Women’s philanthropic leadership is on the rise around the globe! I had the honor to appear with my friends and colleagues as part of Empatthy’s virtual conference, “Boosting Women’s Philanthropy in Ibero-America” on March 19, 2021, as well as participate in several masterclasses on how to start a giving circle during this past week. I was excited to receive an invitation from Rosa Madera with Empatthy, a graduate of Philanthropy Together’s Launchpad For You program.

It was such a delight to partner with Rosa, Juan Carlos Diaz Bilbao, Jeannie Sager, Carmen Stevens, and the incomparable Sondra Shaw-Hardy. Congratulations to the team on a successful event! I look forward to continuing our partnership to start more giving circles in Latin America!

Hosted in Chile and attended by speakers and participants all over the world, the wonderful two-hour kick-off event highlighted the inspiring and historic efforts of community-based giving models in Latin America, within the context of similar models in North America.

Here are my 7 biggest takeaways from participating in this event.

  1. Women’s philanthropy has always been here, and will continue to grow stronger.
  2. Women’s leadership is not an American or Latin American ideal, but something we can all work toward together.
  3. Relying on trust-based methods of giving will open lines of communication between grantmaking organizations and their grantee partners.
  4. Collaboration- and community-based funding models (like giving circles) are the key to amplifying community activism in both North America and Latin America.
  5. Furthermore, Latin American giving circles are just starting to become prevalent, and supporting these circles will lead to wider philanthropic support around the world.
  6. Programs like Launchpad for Hosts offer critical training to provide start-up instruction and guidance for giving circle networks outside of the US.
  7. We should never make assumptions about who can give and who cannot give, because we will always be surprised.

Read the full article about women's philanthropy by Sara Lomelin at Medium.