Q: Tell me a bit about yourself, how do you like to spend your time?

Sarah: I am in the process of completing a second master’s degree in legal studies with an emphasis in sustainability law, so when not spending time being a wife, mom and horseback riding, I am probably studying. In a former life, I had a successful career as a fitness entrepreneur, including writing Kettlebells For Dummies. I consider myself a recovering entrepreneur but am a lifetime kettlebell-er!

Linda: I am a partially-retired mother of two twenty-somethings. I enjoy still being engaged in the business world through the four boards of directors of which I am a member. When I’m not in board meetings or on board calls, you can find me on the golf course, the ski mountain or hiking somewhere, mostly likely with my life partner, Robert Shepler. We also love to travel (now that we can do that again) and I love to spend time with my son and daughter who live in Portland, OR and Los Angeles, respectively.

Q: Are there any areas of giving that you feel an especially strong connection to? What issues are you passionate about?

Sarah: I think it is easy to look around the Wood River Valley and think we are only a well-to-do community. But, the fact is Blaine County is 99.7% rural, and is at its heart an agricultural community. I have a strong connection to the ag community because I own livestock. My passion issues include land, air, water, local agriculture and education. To me, all of these systems are our interconnected lifeline and deserve our attention.

Linda: I am most passionate about education. I have done a fair amount of pro bono and philanthropic work in education and my daughter was a teacher in South Central LA for five years. I have seen what a good education can do for children of all backgrounds, and believe that, as a democracy, we must make education of all of our citizens the highest priority.

Q: What initially brought you to the WRWF?

Sarah: I think I am really lucky, because my next-door neighbor is WRWF Board President Sandy McCullough!

Linda: My friend from The Valley Club, Trinka Dyer got me interested. I wanted to meet other philanthropic women and learn about the nonprofits serving our community. I have been very impressed with the work of the Foundation and have made many new friends.

Q: What is your past experience working with philanthropic organizations, nonprofits, or generally with grants (writing, making, receiving).

Sarah: I served as board president for a struggling education nonprofit – I think the “job” was given to me because no one else would do it. Being in that position was humbling and gratifying—the organization is strong today, in part, because of the hard work accomplished by our board. I also served on fundraising and grant’s committees for an organization that helped families financially when their child was diagnosed with pediatric cancer. Emotionally, that was the hardest volunteer work I have ever done.

Linda: I have a wide variety of experience including grant making, consulting to nonprofits and serving on nonprofit boards. When I was at the Boston Consulting Group, we did a lot of nonprofit pro bono work. After 19 years there, I became Managing Director at Google.org, Google’s hybrid philanthropy arm. There we award grants to nonprofits as well as investments in for-profit companies (such as renewable energy and bottom-of-pyramid private equity investments). Most of my work at Google was in East Africa and India working on government and job creation through private sector investment and support. After Google, I joined the boards of Education Outside and The First Tee, both involving investments in educating young people. About four years ago, I joined the board of directors of Schwab Charitable, Charles Schwab’s Donor Advised Fund (DAF). We oversee the roughly $30B of assets in the DAF and get a good look at grantmaking at a national level.

Q: How are you approaching your new roles with the WRWF streamlined grants process?

Sarah: I am still trying to get to know the organization, its people, culture and processes. The streamlined procedures will make our volunteer jobs more efficient and prevent burnout. I hope to use best practices and leverage technology to achieve that.

Linda: Sarah and I are still in learning mode, but I think we both want to make membership on the Grants Committee easy and also very fulfilling. We applaud the operations work that the previous Grants committee took to reduce the workload involved. They provided templates for everything to simplify processes and ensure consistent member experiences.

Q: What are you excited for as you embark upon this new role?

Sarah: WRWF is a unique organization in our community. Women may wonder, “Why join WRWF when I can give to nonprofits directly?” I think the level of engagement and birds-eye view with our local nonprofits through events like FieldTrips! is exciting, as is the networking, teamwork and comradery among the fabulous WRWF members. In addition, I am enthusiastic about my new roles working on both the grants committee and the board, especially alongside very accomplished women and a president who is supportive and cares about making sure you have what is needed to be successful. Being a WRWF member makes me realize we can do so much more for our community when we come together.

Linda: I am excited to be working with Sarah as my co-chair and our amazing Grants leadership team to provide a fun, fulfilling and successful year of grantmaking for all of our Grants Committee volunteers and our grant applicants and grantees.

1. What attracted you to joining WRWF?

It’s another “on the chairlift” story…starting 10 years ago. While riding the lift with member Gayle Stevenson, she suggested that since I was a new nonprofit executive director, I should join WRWF. She talked about the benefits of the grants given out each year to other nonprofits, the social gatherings, and the importance of networking. Gayle invited me to a membership event at someone’s home where I met several established members whom I admired. I decided then and there to join as a “Sprouting member” for my first year.

2. What inspired you to become the Membership Committee Chair?

While attending an Annual Meeting at the Valley Club I joined the Membership Committee. Dede Huish and Nancy Wasilewski were at a signup table, and I knew they were both fun women. I thought, “Why not do something that’s fun?” From there on out we called the Membership Committee the “Fun Committee”.
After serving on Membership for a couple years, I was approached by Dede to consider a Co-Membership chair position with Terri LeFaivre, who was the Committee Chair at that time. Terri and I teamed up, joined the Board, and worked together helping to grow membership. We felt it worked best to have two co-chairs with designated duties to help spread the workload. Later on Carrie Morrow joined as Co-Chair and Terri moved to work on the Impact Committee.

3. What was one of the largest hurdles that you had to overcome with membership during your tenure?

It was definitely during 2020 with the challenges of COVID. At the Apres Ski Tea in March of 2020 we had no idea that the world as we knew it was coming to a complete halt. We did not want members to feel that WRWF was not appreciative of their membership and felt it was important to keep members involved by creating some unique experiences.
We had a gathering outdoors at the Draper Preserve in Hailey in June of 2020. Members were asked to bring their own lawn chairs
and space out on the lawn while enjoying individual bags of popcorn and listening to Wood River Land Trust Development Director Courtney Jelaco—also a WRWF member—talk about future plans for the area. Courtney also led three field trips through the Colorado Gulch Preserve in September of 2020.
Membership may have tapered off during 2020 and 2021, but we are resilient and have grown back up to around 350 women!

4. What has been the most rewarding outcome for you?

Meeting new members and watching them grow and evolve within WRWF has been so rewarding! We have so many talented, exciting, and wonderful women in this organization. Every time we conduct a New Member Zoom Orientation, everyone—Board directors and new members alike—are amazed at the interests and experience each new member brings to WRWF. Women contribute such energy and passion to help our growing community. I find that the most gratifying reward of all.

5. What is your hope for Membership as it evolves?

I think Membership needs a reboot and some fresh ideas. I am excited that our Future Forward program is going strong and some of our younger members are volunteering to take on leadership positions. Women are social beings and the process of getting together through different outlets—be they social, educational or a combination of both—is of the utmost importance.

Other parts of our organization‘s committees have stepped up to involve members. The Grants Committee has been active in getting members out to visit our nonprofit partners. Field Trips are planned to sites so we can see how our dollars are working. The Education Committee has staged the State of the Valley Forums. The event at the Alliance/Hunger Coalition this summer was a great success!

The more members stay involved and connected the more successful we will be in growing membership. We have always felt as a Membership Committee that we don’t want to insist members “do something” within the organization, as some women are gratified by just making an annual contribution. I encourage us to appreciate everyone for being a part of WRWF, however they choose, and know that they are making a difference!

Pursuing philanthropy is so fulfilling personally. This is especially true when our members unite and are given the space to uniquely connect and generate impact. Giving back is also rewarding externally, particularly when directly serving Bay Area communities and furthering our reach in many special ways.

As we grow in number, Full Circle prioritizes team unity, support, empowerment, and the creative freedom to make big changes through just a little collaboration. We feel blessed to use our resources to improve the community and create small wins, like organizing food drives and recycling campaigns. Members say that the team bonding following every monthly community service activity provides a safe space and social support in ways they hadn’t experienced before.

As one of the largest collective giving circles made up of women from different work and social backgrounds, WRWF brings us together for the common purpose of doing good. I am motivated by the combined time, treasure, and talent of the WRWF members, which stretches across many activities and committees. The opportunity to work on WRWF through Graybird Foundation has motivated me and opened my eyes to what I can aspire to when growing Full Circle. Experiencing firsthand how WRWF works allows me to see the endless possibilities that each Full Circle member can offer from their own unique and creative styles of giving.

A lot of my work for WRWF is directly transferable to Full Circle, since my skills as a Social Media and Marketing Specialist are applied to both entities. I love being able to showcase important topics and achievements through authoring content and sharing photos to enhance philanthropic visibility across multiple channels. I feel especially compelled to do so by promoting inclusion and diversity. Being part of WRWF has increased my confidence in leadership to better serve alongside the team of women at Full Circle.

To learn more, you can reach Rebecca Palma Ybarra at:
Fullcircleorganizationbayarea@gmail.com
@fullcircleorganization