June 2024 News Brief
President’s message
HELLO FELLOW MEMBERS!
While May snow has been a bit distracting, the warm days of summer are almost here along with opportunities for us to gather outdoors!
This past winter and spring, your Board of Directors has been working diligently to recruit new leaders and are thrilled to announce the approval of Jeannie Shroads as President-Elect. Following your July confirmation vote, Jeannie will take over this role in August when my term ends. Jeannie is smart, kind and laser-focused on WRWF’s mission – she will be a fantastic President!
We are also delighted to welcome new Board Members Carolyn Larson, Louisa Moats and Susie Zachman. Serving on the WRWF board is a three-year commitment typically followed by a second three-year term. The role of President is a two-year term. Keep reading to learn more about these and other new leaders in this News Brief!
The Board is also excited to share that it has approved the official creation of a new WRWF committee: the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. Establishing the DEI Committee is a major step in meeting our commitment to inclusion that launched in August 2022. More information will be forthcoming.
As we wave goodbye to early 2024, I wanted to applaud you all yet again for your incredible generosity to our 2024 Pooled Fund. Between your record giving of $400k and the unique post-vote boost, WRWF members awarded more than $500k to 27 well-deserving nonprofits! Our collective contributions will enable our community partners to deliver extraordinary results. Thank you for standing together to deliver our mission and congratulations on making an amazing impact!
With WRWF gratitude,
Sandy McCullough
Grantee Spotlight
GIRLS ON THE RUN
Girls on the Run (GOTR) is for every girl, no exceptions. Their program uses a fun, research-based curriculum that creatively combines movement with confidence-building lessons and activities. Run, hop, roll, walk, push, or skip – participants of all abilities have a place on a team. Volunteer coaches facilitate lessons that blend physical activity with life-skills development to enable girls to adapt to whatever comes their way.
Girls on the Run Southern Idaho creates and offers after-school empowerment programs designed for 3rd- to 8th-grade girls. Since 2002 they have inspired over 2,600 youth to confidently be themselves. Through the innovative integration of fun physical activities, life-skills lessons, and impactful community projects. The research-based curriculum led by trained volunteer coaches explores core topics relevant to 8- to 13-year-old girls, including understanding emotions, fostering friendships, expressing empathy, and standing up for ourselves. This creates a sense of belonging for all participants and meet the vital needs of girls today.
The program’s curriculum includes lessons that specifically target girls’ improvements in social-emotional learning. Through the program, girls learn critical life skills and behaviors such as how to manage emotions, help others, make intentional decisions, and resolve conflict that they can use at home, at school, and with friends, long after the program’s conclusion. Social-emotional learning has been shown to provide short- and long-term benefits to children such as positive social behavior, a reduction in emotional stress, fewer behavioral problems, and academic success.
Girls on the Run inspires girls to build lives of purpose and to make a meaningful contribution to society. This message comes to life through a key element of the curricula when each team creates and executes a community service project. With the girl-voice at the center, participants model the life skills learned in the program to collaborate and execute a personally significant plan that provides a benefit to the world around them. Community Impact Projects help girls realize the power we all have to make a positive contribution to the world.
At GOTR’s season-ending 5K, all participants are encouraged to go at their own pace. Doing one’s personal best is the goal, not competing with others. The 5K is designed to give girls an opportunity to set and achieve a goal. Completing it provides a tangible sense of achievement and builds confidence to achieve other life goals.
Within GOTR’s programs, young people build confidence, gain life skills and understand their inner power – thanks to Wood River Women’s Foundation. Girls on the Run participants are inspired to rise above challenges, to begin every new chapter with courage, and to care for and uplift others. Thank you for investing in our youth. WRWF’s gift has a long-term impact on individual lives, and that impact ripples out into our community and beyond.
To learn more about GOTR’s impact and how to get involved visit their website or follow them on social media: www.gotrsouthernidaho.org/ / Facebook: www.facebook.com/gotrsouthernidaho / Instagram: www.instagram.com/gotr_southernidaho
celebrate volunteering
One key part of the success of the Wood River Women’s Foundation is the generosity of our members to volunteer their time to make our organization run. From its founding, members have been giving both their time and money to support our mission of amplifying the power of women’s collective giving to support the Wood River Valley’s non-profits and create positive change in our community.
Each month, we will spotlight one of our generous members and their story with the WRWF. Today we are happy to share the story of Kathleen Eder, previous Chair of the Membership Committee and long time member, and her thoughts on WRWF.
WRWF leadership news
The Grants Cycle Has Begun – with our “ART” Volunteers in full swing
Jeannie Shroads, a board member for the past two years and current currently serving as Chair of our Governance Committee, has been nominated by the board to serve as our next President-Elect. All members will have an opportunity to vote on Jeannie and other leaderships nominations in our yearly foundation business ballot that is emailed each July. Results are shared at the Annual Meeting & Grantee Celebration, this year that will take place on August 8. We are thrilled that Jeannie has agreed to continue her service to our mission and organization in this manner at this level and look forward to joining all members in support of her new role!
In March, Louisa Moats re-joined the Board as Education Committee Chair, a committee she knows well as she has previously served as the Chair before she took on a leadership position around our Focus Grant. Louisa will also begin serving as Board Secretary effective with the August 8 vote. Thank you Louisa for your continuing service to WRWF and our mission! Learn more about Louisa HERE
New Grants Committee Leadership Team:
Monze Stark-Magaña has agreed to serve as the Co-Chair of the Foundation’s new DEI Committee which the Board voted to establish at our its May meeting. This WRWF Committee will be charged with implementing some of the recommendations of the DEI Report produced by the DEI Task Force which has been led for the past 18 months by Martina Bradford and Becky Lopez. Information about the committee’s work will be shared with members as it rolls out. Thank you to Monze for taking on this new and important role!
Event Recap
Celebrating Community and Creativity
Our recent information session was an incredible success, shedding light on both the inspiring exhibit and the impactful work being done by two of our grantees, the Sun Valley Museum of Art (SVMoA) and The Alliance. Each organization is dedicated to enriching the lives of youth in our community through innovative programs funded by their WRWF grants.
SVMoA is empowering teachers by training them to integrate art into their classroom teaching, fostering a more creative and engaging learning environment. Meanwhile, The Alliance is making a profound difference with their Project Solo initiative, which supports immigrant youth who have faced abandonment or abuse upon arrival in the United States.
The highlight of the event was undoubtedly the “Intertwined: Weaving in Community” exhibit. This stunning collection of woven art was created by acclaimed artists in collaboration with several local nonprofits, including The Alliance. The piece behind our attendees in the accompanying photo was woven by thousands of individuals from communities on both sides of the US/Mexican border, symbolizing unity and shared humanity.
Congratulations to both the Sun Valley Museum of Art and The Alliance on their 2024 grants from WRWF!
Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to this enlightening and heartwarming event. Together, we continue to make a lasting impact on our community.
WRWF Calendar
Location: 102 Sagewillow, Elkhorn
Date: July 2nd
Time: 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
The WRWF President's Council invites you to our member appreciation event!
Please RSVP by June 28th.
Location: 114 Calypso Lane, Bellevue
Date: July 18th
Time: 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Join your fellow members for another fun field trip to visit a 2024 grantee!
Please RSVP by July 15th.
Date: August 8th
Time: 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
More information to come!
Augustnew members
We are delighted to extend a warm WRWF welcome this month to:
New WRWF members are invited to provide photos and a bit of information about themselves to share in the News Brief. We have so many interesting members and it is fun to read about everyone’s background. Thanks so much and we look forward to meeting you soon. Welcome!
upcoming grantee community events
Calling all WRWF members! We’re here to remind you about our membership initiative program “BFF! – Bring Forth Friends!”
If two new members join WRWF under your encouragement, you will be thanked for your recruitment efforts with either a $25 coffee card or a bottle of wine. This is an opportunity to continue growing and strengthening our collective membership through your personal and unique networks. Remember, there is no limit to how many rewards you can receive in a year. Be sure your BFFs give you credit when they join so we can track your success towards a reward!
Keep spreading the word about WRWF and our mission!
This reward is being underwritten by a generous WRWF member.
THANK YOU, Sponsors!
We are grateful for our sponsors and extend a hearty WRWF thank you to Graybird Foundation, and Zions Bank!
THANK YOU TO OUR contributors
Thank you to this month’s News Brief contributors:
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Jeannie Shroads
President
After raising her two daughters in Virginia, Jeannie and her husband made their part-time Ketchum home their full-time home in August of 2021. She quickly recognized the value of membership and camaraderie in the Wood River Women’s Foundation. After mailing in her membership application, she walked over to River Run for the December Meet & Mingle and raised her hand as a volunteer first joining the Governance Committee, then becoming its Chair.
Jeannie spent 20 years as an in-house lawyer, gaining significant experience advising boards and committees, participating in strategic planning, and guiding human resources and operations activities. In the spirit of life-long learning. she recently completed earned her Master of Science degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution and provides training and consulting services to humanitarian, development and peacebuilding organizations. You will find her on the slopes of Baldy, the hiking trails of Sun Valley and many other fun spots in Idaho with her husband John and three dogs.
“My goals are to make deep connections with the amazing women of the Valley and to give back in a meaningful way to our communities in need. As a member of the community, it is very important to me that I give back instead of only taking advantage of this wonderful place.”
Louisa Moats
Board Member-Education Committee Chair
Louisa Moats, Ed.D., has been a teacher, psychologist, researcher, graduate school faculty member, and author of many influential scientific journal articles, books, and policy papers on the topics of reading, spelling, language, and teacher preparation. Dr. Moats is a nationally recognized authority on how children learn to read and why some fail to learn. Widely acclaimed as a researcher, speaker, consultant, and trainer, Moats also developed the landmark professional development program LETRS for teachers and reading specialists and the scientifically based LANGUAGE! Live Reading Intervention for grades 5 – 12.
Louisa, a resident of Sun Valley & Vermont, has been an active WRWF member since 2015. Louisa previously served two terms as a WRWF board member serving as the Education Chair. Louisa also co-chaired our Focus Grant, continues to serve as Co-Chair of the Focus Grant Committee, and currently serves on the Nominating Committee. Louisa has been an integral contributor to the success of the WRWF, past, present, and future. We are fortunate that her schedule now leaves room for her to join us on the board once more.
Carolyn Larsen
Board Member
Grants Co-Chair
Carolyn Larsen joined the Wood River Women’s Foundation in 2023 at the recommendation of her sister-in-law Bonnie Larsen after buying a home in the valley in 2016. She joined the Grants Committee and found it to be a great “match” for her.
Carolyn has had a long & successful career in healthcare management and is currently COO of a Fresno, California medical group responsible for driving operational efficiencies and profitability. An active community volunteer in California, Carolyn previously served as President of La Feliz Guild, which fundraises for a local Children’s Hospital. With four children she also served as PTA President multiple times.
“I am very impressed with the WRWF and would like to learn even more. I have the time to dedicate myself to this process and I know the future will lead to friendships and connections which really excites me.”
Jori Potiker
Grants Co-Chair
Jori joined the Wood River Women’s Foundation in 2016. After becoming a Ketchum, Idaho resident in 2020, Jori immediately became active on the Grants Committee, and has served two cycles on an ART team. She also currently serves as a member of Citizens Review Panel for the Idaho Child Welfare and Foster Care system.
Her passion beyond her family has always been giving back to the community having learned first-hand in a very philanthropic family. Once she moved to San Diego, Jori immersed herself in non-profit board service including the Children’s Hospital Foundation, Seacrest Village, Jewish Family Service, the Pacific Ridge School Board and many others.
A successful career as an executive in editorial and sales management roles and ultimately managing a staff of over 100 plus Jori’s extensive work in philanthropy working with volunteers position her to be a great addition to the WRWF Grants Committee leadership team!
Susie Zachman
At-Large Board Member
Grantee Engagement Team Lead
Susie Zachman came to Ketchum in 2023 via Laguna Beach and joined the Wood River Women’s Foundation immediately. She researched volunteer opportunities on our website and joined the Grants Committee as a member of an ART team. In addition Susie is a volunteer for The Hunger Coalition and Community Loaves.
Although Susie has extensive successful experience in the legal, financial, and HR corporate worlds, her greatest accomplishment has been operating her own non-profit and serving on the boards of others. She founded Better Beginnings in 2015 dedicated to preventing chronic disease and childhood obesity and promoting healthy habits in young children. Their mission is to inspire, educate and enable parents of young children to parent and feed in ways that encourage healthy habits.
In addition to being a new At-Large Board Member, Susie is leading the Grantee Engagement Team. “I have run a small non-profit so I understand how limited their resources can be, how important their work is, and how much impact the support of volunteers can have. I love the idea of helping interested Grantees connect with the talented women of the WRWF to help them deliver on their missions.”
Monze Stark-Magnaña
DEI Committee Co-Chair
Monze Stark-Magnaña joined the Wood River Women’s Foundation in 2023 introduced by her mother-in-law Joanne Wetherell. Monze lives in Twin Falls and spends much of her time in the Wood River Valley having grown up here.
Monze graduated from the University of Idaho with an M.S. in Adult Learning and Leadership, following with a B.S in Sociology. She is the Dean of Enrollment Services at the College of Southern Idaho; previously Monze worked as the Associate Director of Multicultural Recruitment at the University of Idaho in Moscow. She has extensive experience in leadership, management, training and coaching, and grant writing. Additionally, Monze has served as a board member of the Idaho Latino Foundation plus has served on the Idaho Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Native American University Council, the President’s Council on diversity and Inclusion among many other community organziations.
We are honored to have Monze take on the newly-formed DEI Committee as Co-Chair and guide us to create and execute on a strategy that will aid the WRWF in becoming the welcoming, inclusive organization our member survey feedback supports. “Through active participation and collaboration with fellow members and stakeholders, I aim to contribute innovative ideas, strategic insights, and effective solutions that further advance WRWF’s initiatives and amplify our collective efforts towards diversity, equity, and inclusion.”