50,000 in collaboration with
Women’s Health Research at Yale in 2011.
With this grant, the Fund is focusing attention on the fundamental inequities in modern health research that adversely affect women and girls. Details will be announced in the coming Spring.