Please join the WIF Board in welcoming Jessica Lehmann as our new Operations Manager. Jessica, who grew up in the Charlotte area, is happy to return to Charlotte after five years in Virginia. Most recently, she served as Executive Director of Reading Enriches All Children in Norfolk.

Jessica and her boyfriend, James, are living in the Lake Norman area. She loves to cook and says her specialty - just in time for our cooler fall weather - is tomato-based pasta sauce. And her secret ingredient? A bit of sugar.

After five years away, we asked her what has changed in Charlotte since she's been gone: Traffic, she answered quickly. A lot more traffic. She also said that it's nice to see names of community leaders she knew before that are still active in the community, like WIF's own Mary Lou Babb.

Guess where her first job was, back when the 34-year-old was just 16 and living in Concord? The Smelly Cat Coffee Shop, now a mainstay in NoDa, was located on Union Street in Concord then.

We asked her to share a bit of her story with us.

What sparked your interest in WIF?

I know, from having run such a nonprofit for the last three years in Virginia, how a grant from an organization like WIF can deeply impact mission. I immediately knew that I wanted to lend my skills and experience to such a great organization.

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Looking At The Big Picture     

Big picture, the impact of our collective giving has been the investment of over $3.7 million in 49 nonprofits who are doing great things in our community. We understand the impact of our grants because WIF's Community Impact Committee works with each grantee to establish outcome measures and follows up to see what was successful and what was not.

The Strategic Planning process has focused us on looking at the even bigger picture, both internally and externally. With respect to our grants, we want to build on WIF's strong grant making process to be more innovative and strategic and to have even greater impact. [See Strategic Goal #2]

The Strategic Plan recommends that we conduct a 10-year impact study of the grants we've awarded. While we have a very good understanding of the impact of each individual grant, we have never looked at the overall impact of the 49 grants awarded in the community or in the five focus areas. How has WIF's grants impacted education or the arts or healthcare in Charlotte-Mecklenburg over the past 10 years?

Social Hour For Social Issues         

More than 100 members and guests attended Social Hour for Social Issues on October 27th at Discovery Place. Here are a few photos to remind you of the event.

Holly French, Mary Sherrill Ware, Katie Miller, Veronica Kenny-Macpherson, Caroline McGuire

Nancy Falls, Pamela Harris-Young, Mary Lou Babb

Jean Veilleux, Sandra Conway