Impact 100, an initiative of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, announced on November 19 that its $100,000 transformative grant will be awarded this year to Eden House New Orleans. Impact 100, a giving circle now in its eighth year, is a group of over one hundred local women who committed to giving $1,100 for the purpose of making a single transformative grant to a local nonprofit. Recipient nonprofits will use the grant to deepen their impact and grow their network of supporters. Since its inaugural year, Impact 100 has granted out more than 1 million dollars to nonprofits across our region.
“Impact 100 demonstrates the generosity of our region’s women philanthropists and the power of collective giving,” said Andy Kopplin, President and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. “Each year another nonprofit in our region gets a game-changing boost from the women of Impact 100, and I cannot wait to see Eden House New Orleans continue to expand their services and help more clients.”
Virtual Kick-off + Speaker Event
On Wednesday, October 9, the membership of Impact 100 2020 gathered virtually to formally kick off Impact 100 2020 and participate and engage with speaker Kishshana Palmer an inspirational speaker with over 17 years of experience in the areas of marketing, fundraising, and talent manager. Ms. Palmer inspired the membership to be the best version of themselves by leading well and living well. Watch the event below!
Pitch Event | Meet the Nonprofit Leaders
On Wednesday, November 11, members heard presentations from the selected nonprofits. The women of Impact 100 voted this year to hear pitches from the categories of Education, Social Services, Workforce, and Youth Development. The membership heard pitches from Kid smArt, Grow Dat Youth Farm, Thrive New Orleans, and Eden House New Orleans. Each of the runners up received a $5,000 grant as well as speech training and a profile video created by our nonprofit partner NOVAC – which can be viewed, along with each nonprofit’s pitch, below.
Education: Kid smArt
Social Services: Eden House New Orleans
Workforce: Thrive New Orleans
Youth Development: Grow Dat Youth Farm
“Impact 100 members are again inspired by the remarkable effect the finalist organizations are having in our community”, said Lauren Hitt, 2020 Impact 100 Advisory Committee Chair. “The dedication of Grow Dat, KIDsmART, Thrive and the 2020 winner Eden House is particularly heartening in this exceptional year. Through Impact 100, 330 women have invested over one million dollars in 28 local non-profits over the last eight years. We are so proud of their phenomenal impact on New Orleanians and look forward to partnering in the years to come.”
Winner Notification
On Tuesday, November 17, staff members of the Greater New Orleans Foundation went to Eden House New Orleans’ headquarters to notify the nonprofit that they were the Impact 100 2020 $100,000 grant winner!
“Thank you so much to the women of Impact 100 for awarding Eden House this transformative gift”, said Susanne Dietzel, Executive Director, Eden House New Orleans. “We are humbled by the commitment you show to non-profit organizations in our city and grateful for providing us with the opportunity to serve more women who have been sexually exploited. Your gift will allow us to double our residential capacity and offer more women a way out of trafficking, poverty, and homelessness, giving them the resources, love, and guidance to imagine and create new lives for themselves and give back to the community.”
View the winner notification video below:
Impact 100 2020 was generously sponsored by Villere & Co.
“We are excited to continue our partnership with the Greater New Orleans Foundation by sponsoring Impact 100 again this year. Congratulations to Eden House for winning this year’s award, and we wish you well in the important and emotionally charged work you do,” said George Young, Partner at Villere & Co. “Villere & Co. has been providing investment solutions in our region for over 100 years, and we are honored to work with the families, individuals, and institutions in our community.”
Want to Know More?
To learn how you can participate in Impact 100 next year, please contact Natasha Walker at the Greater New Orleans Foundation at natasha@gnof.org.