By Laura Fitzgerald

As we close out Women’s History Month, we celebrate the strength, dedication and generosity of the women in our community who are making a difference every day.

The Women’s Initiative (WI) is a diverse group of women whose goal is to engage and empower women in giving opportunities while supporting issues they care about. Funding is prioritized for programs, projects, and initiatives that eliminate barriers to education. Preference is given to the early childhood age group.

“Early childhood education has been a long-time priority of the Women’s Initiative because these initial years are the building blocks of better literacy, school readiness, social and other skills that stay with you for a lifetime,” said Therese Damman, chair of the Women’s Initiative Committee. “We support programs that remove barriers because we know it’s important everyone gets these opportunities.” 

In recent years, the committee has granted to things like St. Clair County RESA to support the Imagination Library as well as multi-year funding for preschool tuition assistance, Blue Water Community Action’s Back to School event (which the Women’s Initiative started) that donates school supplies to local elementary and middle schoolers, the Athletic Factory’s at-risk tutoring program for student-athletes, an eight-week creative writing summer program through Books 4 Life, weekend food programs at various schools, and Yale Public Schools baby bulldogs program that provides oral language activities, books and bulldog merchandise to babies up to six months.

The Women’s Initiative got its start when JoAnn Ploeger, a Community Foundation board member at the time, gathered like-minded women in her living room to start a giving circle. Momentum quickly grew, and in December 2002 the Women’s Initiative Endowment Fund was officially established with help from a $100,000 board-designated gift.

Long-time supporter Wendy Krabach first got involved with the Women’s Initiative in 2003 through her work at Woman’s Life when her colleague, Janice Whipple, recommended she join. She distinctly remembers meeting at Trish Gillhooley’s home where women committed to give $500-$1,000 to support the fund. Today these women are known as the WI Charter Members.

“I believe strongly in the importance of women supporting one another,” Wendy said. “I have a deep appreciation for the Women’s Initiative and its mission—especially its focus on empowering women to engage in philanthropy.”

Today Wendy serves as a Women’s Initiative Steering Committee member, which she found her way back to after her husband, Larry, passed away and a friend told her she needed to find something she is passionate about.

Wendy isn’t the only one passionate about supporting women and the causes they care about. WI membership has continued to grow with more than 400 women today who carry on the tradition of gathering to support the fund at the annual 200+ Women Who Care event.

With the help of dedicated members and the Women Who Care event, the endowment fund has grown to $1.2 million and awarded about $645,000 in grants since 2003.

Each year, the Women’s Initiative provides funding to support local organizations, projects, or programs that align with their priorities. If your work aligns, please feel free to submit an application.

Save the Date: Women Who Care Event on Sept. 24

The Women’s Initiative will hold its 200+ Women Who Care event on Sept. 24, 2025 at Solitude Links Golf Course.

To learn more about the Women’s Initiative and how to apply for support, visit https://stclairfoundation.org/womens-initiative/ .