Susan Roberts, the President and Founder of 100 Women Who Care Boston, chats with Boston Common in anticipation of her February 28th event.
Janet Sweeney, Sarah Deery, Susan Roberts, Cate Hewett, Ana Senior and Hillary Ferrer
Tell me more about 100 Women Who Care. What impact does your organization make on our city?
The mission of 100 Women Who Care Boston is to strengthen our community through the power of collective giving. We are a members-only giving circle of philanthropic women dedicated to amplifying the awareness and support of deserving nonprofits in the greater Boston area. Since our inaugural event in 2017, we have awarded over $100,000 to 18 nonprofits supporting the local area. Some of these are smaller organizations that do not often get the major individual or institutional donors the larger, well-known nonprofits are used to. That makes our collective contribution feel that much more impactful for the people working day in and day out for amazing causes that help strengthen our community and our city.
What makes 100 Women Who Care Boston so special?
100 Women Who Care Boston is a wonderful example of the power and impact of women. When we started the Boston chapter in 2017, our goal was to provide an outlet for busy women to support their local community, network and connect socially via a fun approach that required only a brief commitment of time. Coming together with giving-minded women can be incredibly inspiring. We connect, learn and grow together.
Since starting in 2017, you've awarded over $100,000 to deserving non-profits in the Greater Boston Area. How is this decided? And how does it feel to be making such a large difference?
100 Women Who Care Boston is a giving circle, a form of participatory philanthropy where a group of individuals donate their money to a pooled fund. Our members commit to donating $100 per quarter ($400 per year) to support local charities. At each event, we nominate, discuss, and select a local charity to receive our collective donation, all in less than two hours. All donations are awarded to the selected charity for a total group donation of $10,000 or more. It is incredibly rewarding to support the amazing charities impacting greater-Boston. There exists such a wide range of non profits, each with an important mission. It is our great honor to contribute to these charities—they are doing amazing things!
Your next event is February 28. Tell me more about what can be expected.
Our events are a wonderful opportunity to support local charities while socializing with a group of diverse and amazing women. Our Feb 28th meeting is being held at Dubliner Irish Pub in Boston. Check-in begins at 5:30 and we officially kick off at 6 PM. Our goal for each event is to support local charities while also giving our members an opportunity to connect and socialize. We hold our events at local establishments in Boston that allow attendees to mingle and network throughout the event. During our meeting we randomly select three charities, nominated by members, to be considered for our donation. The nominating members make a brief, informal presentation about the organization to the group and share why they are deserving of our collective donation. After our three presentations are complete, we vote and select our donation recipient. It is that easy! In addition, at each event we love to hear how our previous donation was leveraged by the recipient charity. Lovin’ Spoonfuls was selected by our members to receive our Q4 2022 donation and therefore will be joining us in February. Our members report feeling inspired after each meeting!
What are you most excited about?
As busy women we are juggling multiple, diverse priorities in our day-to-day lives. What I love about 100 Women Who Care Boston is that it gives women an opportunity to support their community in an impactful way without a significant commitment of time. Together, we have provided support to charities across a variety of causes. The power of women working together is unstoppable and we have a great time doing it!
Why is it so important to support this cause?
We are driven by the desire to make a difference in our world and to support our community. Our engagement with local organizations creates a deeper level of understanding, empathy, and response to community need. When we started 100 Women Who Care Boston, we recognized that many women wanted to do more for their community but did not have an outlet that fit into their already hectic lives. We are proud to have provided a forum which supports that challenge. We are inspired by the amazing charities we have had an opportunity to meet. Together we can do so much!
Photography by: Courtesy of Women Who Care Boston
