The Women’s Association of NJPAC – as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations – in partnership with the Community Foundation of New Jersey and Impact100 Essex, a giving circle that pools the philanthropic resources of women in Essex County, recently celebrated International Women’s Day. Special guest speakers included New Jersey’s First Lady Tammy Snyder Murphy.
“I love this sea of women’s faces!” cried New Jersey’s First Lady Tammy Snyder Murphy, as she arrived at the podium on March 8 at A Gathering of Givers: New Jersey Women Making an Impact, a celebration of women’s philanthropy held at NJPAC.
“You are part of a long line of women who have moved New Jersey forward,” Murphy told the sold-out crowd of 300, gathered in the lobby of Prudential Hall to share inspiration and ideas about how harnessing the growing financial power of women has and will continue to change the face of philanthropy.
Female philanthropists of all stripes spoke throughout the event, from members of the WA, to women who directed their families’ foundations, to women who ran large nonprofits.
“We’re calling this a Gathering of Givers,” said John Schreiber, President and CEO of the Arts Center, in his welcome to the group.
“But it’s really a gathering of do-ers,” he said. “People who know that changing the world is a team sport.”
Schreiber noted that without the WA and in particular its nine founding members — including one founder, Gabriella Morris, now the Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at UNICEF USA, who’s still a WA Trustee and was a speaker at the event — “it’s not at all a sure bet that NJPAC would be here today.”
Among the many women who shared their insights about making a difference through fundraising and philanthropy were Shané Harris, Executive Director of The Prudential Foundation; Tamara Harris, Executive Director of CASA for Children of Essex County; Kim Jacobs, a trustee of the Reitman Foundation; Elisa Charters, President and Founder of Latina Surge, and Margarethe Laurenzi, Director of Leadership Grantmaking and Engagement at the Community Foundation of New Jersey.
“The power of women is the power that you feel today in this space,” said Marcia Wilson Brown, President of the WA, as she bid speakers and audience farewell at the morning’s end.
“In this room are the people who are going to turn the world upside-right!”
