On Monday, November 18, 2024, Impact 100, an initiative of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, awarded its $100,000 transformative grant to local nonprofit, Health and Education Alliance of Louisiana. Impact 100, now in its 12th year, is a group of over 100 local women who committed to giving $1,100 each for the purpose of making a single transformative grant to a local nonprofit. Recipient nonprofits use the grant to deepen their impact and grow their network of supporters. Since its inaugural year, Impact 100, sponsored by Villere & Co., has granted more than $1.3 million to nonprofits across our region.
“It is both a thrill and a privilege to see the extraordinary commitment of the Impact 100 membership every year,” Andy Kopplin, President and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. “Through their dedication and generosity, these women leaders have distributed over $1.3 million to support our community. This year’s $100,000 award to HEAL will certainly be instrumental in the organization’s sustainability moving forward. Congratulations to the winner and runners-up. Thank you to the membership for all that they do, and our presenting sponsor Villere & Co. for their commitment to Impact 100.”
View the winner notification video below!
Voting Process
As a first step in the granting process, Impact 100 members select 4 nonprofit categories out of 9 to consider for this year’s Impact 100 grantmaking. From these 4 categories, Impact 100 slates 16 nonprofits whose work falls within those categories. Next, members choose one nonprofit in each of the categories. The 4 nonprofits selected were invited to develop pitches to present to the membership about how they would use the $100,000 grant. Following the pitch event, members voted for the winner of Impact 100. After the membership has selected the winning nonprofit, Impact 100 surprises the winner with the good news.
Kick-off + Speaker Event
On Wednesday, September 28, the membership gathered to recruit new members and mingle with past and current members at a kickoff breakfast at Audubon Clubhouse. This year’s keynote speaker was Cannie Graham Campbell, the founder and principal of Spark Women’s Philanthropy, a firm dedicated to empowering women’s engagement and philanthropy. Cannie spoke about her commitment to changing the face of philanthropy and engaging women and other affinity groups as empowered change agents. A proud founding member of the Women’s Philanthropy Alliance (WPA), Cannie’s work is relational, intuitive, and transformative, with a focus on giving in historically underrepresented populations.
Pitch Event | Meet the Nonprofit Leaders
On Wednesday, November 13, members heard presentations from the 4 nonprofits they selected. This year, the women of Impact 100 voted to hear pitches from nonprofits who fit the categories of Community Improvement, Education, Youth Development, and Human Rights & Social Justice. The membership heard pitches from representatives from the 18th Ward Sports Club, Center for Employment Opportunities, Grace at the Green Light, and Health & Education Alliance of Louisiana. Each of the 3 runners-up received a $9,000 grant as well as pitch training and a profile video created by our nonprofit partner New Orleans Video Access Center (NOVAC).
View the nonprofits’ pitch videos below.
Community Improvement: Grace at the Green Light
Education: Health and Education Alliance of Louisiana
Youth Development: The 18th Ward Sports Club
Human Rights & Social Justice: Center for Employment Opportunities
Thank you to Impact 100’s incredible presenting sponsor, Villere & Co., for their generous financial support. Their partnership ensures that the Impact 100 experience is meaningful and fulfilling for you, the membership.
To register for Impact 100 in 2025, please click here. Members are welcome to pay their dues in installments.
For more information about Impact 100 and other funds at the Foundation, connect with Vice President for Philanthropy, Meg Miles, at meg@gnof.org or (504) 598-1291.