Grapevine Giving Circles Network Speaker Series Kicks-off this Month!
We’re excited to announce a new speaker series for our Founding Members! Starting this month, we will offer a regular virtual event where members will hear from various leading thinkers, practitioners, and industry experts. This series will be an exciting opportunity for our Founding Members to learn about local giving, creating community, and amplifying their impact.
This series will be offered to all giving circles. Founding Members will not only get the chance to learn from inspiring people making a difference, but they will also have the opportunity to connect with members of other Grapevine giving circles.
Here’s a sneak peak at our line-up:
Joy Webb, Founder of The Circle of Joy Giving Circle and Member of the Atlanta Inequality in Philanthropy Advisory Group
Joy was raised with a high value of volunteering from her parents, who were active and engaged volunteers in their community. She has spent much of her time giving back to her community as a member of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.
After learning about giving circles at a volunteer program for Atlanta Public Schools, Joy founded the Circle of Joy giving circle in her hometown Decatur, Georgia in 2008. Members of Circle of Joy invest in improving the quality of life for the youth of the Atlanta Metro Area. Their intentional collective giving has led to extraordinary community impact.
If you’d like to learn more about Joy and the Circle of Joy giving circle, check out their website here.
Sara Lomelin, CEO of Philanthropy Together
Sara has a long history of philanthropic service and collective giving. Prior to Philanthropy Together, Sara served as Senior Director of Leadership Philanthropy at Accion Opportunity Fund, and as VP of Philanthropy at the Latino Community Foundation where she created the Latino Giving Circle Network, the largest network of Latinx Philanthropists in the United States.
Along with other giving circle networks and leaders, she founded Philanthropy Together in 2020 as a global initiative to scale and strengthen the giving circle movement to more than 350,000 people in 3,000 giving circles, collectively giving $1 billion by 2025.
If you’d like to learn more about Sara and her amazing team, visit the Philanthropy Together website here.
Lisa LaTrovato, founder of the Fifty Fabulous Women Giving Circle
Lisa began her philanthropic work as a fundraiser for Women and Children’s Hospital. After beginning her career as a Congressional Aide in her home state of New York, Lisa found it much more fulfilling raising money for children than political television commercials. Lisa remains an active community volunteer, serving on the boards of the University at Buffalo School of Management Alumni Association, the Canisius College Master’s of Business Alumni Association, and the Niagara Sailing Club.
She launched the Fifty Fabulous Women Giving Circle in 2019. This giving circle, which expanded to its second chapter in 2021, is dedicated to bringing together professional women of all backgrounds in support of nonprofits that serve women and children throughout Western New York. She hopes that the Circle inspires the next generation of women leaders and becomes her legacy work.
If you’d like to learn more about the Fifty Fabulous Women giving circle, you can learn more here.
Hali Lee, Founder of the Asian Women Giving Circle
Hali Lee has spent her career doing her best to democratize and diversify the field and practice of philanthropy. In 2016, she co-founded the first national network of high net wealth donors of color, the Donors of Color Network, and was part of the co-design team that birthed Philanthropy Together.
In 2005, Hali founded the Asian Women Giving Circle to raise money for New York City-based Asian American women using the arts to promote social change. The Asian Women Giving Circle has since moved over a million dollars to support arts and activism in NYC.
If you want to learn more about Hali and the Asian Women Giving Circle, check out the website here.
