On September 29th more than 200 members and guests of the Women’s Fund of Santa Barbara gathered at the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort to hear from six of the seven nonprofits that the Women’s Fund collectively awarded $470,000 last Spring. 

At the event, each grantee gave a short update on the use of the funds and then participated in a lively panel discussion moderated by former grantee liaison Carla Whitacre. A couple of the participants shared stories about how funding from the Women’s Fund had benefited their organizations far beyond the direct benefit bestowed by the grant. Because of the Women’s Fund’s reputation of thoroughly vetting the programs and projects it considers, a grant from the organization confers legitimacy that can translate into funding from other sources. Both Kelly Choi from the Academy for Success and Caleb Chadwick from TRADART Foundation shared how the funding had gotten others at their schools and in the community more interested in their programs.