Women Making History through Philanthropy

March is full of opportunities for celebrating contributions to community. In honor of National Women’s History Month, we are focusing on San Diego women in philanthropy who have dedicated themselves to making our community stronger, more resilient and equitable through their time, talent and treasure.

Women’s Collective Giving Groups

Through collective philanthropy, members of the San Diego Women’s Foundation are helping their partners do important community work while building a now 21-year-old legacy dedicated to education about the process of philanthropy and the work being done by San Diego nonprofits.

With a focus on advancing leadership and career readiness for Latina women and girls, the Latina Giving Circle of San Diego has been successfully making grant history in the San Diego/Tijuana region since 2013.

 

 

Women Behind the Philanthropy

San Diego is blessed to have many women philanthropists contributing their time, talent and resources to the communities they care about. As we looked around for examples, we discovered two women with whom we have connections and who exemplify the spirit of philanthropy.

Amina Sheik Mohamed
Addressing Systemic Inequalities

In 2015, Amina Sheik Mohamed founded the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) at UC San Diego’s Center for Community Health to support young people of color, many of whom are immigrants or refugees. Through YAC, young voices are provided a space to be who they are and for their voices to be heard. These are young leaders dedicated and working hard to improve health for their communities. Overall, Amina is recognized for being passionate about ensuring that individuals and communities that have experienced historical and systemic inequalities have opportunities for success. (Source: She Who Inspires)

AHF has been fortunate to work with Amina through her other association with the San Diego Refugee Communities Coalition, which is a collective of ethnic-community based organizations. Serving thousands of San Diego’s under-resourced residents, the Coalition’s members are directly providing needed services in the areas of behavioral health, community health work, economic development, housing, and youth leadership development.

 

Mary Ann Beyster
Cooking for Health

From a young age, Mary Ann Beyster experienced the value of giving through the charitable contributions made by her parents. Like her parents, Mary Ann contributes to many institutions and initiatives. And, like other women philanthropists, she instinctively becomes an ambassador for the nonprofits she supports. Several years ago, AHF got to know Mary Ann through her filmmaking initiative, The Kitchenistas. The film features a community of women in National City that is addressing obesity and diabetes through healthy food education and preparation. They call themselves the “Kitchenistas.”  If you’ve not seen the film, it is available for free online at KPBS with both English- and Spanish-subtitled versions. The Kitchenistas provide free community programming (and DELICIOUS food) through Cooking for Salud at Olivewood Gardens in National City, itself a past grantee of AHF’s. (Source: She Who Inspires)

Register to Receive Funding and Mentoring
San Diego Gives 2023 Campaign

It’s that time of year again to prepare for San Diego’s local day of giving, managed by San Diego Gives. Last year, 327 nonprofits participated. The campaign raised $1,088,647 from 3,743 donors, with 33% giving for the first time. San Diego Gives University launched in 2022 and served 553 unique nonprofit professionals through 28 workshops. Plus, 62 organizations were paired with mentors for ongoing support.

The campaign connects the community to local issues and high-quality, vetted nonprofits with strong leadership, programming, fiscal oversight, and tangible impact. San Diego Gives offers donors a chance to leverage investments with other funders to magnify support. All funds raised remain in San Diego County.

Important dates:

Early nonprofit registration: Feb 1 – Mar 31
Regular nonprofit registration: April 1-30
Day of giving for donors: Sept 7

Do you represent a nonprofit in San Diego? Register here.

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