Story by Kacie Frederick. Photos Provided by the Texas Women's Foundation.
Across North Texas, groups of passionate women have come together through a shared experience to be a part of the giving circles at Texas Women’s Foundation. The three giving circles include Orchid Giving Circle, The Village Giving Circle, and H100 Latina Giving Circle. They raise money yearly to provide generous grants to philanthropies that coincide with each group’s culture or interest. Since 2016, the giving circles have awarded more than $2 million to philanthropies in North Texas.
Founded in 2015 by 14 like-minded women, the Orchid Giving Circle is an Asian sisterhood that provides grants primarily within the North Texas Asian community. With over 85 members, the Orchid Giving Circle has fundraised over $1.38 million in the last eight years, impacting over 100,000 Asian Americans. Branded as honest women who all have the heart to give back to their cultural community, the Orchid Giving Circle prides itself on its collective giving as how the circle pays kindness forward.
“Orchid Giving Circle believes in unity and uplifting the community through collective giving,” shares Orchid Giving Circle Chair, Mylinh Luong. “We are stronger together.’’
Orchid Giving Circle is excited to announce its third annual fundraiser, the POWER Leadership Forum. It will be held on Friday, May 12, at the Frito-Lay campus and aims to develop future Asian female leaders while increasing community giving. As part of Asian (AANHPI) Heritage Month, Orchid Giving Circle will provide Asian women professionals, with 5-15 years of career experience, with a rich learning experience on how to embrace their whole self, activate their superpowers, and ignite their community.
“We are united in purpose and values,” says Mylinh, “As a sisterhood of giving circles, we are forever connected and stronger because of it.”
As the first giving circle to develop from Texas Women’s Foundation, Orchid Giving Circle paved the way for its sister giving circles, The Village Giving Circle and the H100 Giving Circle. Every member can attest to the sisterhood across cultural communities, as each giving circle stands up for and supports members of their ethnic community.
“One of our core values is to provide grants and foster philanthropy with a common mission to effect beneficial change through the power of collective giving,” Mylinh says. “We are grateful and honored to stand alongside our amazing sisters at the Village Giving Circle and Latina Giving Circle in making an impact within our communities.”
For more information on The Orchid Giving Circle and their upcoming POWER Leadership Forum, please visit https://txwf.org/orchid-giving-circle/.
Organized in 2017 by seven founding officers, The Village Giving Circle at Texas Women’s Foundation serves, honors, and sustains the legacy of African American women’s philanthropy efforts across North Texas. Members focus their collective resources on local organizations that are led by or serve the needs of African Americans. The Village Giving Circle proudly has 80 active members, all 100 percent volunteer-based. In the last five years, The Village Giving Circle has fundraised $1.1 million, granting funds to 32 nonprofits across African American organizations in North Texas, 11 of which are led by Black women.
“I remember at one of our granting ceremonies,” shares Co-Chair of The Village Circle, Sheri Crosby, “one of the nonprofit leaders got up and spoke. She was a Black woman and stood in front of a room full of grant funders that looked just like her. She was in tears. It was amazing to have that type of impact on the Black community in Dallas. To provide the space where grant donors can look like me and provide for those in my community.”
The Village Giving Circle was founded by like-minded Black women who wanted to impact the Black community. After learning that less than three percent of giving back donations are invested in Black communities, The Village Giving Circle sought out to create change. Their initiative of collective giving became necessary to aid the Black community of North Texas.
“When you think of someone who is a philanthropist, you probably do not picture someone like me,” Sheri says. “But we’re trying to change that.”
Each November, The Village Giving Circle hosts a granting ceremony. Members suggest two nonprofits, and then the giving circle takes the summer months to vet the nonprofits. By August or September, members are ready to vote on a nonprofit to receive their gracious grant award. All the money fundraised comes from The Village Giving Circle members and a few selective donors.
For more information on The Village Giving Circle and how to donate to support the African American community in North Texas, please visit https://txwf.org/village-giving-circle/.
Structured differently than the other two Giving Circles, The H100 Latina Giving Circle is tied to the nonprofit, Hispanic 100. In 2019, Hispanic 100 wanted to expand its reach, so it partnered with Texas Women’s Foundation and formed its own H100 Latina Giving Circle. The members represent a wide range of Hispanic cultures, ethnicities, and professions to increase the economic empowerment of local Hispanic women and girls.
Since its beginning, the H100 Latina Giving Circle has awarded 101 grants with over $506,000 in proceeds. These grants impacted over 8,700 Latina women and over 2,800 Latinx children and teens.
Lucinda Rocha, Co-Chair of the H100 Latina Giving Circle, shares they take a three-pronged approach. “We focus on creating access for those who share our passion to support Latinas, engaging Latinas in philanthropy, and increasing our impact by giving to nonprofits who support Latinas.”
Historically, latinas earn less than all other women and men, and as a result, they must work longer than everyone else to be equal in pay. H100 Latina Giving Circle seeks to close the gap for Latinas and improve the lives of Latina women and girls by funding programs that increase security and safety and foster economic empowerment. They support programs that demonstrate economic empowerment, data-driven impact, cultural awareness and inclusion, and community commitment focusing on Latina women and girls’ long-term stability and life prosperity.
H100 Latina Giving Circle is excited to announce the 2023 Latina Giving Circle Fundraising Reception taking place this Thursday, March 30, at the Tower Club. As the launch of this year’s giving campaign, the H100 Latina Giving Circle is providing an opportunity for others to join and learn more about making a financial contribution. The event will also host a couple of grantees to tell their stories and share their organization’s mission. They plan to receive $120,000 as a gift to the H100 Latina Giving Circle, and Santander Consumer USA has also offered a $5,000 contribution.
“We invite all individuals and corporations interested in donating to check us out on the Texas Women’s Foundation website,” Lucinda says.
For more information on The H100 Latina Giving Circle or if called to donate to the Latinx community of North Texas, please visit https://txwf.org/h100latinagivingcircle/.
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