Dear Foundation Friends:
 | Becky Jones West,
WFGM Board Chair |
The Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis (WFGM) welcomes the 2011 year with a commitment to bold goals, big ideas and measurable IMPACT. Your tremendous support has allowed us to increase our awareness, enhance our leadership and help women and children living in poverty achieve self-sufficiency.
Great anticipation, unbridled energy and extreme passion fill the Women's Foundation atmosphere as we gear up for our 2011 Annual Tribute Luncheon and Symposium. The buzz is in the air, and we are planning another stellar event that promises to inspire and engage a shared vision for a better Memphis. We proudly announce our Leadership Roundtable and Committee Co-Chairs, who will galvanize volunteers and Women's Foundation staff to successfully host our annual celebration. This dynamic group of women brings strategic and professional expertise to ensure another history-making event. We look forward to sharing this phenomenal experience with each of you.
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PHILANTHROPY
Power of the Purse
Lauryce Graves-McIver, WFGM Board Member, Board Development and Nominations Chair
 Women's philanthropy is about connections. Connecting passion to impact. Connecting a monetary investment to a measurable opportunity.
Women philanthropists give not only from their pocketbooks but also their hearts, minds, body, intellect and will. A study of more than 10,000 large donors by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University suggests that while men describe their giving as practical, women describe theirs as emotional, an obligation to help those with less. In the most simplistic and purest sense - women are opening their purses and giving their dollars to other women and their families.
Purses say a lot about who we are. They hold things near and dear to us. Their contents - money, makeup, and communication devices - make us feel powerful and beautiful. With these things in our possession, we can rule the world! However, true power of the purse means using our resources, any of them, to better our family, community and the world. We carry our man-made resources in beautiful purses that match our outfits. But our other resources - the activity of our hearts, hands and minds - are carried in our big beautiful souls. Both purses look good on us!! Learn more about the 2011 Power of the Purse Auction and how to make a donation. |
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LEADERSHIP
Nominations for our 2011 Legends Award are being accepted now. We invite you to nominate a woman whose service and accomplishments have made an impact on the Memphis community. The Legends Award was created to pay tribute to women whose work embodies the mission of the Women's Foundation. The purpose of this award is to applaud these trend-setting women, whose visionary and innovative work is paramount in their specialized areas of outreach.
2011 Legends Award Recipients are honored through one-of-a-kind art created in their honor that personifies their accomplishments and perseverance. Each work of art will be unveiled at the Legends Award Reception on April 19, 2011 at the Peabody Skyway Ballroom, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
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Women's Foundation 2010-2011 Grantee Partners
Spotlight on Leadership Development
 | | Jim Sdoia, Founder and Board President |
Memphis Urban Debate League Advisory Board -
Developing the Leaders of Tomorrow
The mission of the Memphis Urban Debate League is to provide Memphis City Schools high school students with life-changing personal growth through competitive interscholastic debate. The program presents debaters with the opportunity to experience this growth in a variety of ways.
Academic growth is easily seen by their mastery of complex debate topics that require the participants to spend hours of reading, research, writing and developing plans and attack strategies in preparation for debate tournaments. Read more ...
 | Deborah Frazier,
Co-Founder and Program Director |
Blues City Cultural Center, Inc. -
Seek to Serve - Hope Day Zone Project When Deborah and Levi Frazier, Jr. founded Blues City Cultural Center (BCCC) over 30 years ago, little did they know that they would go from writing and producing plays about social ills to actually implementing programs to combat many of these same challenges. The Fraziers realized that a theatrical production may end, but the issues never seem to go away. Seek to Serve, a leadership training program for the underserved and underutilized in our community is the brain child of MHA director and Memphis CFO Robert Lipscomb and BCCC co-founder Deborah Frazier. Participants are recruited from affordable housing locations in the city and attend six months of classes with themes ranging from health care to leadership development to entrepreneurship. Read more ... Learn more about WFGM's 2010-2011 Grantees and Community Partners.
Community Leadership Luncheons  | | Dr. Beverly Cross |
BRIDGES is hosting a regular forum where local, regional and national leaders will gather with the community to discuss issues that affect us all. The first gathering is set for Wednesday, January 12 at noon and will feature Dr. Beverly Cross, WFGM Board Member and Grants Committee Chair. Dr. Cross, a member of the BRIDGES Board of Trustees and holder of the Moss Chair of Excellence in Urban Education in the College of Education at The University of Memphis will make a presentation titled Educational Justice: A Key Driver to a New Memphis Civic and Economic Infrastructure. Register for the luncheon. |
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ADVOCACY IN ACTION
Half in Ten Campaign
How much does it cost to make ends meet in your community? How much does child poverty cost our economy every year? How many people did unemployment insurance keep out of poverty last year? To test your knowledge of these and other questions, take the Half in Ten's interactive poverty quiz. Then sign the Half in Ten campaign pledge to cut poverty in half in ten years.
The Worst of Times: Extreme Poverty in the United States, 2009
According to a recent report issued by the Southern Education Foundation (SEF), extreme poverty in the United States increased during 2009 by 12.9 percent, expanding the number of people living below 50 percent of the poverty threshold by more than 2.1 million. As a result, extreme poverty was the fastest growing income group in America last year.
Read SEF's full 24-page report.
Kappa Delta Sorority Confidence Coalition - Confidence Summit for Girls
Vote to make it happen. Help Kappa Delta Sorority get enough votes to receive a Pepsi Refresh grant for $250,000 to host a summit that will impact the lives of women and girls in Memphis.
Click on the Pepsi Refresh VOTE banner at www.confidencecoalition.org.
 Women and Economic Recovery: Investing in Child Care
January 19, 1:00 p.m. CST
Data Book Focus Group
The Urban Child Institute is conducting an evaluation of "The State of Children in Memphis & Shelby County: Data Book 2010" and is looking for community members who are familiar with the book to participate in a focus group. Interested individuals should email databook@tuci.org for additional information.
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Women's Foundation Team Feature
We are pleased to welcome as full-time associates Cheryl Calcote, Accounting Administrative Assistant, and Olivia Kirk, Executive Assistant.
 | | Cheryl Calcote |
"I feel blessed to be of service to an organization that serves so many so well," says Cheryl.
"Numquam sis ex toto otiosus, sed aut legens, aut scribens, aut orans, aut meditans, aut aliquid utlilitatis pro communi laborans." - Thomas à Kempis
 | | Olivia Kirk |
"I am grateful and proud to be a member of the WFGM staff," says Olivia. "I have observed the Foundation's work and am excited for the opportunity to work with the Board of Directors and staff as we continue transforming the Memphis community."
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Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
 
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Legends Award Reception
Tuesday, April 19, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Power of the Purse Auction Thursday, April 28, 10:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Tribute Celebration Tuesday, April 28, 11:30 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Youth Leadership Forum Tuesday, April 28, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
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Upcoming Events
Call for Volunteers!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011,
5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
We need your help at our
WFGM Phon-a-thon.
Please contact Brenna Ragghianti at brennaragghianti@wfgm.org
or 901.578.9346 to volunteer.
The phon-a-thon will be held at
Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women,
6225 Humphreys Blvd., 38120.
Food and beverages will be provided.
On Cable Tonight Show with the
Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis - Cable TV 17
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
6:30 p.m.
Special Guests:
Jim Sdoia, Founder and President - Memphis Urban Debate League Advisory Board and
Deborah Frazier, Co-Founder and Program Director, Blues City Cultural Center
Young Women Philanthropists
Speaker Series featuring Ellen Cooper Klyce
"A Philanthropic Journey"
Thursday, January 27
6:00 p.m.
A fun evening of networking and connecting your passion with possibilities for making a difference. Contact Kristin Byars at kristin.byars@ey.com to register for the event. |
Have a Passion for Our Work?
We are recruiting volunteers for
the 2011 Annual Tribute Luncheon
and Symposium.
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Share a Story!
If you have a story about a phenomenal woman who is impacing the community, transforming women's lives and the face of poverty and supporting the work of the Women's Foundation, we want to hear from you! Please make suggestions or submit information regarding potential e-news stories to jackieoselen@wfgm.org or
call 901.578.9346 x212. |
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