Impact100 Sonoma announces $335k in nonprofit grants
Impact100 Sonoma, the philanthropic collective that pools its funds to support Valley nonprofits, disbursed $335,000 in grants for 2022 — its highest total ever.
Thirteen full Impetus Grants and one partial grant received up to $25,000 each.
Checks were presented April 30 at a Vintage House garden party. For the first time since 2019, the annual ceremony was conducted in person.
“We experienced an extraordinary level of interest this year, so we are thrilled to be able to award so many grants,” said Grants Oversight Chair Dana Simpson-Stokes. “We should all be proud to see the impact of our funding ripple through the community.”
Applicants submitted their grant proposals in January. Over the winter, Impact100 Grant Review Committees studied proposals, made site visits, and selected the finalists.
Finalist organizations presented their proposals to the full Impact100 membership at a special in-person event on April 9, and online voting for grant recipients closed on April 22.
2022 Impetus Grant Recipients
• 10,000 Degrees: $25,000 to fund a graduate-fellow advisor for low-income high-school students seeking college admission and financial aid
• Boys and Girls Club of Sonoma Valley: $24,990 to establish on-site individual and group mental health services for youth facing unprecedented challenges and trauma
• Career Technical Education Foundation: $23,000 to fund the integrated Ag-Engineering for Environmental Sustainability course at Sonoma Valley High School
• Ceres Community Project: $25,000 to support delivery of healthy, medically tailored meals and nutrition advice to Sonoma Valley clients with chronic illness
• Kid Scoop News: $25,000 to continue support for a bilingual Parent Engagement Coordinator for facilitating family literacy and home reading activities
• La Luz Center: $25,000 to develop “Adventura Artistica” creative arts and nature programming for Latinx youth
• On The Move: $25,000 to bring LGBTQ supportive programming to middle-school youth
• Redwood Empire Food Bank: $25,000 to continue essential food distribution at 13 Sonoma Valley sites
• Social Advocates for Youth (SAY): $25,000 to provide on-site grief services at Sonoma Valley schools
• Sonoma Overnight Support (SOS): $25,000 to continue providing meals and human connection to the valley’s growing number of hungry and homeless
• Sonoma Valley Education Foundation: $25,000 to subsidize preschool for low-income students, including those with learning disabilities
• Valley Vibes Orchestra (ViVO): $25,000 to bring a new intensive strings program to Dunbar Elementary School
• Vintage House: $25,000 to support the MyRide program, providing free, door-to-door transportation for seniors unable to drive
Unrestricted Partial Grant Recipient
• Ruthless Kindness: $12,510 to bring mobile veterinary services to Sonoma Valley for pets of domestic abuse victims. (This proposal received the next highest amount of votes once all grant funds were allotted.)
“Valley nonprofits have an impressive history of adapting to meet the needs of the people they serve,” said Impact100 Sonoma Co-President Claudia Sims. “Similarly, our membership is growing to embrace the next generation of young philanthropic women who want to help our community thrive. We welcome women of all ages and life experience to join us.”
Founded in 2009 by Annette Lomont and Christine Dohrmann, Impact100 Sonoma is a women’s philanthropic organization that pools its funds to support nonprofits from Schellville to Kenwood. Its vision is to support a thriving Sonoma Valley by empowering women to invest in a more sustainable nonprofit community through collective giving and responsible stewardship while emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Impact100 Sonoma is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and all donations are fully tax-deductible. For more information, visit www.impact100sonoma.org or write [email protected].
Photos by Melania Mahoney
