By Deirdre Spiropoulos, President and Co-Founder

On January 6th the women of Impact 100 Jersey Coast kicked the year off with their first Membership Drive event. Over the course of the next two months the woman’s grantmaking circle will be hosting “Wednesdays with Impact,” a series of 40-minute interactive Zoom events where women can learn about Impact and engage in enriching discussion about the grants Impact has funded over the past 5 years.

Impact 100’s mission is to award membership-funded transformational grants to local nonprofit organizations, enabling them to strengthen or expand their services, while empowering women to improve lives through philanthropy. Since its founding in 2015, the organization has awarded more than $1.6 million to 14 Monmouth County nonprofits to help address unmet needs and reach underserved populations.

“We invite any and all women to attend our virtual events to learn more about Impact and how their individual donation can make a tremendous impact in the year ahead. Now more than ever our nonprofit community will need the support of our grants. The more members we have, the more grants we can award and the more lives we will impact.”  Lori Missig, Membership Chair

The concept is simple. Any woman is eligible to become a member. Each member makes an annual tax-deductible donation of $1,100. $1,000 is applied directly to the Impact grant fund and pooled together to award six-figure grants to local nonprofits. The process is simple as well. Local nonprofits submit applications for a proposed project or program. Each woman votes for their finalists of choice and members are encouraged, but not required, to participate in the grant review and award process.

Breaking Records

2020 marked a record-breaking year for Impact Jersey Coast. Last March, at the start of the pandemic, they closed their membership drive with a total of 456 members which resulted in a total grant fund of $456,000--or 4 equal grants of $114,000 each.

This past November the group gathered for their Annual Meeting via Zoom, due to COVID, but even though the setting was virtual, the excitement was palpable with nearly 400 members and guests attending. The event is the eagerly awaited culmination of a comprehensive grant review process conducted by more than 100 Impact members. From a total of 61 grant applicants, five finalists representing the categories of Arts & Culture, Children & Families, Education, Environment, Parks, & Recreation, and Health & Wellness were selected to present to the entire membership. Finalist information packets were sent in advance to allow members to prepare, and absentee ballots were included in the final vote count. Captivating video updates from the 2019 Impact grantees were also shown so members could see first-hand the impact of their 2019 collective donations.

The following four Monmouth-county based nonprofits received a grant of $114,000 for high-impact projects:

• • Aslan Youth Ministries
  • Fulfill of Monmouth & Ocean Counties
  • HABcore
  • Monmouth Museum

As the runner-up finalist, American Littoral Society was also awarded $2,500 from OceanFirst Foundation, who was inspired by the impact of the night.

Impact 100 Jersey Coast is actively recruiting members for the 2021 Class.

For more information or to register for a “Wednesdays with Impact” event please visit impact100jc.org/events or email membership@impact100jerseycoast.org.

 

Our 2020 Grantees

 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

  

Meet Impact 100 Jersey Coast Member Jennifer Willey

By Janet Mazur Cavano

You’ve been a member of Impact 100 since 2018 – what inspired you to join?
The idea of bringing women together for good, so we can not only support and empower each other and build connection,  but to do that with the interest of helping to achieve change in our community – it’s the perfect combination of ways that I want to spend my time!

How did you hear of us?
Through my husband, who learned of it through Heather’s husband (Heather Burke, Impact 100 vice president and co-founder). Much of what I do focuses on women’s advancement and empowerment and as soon as I learned about what Impact does, I thought, this is totally my jam!

You are the founder and CEO of  Wet Cement – tell us about your company.
We help to unlock fearlessness to accelerate inclusivity and growth. We do a combination of services from keynote speaking to coaching and consulting, all based around work I started doing in my spare time, when I was an advertising and technology executive. I realized how important it was to empower and connect women.

We’ve been fortunate enough to work with Fortune 500 companies – I’ve been a keynote speaker for International Women’s Day at iCMS; I’ve done trainings and workshops for Johnson & Johnson, Novo Nordisk, Salix. It’s  about advancing women in those organizations, from senior executives down to entry level associates. Our approach is based on a combination of landscape analysis, peer reviewed information and research we did with fearlessness.

So, what holds back U.S. professional women?
We have less confidence in our abilities in the workplace. Yes, outside of work we are more confident in our skills and abilities. Yet at work we don’t advocate; we are less likely to share our most innovative and creative ideas. We are less likely to ask for a raise or promotion and less likely to have a mentor, one of THE most important things that will drive your career.

Do you work with women on an individual basis?
I don’t work 1:1 but we do have a program, Career EXCL, an online women’s leadership with remote, self-paced learning videos with activities and challenges to help women move their mission forward.  

What drove you to create your company?
Looking back, I had a lot of external variables that made me feel “less than.” For example, as a fitness instructor, having to parade around in front of my bosses in workout clothes — to being in male-dominated environments and feeling completely out of place. That, combined with  my own imposter syndrome, held me back from thinking about the leader that I was.

So, back to Impact 100. Tell us about your favorite memory or success story.
I helped as part of the Enrichment Committee to get New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Sheila Y. Oliver to speak about making an impact in the community. Getting to interview her for that experience really showcased how diverse we can and should be to make an impact. It was a very memorable night for me.

Also, we couldn’t have the Summer Soiree this year, so, in an effort to keep the event close as possible to normal, I hosted a virtual workshop for the women of Impact. The goal was to help us to connect and emotionally deal with the pandemic. We focused on defining our sense of purpose in line with the Japanese concept of Ikigai (pronounced Ick-ee-guy), meaning, “a reason for being.”  We provided women with something to focus on and allowed then to authentically build some relationships, talking about those four different dimensions.

What’s the most rewarding part about being a member?
It’s an opportunity for women to leverage the skills that they feel they’re not using all the time and put them to use for good.  Women in Impact are in different phases of their lives – they may have “off-ramped,” from a career, or they may be at a later stage in life, “down-ramping” and starting to think about retirement and “how will I use those skills and strengths?” With all the different committees at Impact, women have the opportunity to leverage those skills or build new ones.

It’s a mission-driven organization where everyone can find a sense of purpose.

What advice would you offer to a woman considering joining the 2021 cohort?
It’s as simple as this – if you love being surrounded by amazing women, you’ll find your crew. If you want to make a difference in the world, this is the best place to do it, You can be as committed or as involved as you choose to be.

What keeps you sane and balanced in these pandemic times and otherwise?
Zumba! Love me some Zumba! I’ve been doing it outdoors in parking lots these last six months. My husband and sons also keep me busy playing  football and wrestling – there’s a lot of activities here.

What’s the most recent book you read?
“The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women; why capable people suffer from imposter syndrome and how to thrive in spite of it,” by Valerie Young. It will change your perspective of who you are.

How about the best piece of life advice you’ve ever received?
This too shall pass.

Jennifer lives in Old Bridge, N.J. with her husband two sons.