UTAH WOMEN INVEST MORE THAN $195,000 INTO WOMEN & GIRLS FOLLOWING ELEVENTH ROUND OF GRANT AWARDS

Salt Lake City, Utah –– The Utah Women’s Giving Circle, a grassroots group formed in 2011 to change the statistics for women in Utah, awarded its eleventh round of grants, having invested more than $195,000 through a total of 56 high impact nonprofit projects.

Members voted on Wednesday evening to award their collective pool of $15,000 across four initiatives, targeting essential services and women returning to the workforce in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic:

$4,000 Grant: Your Community Connection Family Crisis Center
Flexible funding to support domestic violence victims in becoming self-sufficient, such as fees for birth certificates, drivers licenses, and bank accounts.

$4,000 Grant: Family Support Center
Supporting reduced-cost mental health services to women and families who are uninsured, as low as $10 per visit.

$4,000 Grant: Fight Against Domestic Violence
Providing immediate, one-time help for domestic violence victims facing financial emergencies, such as help paying off utility bills or attorney costs for divorce proceedings.

$3,000 Grant: Project Read
Supporting tutoring and small group instruction, helping women improve their ability to read, write, compute, and use technology to improve their opportunities.

Referencing recent news headlines announcing that Utah is the second worst state in the country for its gender wage gap, Safia Keller remarked, “It has been an honor to be the chair of this organization and to recognize the impactful work of the nonprofits who pitched tonight. It is always striking to me just how small an amount of money can make such an enormous difference in an individual’s life, especially as we see women’s statistics in Utah sliding backward. As more women join the Giving Circle, we will be able to fund more of these grassroots, community-based projects that are moving the needle.” According to the business.org study, Utah women earn an average of 30.9% less than men.

Membership is open to Utah women of all ages and incomes and 100% of annual membership contributions are invested back into the community through these annual grant awards. “Witnessing the legacy of the Giving Circle across 11 years has been an important thread of meaning across four generations of women in my own family,” shared one of the founding members, Kim Paulding, Executive Director of the Utah Bar Foundation.

After pitching live to the membership and receiving one of the awards, Shauna Brown, Executive Director of Project Read, reflected, “We are so appreciative of the generosity of the Utah Women’s Giving Circle and the passion for lifting women and girls in the community.”

Women looking for a way to support their communities can join the Utah Women’s Giving Circle through a $250 annual donation or a $50 annual donation for women under 25. Women can become Lifetime Members through a one-time gift of $1,000. Public and corporate donations are welcome. For more information, visit www.utahwomensgivingcircle.com or email wgc@utahcf.org.

The Utah Women’s Giving Circle is fiscally sponsored by the Community Foundation of Utah, a catalyst for philanthropy that is visionary, diverse, and inclusive. More information can be found at utahcf.org.

We are honored to announce our 9th round of grants – funded entirely by annual membership donations!

The Salt Lake Tribune – $5,000 matched by their Report for America grant, funding a dedicated reporter on stories impacting Utah women

Journey of Hope – $5,000 for violence prevention through outreach, education and case management for girls aging out of JJS, DCFS, foster care, and homelessness

South Valley Services – $2,000 toward domestic violence prevention through community awareness materials and incentives to attend Healthy Relationships classes

Girls on the Run Utah – $2,000 in scholarships enabling underserved girls to participate in this life-changing program and culmination 5K (3x grantee!)

Yoga Forward – $1,000 to empower a female inmate serving a life sentence as an ongoing yoga teacher trainer, impacting potentially hundreds of women in the Utah State Prison Timpanogos Facility

Thank you to our members for your dedication to a legacy of changing the statistics for Utah’s women and girls!

And thank you to all of the incredible nonprofits who have responded to the call for projects that move the needle!

Ready to become an everyday philanthropist?

Join by the end of February and take advantage of the option to spread out your $250 donation – join for just $23/month!

Join online: UtahWomensGivingCircle.com/join

Spread it out: Call the Community Foundation of Utah at 801-559-3005 M-F during business hours

2015 Grant Awardees

On January 27th, members of the Utah Women’s Giving Circle voted to distribute $20,000 across all six nonprofit organizations on the ballot, an unprecedented decision reflecting the important projects presented by each organization:

Utah Public Radio was awarded a $7,000 grant to curate a year-long series entitled, Objectified. More Than a Body, building off of the Giving Circle’s 2015 focus. Segments will address issues of health, well-being, and education specific to Utah women and girls.

Holding Out HELP, an organization that has been helping women and girls successfully transition out of polygamy for eight years, received a $5,000 grant to implement critical support groups targeting body image, internalized self-worth, and confidence.

Beauty Redefined was awarded a $3,500 grant toward deploying their research-proven online body image course to female students at a Utah high school, paired with their nationally recognized school-wide presentation.

Art Access received a $2,500 award to support their 2016 Body Image Project, which will incorporate a gallery exhibition with diverse opportunities to deepen the conversation on the impact of body image on Utah women and girls.

Utah State University’s Aggie Care Smart Girl Camp was awarded $1,500 to support scholarships for low-income junior high girls in Northern Utah who would otherwise be unable to participate in this self worth centered curriculum.

Dixie State University’s Women’s Resource Center was awarded $500 toward their Body Image Literacy Project, continuing an important campus-wide dialogue.

The Giving Circle leverages small donations from everyday philanthropists into powerful grants that create genuine impact in the community, empowering Utah women and girls.

With this round of grants, the Giving Circle has invested more than $93,000 back into the Utah community.  

Each year, the Lifetime Members of the Utah Women’s Giving Circle come together to provide guidance and direction to the Circle.

In November, the Lifetime Members addressed our mission, identifying the need to clearly communicate our role as an advocate for Utah women and girls – both through key events that open dialogues and minds AND through our unique grant making process.

In 2016, the Utah Women’s Giving Circle asks: 

Join us for our Spring and Fall events to delve into this key focus, become aware of your own biases, and discover how you can challenge these hidden beliefs to empower yourself and the women and girls in your life.

The Giving Circle’s lifetime members came together in the Fall to set the course for an even bigger impact.

In 2015, the Giving Circle will be focusing in on a pervasive barrier to women’s empowerment: the objectification of women and girls and the many ways that the inherent value of a woman is undermined.

Our vision is a sustained conversation within our community, leading to action, targeted grants, and an enduring impact.

Our 2015 events will shed light on this focused topic, spur dialogue, and create momentum around actions that we can all take to support a foundational view of women and girls as uniquely powerful individuals with limitless potential at school, at work, and as leaders in their homes and communities.

Dorsey & Whitney has aligned with our 2015 focus as the leading sponsor. We invite your company to join them in recognizing the true value of Utah’s women and girls.

Contact us for more information at wgc@utahcf.org for more information or download the pledge form here.

Last night, more than 50 of our members came together with a dozen representatives of the nonprofits on our ballot to learn more about these incredible organizations and vote to award our fourth cycle of grants.

As always, the Annual Voting Party left a deep imprint on all of us involved. With more than 55 initial applications, narrowing down the ballot to nine nonprofit programs was already a difficult process. After hearing from each of these worthy organizations, the wait while votes were counted was full of excitement and anticipation.

We were honored to award $23,000 in grants to these four fabulous nonprofits:

$8,000 Grant:
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake & Weber-Davis
SMART Girls Program

The SMART Girls Program engages small groups in informational and experiential learning activities to empower female club members with the knowledge and skills necessary to practice healthy lifestyle choices.

$8,000 Grant:
Child & Family Support Center of Cache County
Women’s Sexual Assault Therapy Group

Groups are designed to help 60+ participants understand and overcome emotional challenges, achieve and maintain healthy relationships, and prepare to accomplish their goals with confidence.

$5,000 Grant:
Erin Kimball Memorial Foundation
H.O.M.E. Program

H.O.M.E. (Housing, Options, Mentoring, Empowerment) is a bridge from shelter to independence, providing transitional housing and support services to women forced into homelessness by domestic violence and sexual assault.

$2,000 Grant:
Utah for Veterans
Women Warrior Trips to Zion

Women Warrior Trips to Zion National Park for two groups of 4 Utah veterans who have experienced sexual assault or harassment with the support of a volunteer therapist.

Congratulations to our 2014 grantees!

The Utah Women’s Giving Circle is an organic and tight-knit group of women who are committed to creating a state where every woman and girl has every opportunity to thrive.

This past year, the Giving Circle opened up the opportunity to become a Lifet

ime Member through a $1,000 donation to the endowment, creating a lifetime impact. But this wasn’t enough for some of our incredible members.

Last night, at the annual Voting Party, the Giving Circle was proud to recognize Linda Johnson and Sallie Shatz for living up to more than one life and making additional $1,000 donations to the Giving Circle’s endowment.

Thanks to these dedicated women, the Giving Circle has established the Nine Lives Award to recognize them and future Lifetime Members living up to multiple lives!

The Giving Circle is proud to support the upcoming Beauty Redefined event being hosted by the Women and Leadership Project at Utah Valley University.

https://utahwomensgivingcircle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Beauty-Redefined-Event-Flyer.pdf

RSVP Here (more space opened up in an overflow area!)