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Events are so important to us because community is at the core of who we are. CWIP hosts a variety of networking forums, seminars, workshops, & panels that allow our members to learn together and from each other. We connect women with resources, mentors, and mentees in order to help our community grow and flourish. From breakfast events to lunch events to after-work events, we are committed to providing opportunities for Chicago to connect, flourish, and leave feeling empowered.
Rachael Marusarz vividly remembers her first Chicago Women in Philanthropy (CWIP) event nine years ago, when she was a relatively introverted development officer at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. She enjoyed the event and learned a great deal from the speakers, but the most meaningful moment was when a program officer from a local foundation told her, “I’ll take off my funder hat, you take off your grantee hat, and we’ll just be two women here to support one another.” It was that atmosphere of support that propelled her involvement with CWIP.
How do you sum up a year? Especially one like 2020 part two (aka 2021). If you’re CWIP co-chair Jacki Davidoff who led the CWIP 2021 Annual Meeting on Wednesday, August 25, 2021, you would say that despite the challenges we all faced, we met them head-on and together with our CWIP community. In the past year, our CWIP committees connected us to each other and our communities, all while strengthening our organizations, our city, and ourselves with a collective resolve to enact change. Highlights from CWIP’s past year included a strong focus on women and girls of color, elevating diverse voices in philanthropy and community work, and moving racial equity forward in our sector.
On Monday, February 17th, Chicago Commons hosted 25 CWIP members and 6th grade girls from Holy Family Ministry School for the Lifting As They Climbed walking tour of the Bronzeville community.
Our CWIP community of women and non-binary people give of ourselves—our labor, our resources, our care, and our leadership—to propel the communities and nonprofit, philanthropic, and corporate-giving enterprises we serve.
