In this episode, TCF President Isaiah Oliver sits down with Courtenay Wilson and Sheila Collier to talk about the growth and impact of the Women’s Giving Alliance. Courtenay is one of the five founders of WGA and has continued to be involved for more than 20 years. Sheila is the president of WGA. She’s been involved for more than 11 years, and has had several WGA leadership positions, which helped to prepare her for her presidency.
The following is a synopsis of the conversation.
Courtenay, the story of WGA begins with a trip you took. You were on a plane, and you read a magazine article had a feature in it about a women’s giving circle in Seattle, Washington. Take us back to that moment and set the scene for what was happening at that time. Also, talk a little bit about what struck a chord for you.
Thank you so much for giving me an opportunity to talk about one of my very favorite topics. In late the late 1990s, I had the privilege of serving as a trustee on The Community Foundation. Andy Bell was the president then, and we were looking for ways to tell people about The Community Foundation, so we had a program called “Widening the Circle.” And it was a series of gatherings to teach people to tell people about Community Foundation. There were five women trustees at that point, in addition to myself, there Ann Baker, Doris Carson, Helen Lane, and Delores Barr Weaver. We decided that we would have a series of get togethers for women. We were so impressed with what these women were doing with their personal philanthropy, and the ideas of what we could do together, that our minds were just buzzing. They were also we were also interested in knowing what was being done locally for women, and Jacksonville, so we contacted some other communities to find out what they were doing. But we weren’t sure where to start. So now the famous magazine article, it was an article in People Magazine, I was traveling and bought this magazine to read on the plane. And the feature was about Colleen Willoughby, who was a founder of The Washington Women’s Fund in Seattle. And it is a collective grant making organization that had been started about five years before that, in 1995. And as soon as I read the article, I knew we had our model. It was a little bit like a jigsaw puzzle. We had all the pieces, and we had put the border together. But we needed to know how to put the other pieces together.
So you come home and you shared this information that you learned with Andy Bell and others. What was their immediate reaction?
They were as excited as I was. Ann Baker was then board chair. And as I said, the others of us were on the board and we were looking to involve women. So I contacted Colleen for details, and she was so helpful. She was a real mentor.
We reached out to our friends and women in the nonprofit and business community and formed a steering committee of approximately 20 women. We set our mission. It was: The Women’s Giving Alliance is committed to enlightening and inspiring the women of Northeast Florida to be leaders in philanthropy, and to demonstrate the impact of collective giving. This mission has changed a little bit, but mostly it’s the same.
Sheila, what led you to get involved in WGA? And what did you enjoy so much about being a member that set you on a trajectory into leadership?
My first introduction to the Women’s Giving Alliance when I was when I was invited by two friends to attend a 2013 Member Forum. As I sat there and listened to the program, which included the careful, thoughtful process about deciding the grants, and the purpose of the grants during the Mental Health Initiative. I was very impressed. Even though I was, at that stage of life, with a full plate of commitments, the membership chair explained that WGA welcomed “happy check writers” to be part of the giving circle. Now that’s something I could do. I was further convinced to join WGA because I was intrigued by the power of collective giving my single $1,500 and your contribution, combined with hundreds of other women’s, would have so much more impact. I joined that day.
What do I enjoy about being a member?
Well, I love being with and working alongside so many interesting and talented women that were from all walks of life, but we’re like minded toward our mission. And I personally love learning new things about the community I live in. And WGA opened my understanding to so many issues and the agencies on the frontline doing the work.
We hope you’ll tune in to hear the full conversation on our podcast, “Forever Forward,” wherever podcasts are found.