Our History

Without a doubt, when Hazel Bales and a group of Southern Indiana women founded the Women’s Foundation of Southern Indiana (WFSI) back in 2007, they had a vision. A vision that recognized the philanthropic potential of women in Clark, Floyd, and Harrison counties. While the women of WFSI made an impact in the lives of women and children in our community for years, they wanted to accomplish more.

In 2016, WFSI heard Wendy Steele talk about expanding and encouraging women’s role in philanthropy. Her vision of empowering women to see themselves as activists funding large grants to make an impact within their communities was exactly what the women of WFSI were hoping to achieve. In 2017, WFSI evolved into Impact100 Southern Indiana and awarded their first grant. Continuing into the present, a diverse group of women of all ages, stages in life, income levels, and backgrounds have come together to fund transformational grants in our community each year. After the first grant of $50,000 in 2017, Impact100 Southern Indiana has now raised over $550,000!

For more information about how Impact100 started, see our council story.

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The Impact100 Model

The Impact100 model is readily available to all communities who wish to implement it. The model is designed to empower women to see themselves as philanthropists and overcome the barriers women have historically faced in this arena. The model is designed for transformational grant-making within local communities, with a minimum grant size of $100,000.

At Least 100 Women
Come Together

Each Woman
Donates $1,000

$100,000
is donated to a
Local Charity

Become a Member
Focus Areas

We provide nonprofit organizations with grants in increments of at least $100,000 across five broad Focus Areas:

Arts & Culture

Education

Family

Health & Wellness

Environment

Apply for a Grant
How it Works

The annual $1,000 donations of Impact100 Southern Indiana members are pooled into a grant fund to be given away to nonprofit organizations in our community. The number and size of grants awarded are dependent on our membership, but our goal is to give incremental grants of $100,000 each year. Grants can be awarded in the areas of Arts & Culture, Education, Family, Health & Wellness, and Environment. Grants are awarded based on a vote of the Impact100 Southern Indiana membership at our annual meeting. Every woman who gives $1,000 or more has one vote.

Timeline

Board of Advisors

Leah Huber
President
Lori Lewis
Vice-President
Lori Forbes
Treasurer
Lindsey Lawrence
Secretary/Marketing Co-Chair
Melissa Speck
Past President
Danielle Archer
Marcia Bickers
Past President
Kelsi Dempster Chew
Events Chair
Sue Christopher
Grants Chair
Debbie Farinelli
Fancy Fulton-Smith
Jody Reschar Heazlitt
Michelle Henderson
Chelsea Lawrence
Marketing Co-Chair
Leaha McCrite
Tamara Morris
Donna Riley
Jan Sherrell
Cindy Sisloff
Membership Chair
April Starks
Julie Straight
Stacie Thompson
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