Women's Leadership Council Kicks Off at Wine, Women and Impact

Our kickoff event last month was a great success! Over 40 philanthropically–minded professional women from LaPorte County were in attendance to help the kick off the new Women's Leadership Council at United Way of LaPorte County. Guests shared their suggestions for improving LaPorte County and learned more about the Women’s Leadership Council’s mission: "to mobilize the power of women’s philanthropy to advance the common good in our community."

Our Wine, Women and Impact event had the support of several local businesses, including Al’s Supermarket, Great Lakes Catering, Horizon Bank, and Shady Creek Winery.

Our Executive Director, Kris Pate gave an introduction of the Women’s Leadership Council initative and Steering Committee members Sharon Wright, AVP, Commercial Lender at Horizon Bank, Bobbi Petru, Director of the Community Chapter of the American Red Cross, and Alexis Pontius, Vice President of Lakeshore Foods, spoke in greater detail about what the WLC hopes to accomplish in LaPorte County.

Sharon also shared some interesting facts about women’s philanthropy:

• Single women donate almost twice as much as single men
• Married women give more than both single and married men.
• Women are 43% of the nation’s top wealth holders, and give an average of 3.5% of their wealth to a charity, whereas men give an average of 1.8%.

The Women’s Leadership Council hopes to continue to build their membership as the 2015 LaPorte United Way campaign kicks off this fall. Members of the council have the opportunity to select and support local causes that matter most to them, and see the direct results of their involvement.

"It is incredibly exciting to see the energy and enthusiasm of such an engaged group of women," said Kris. "There are great things in store for LaPorte County!"

We invite women all across LaPorte County to join us and learn more about how you can have a direct impact on improving the community through the Women’s Leadership Council! Visit our website to learn more about the WLC at www.UnitedWayLPC.org/womensleadershipcouncil and contact Valerie Lambert to get involved, at Valerie@UnitedWayLPC.org or (219) 210-3534 ext. 16.