DECEMBER 2016 NOTE FROM DOYENNE GROUP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

12/2/2016


December is here! Bring on the holiday+end of year craziness!!

Last night we had the last Doyenne event of 2016, our Dis-Connect at the Spa Event at The Edgewater Spa. It was spA-Mazing! The number one comment I heard from attendees, “I almost didn’t come because I have so much going on right now and feel like I should be working or being with my family/friends instead of being here. But…I’m so glad I came, and didn’t realize how much I needed this!”
That’s right, you need YOU time! How many times do we put everything in the world in front of taking care of yourself? I’m guilt of it, I recently had a Chiropractor appointment where the Doctor told me “Heather, take a breath!” It was metaphor to not only remind me to breathe in that moment, but to remember to breathe and take care of myself through the day.
As we’re in the middle of holiday and end of year craziness please, please, please remember to be kind to yourself and make time for you! Those little things like buying yourself a good chocolate bar and not sharing it, going to your favorite coffee shop (or bar) to enjoy a beverage and catch up on some leisure reading by yourself, or wearing yoga pants while running errands and not feeling bad/embarassed when people see you in public not looking “put together” (I have a major eye roll while typing “put together”) are all important and well deserved!

Doyenne is currently in the middle of updating our website to be more current and informational.
One of the activities we did for this was we were asked to identify the top 3 questions we get in emails about Doyenne, this is to make sure we’re addressing them on the site.
Mine were…

  1. What does Doyenne do and how can you help me?
  2. How do I become a member?
  3. How do I apply for funding from your Evergreen Fund?

Questions 1 and 2 have been answered in some of my previous notes, but you can always email/call me to find out more.

Question 3, in case you haven’t noticed, is not addressed right now at all on the website. It’s a top priority item to get on the site!
The last time we had the site developed the Doyenne Evergreen Fund was still a dream, and now it’s a reality.

Here’s the quick update…
Doyenne has now secured $1.2 million to be used for funding women-led organizations throughout Wisconsin. These dollars will be divided up between grants, loans, equity investments, programming for entrepreneurs, and operations of the Doyenne Evergreen Fund. You probably know this much already because we’ve been talking about it publically for the past few months.

Currently we are meeting with our lawyers to finalize all of the terms, applications, partnerships, etc… agreements that need to be in place before we start receiving applications and handing out dollars. We are also  assembling a committee of knowlegeable and experienced individuals to serve on our Funding Selection Committee.

I promise once we release the application we will email EVERYONE to let you know it’s up and ready to go! The plan is still to start taking applications early 2017 and first dollars going out shortly afterwards. We don’t want to put the cart in front of the horse and take applications without being ready to hand out dollars.

2016 has been a huge year for Doyenne!
The organization has moved forward by leaps and bounds because of the dedication of many!  Amy and I cannot do any of this work without you, and you are our motivators to help us keep moving forward.

I want to send a very heartfelt Thank You to all of our members! And also…

  • Doyenne Board of Directors
    • Liz Eversoll-Chairman
    • Valerie Wulf
    • Mary Romolino (Communications Committee)
    • Sarah Botham (Communications Committee)
  • Fundraising Committee
    • Jane Clark
    • Katie Boyce
    • Betsy Lundgren
    • Karen Hitchcock
  • Communications Committee
    • Alex Lindenmeyer
    • Shilpa Sankaran
    • Nandita Geerdink
    • Kate Baldwin (Graphic Designer)
    • Kindra Goehler (Website)
  • Programming Committee
    • Chandra Miller-Fienen
    • Laura Gmeinder
    • Jillana Peterson
    • Sara Garnett
  • Membership Committee
    • Madhavi Krishnan
    • Leah Roe
    • Ashley Powell
    • Mayra Medrano
    • Erica Liabo-VanDerPol

Here’s to 2017 & much success to all of us!

Hope to see you around town!
Heather

2016 FUNDRAISING & PROGRAMMING NUMBERS

12/19/2016

Amy Gannon and Heather Wentler
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