Nearly 20 years ago, I joined WE because I was intrigued by its approach to helping reduce poverty: Trust women, who were facing significant poverty, with a loan to support their aspiration to start and grow a business and raise themselves and their family out of poverty through their own initiative, imagination, creativity and work. At that time, WE was a young organization, and I was lucky to have been asked to be the liaison with our Honduran partner, Adelante. Through this experience, I saw firsthand how WE’s collaborative model of support for women and communities actually works to elevate the status of women and families. I also learned more about the challenges and opportunities, and the successes and setbacks faced by our partners and the women themselves.
Fast-forward to today and WE has evolved and expanded in its reach and successful partnerships regionally and around the world. Just last year, WE celebrated its 20th anniversary of grant giving! I am so grateful to former WE President, Susan Hennenfent, for her leadership and stewardship during this banner year.
But….the work is not done yet! WE provides something unique: we identify and vet high-impact, nonprofit partners that implement economic empowerment programs for women experiencing poverty, locally and around the world. As the new Board Co-President, I’m excited to work with all to leverage this asset to increase our reach and effectiveness.
I am super fortunate and grateful to have Erin Schultz as my Co-President! I look forward to working with and learning from Erin, our dedicated Board members, our Executive Director Sarah Adams, and from our volunteers, donors and supporters. Most importantly, I would like to hear from you about how we can strengthen WE as a long-term, growing, sustainable organization. The work WE accomplishes is too important. Together with you, we will find ways to expand WE’s impact to elevate more women and communities. I welcome your thoughts and suggestions as I embark on this journey. Thank you for your trust.