Welcome!

Hi, this is Jennifer Pope Baker ... welcome to the first Women's Fund of Central Indiana blog post! Many thanks to our friends at M&I Bank for making this possible. We appreciate their partnership and support of our work.

So, what can you expect from our new blog? News, information, and observations about issues facing women and girls in our community, stories about grants we have made, notes and photos from site visits, experiences regarding philanthropy, and hopefully we are always interesting. Look for updates every Tuesday and Thursday.

It's important for a writer to know their audience ... I think also for an audience to know their writer. So what perspective do I bring to the table? As the Director of Women's Fund for the past eleven years, I am deeply connected to and passionate about the work we do to increase options and opportunities for women and girls in our community. I feel an enormous responsibility to the organizations we fund, to make sure Women's Fund is creating grant opportunities that make sense and make life better not only for women and girls, but also for the organizations providing services. I feel a great privilege to be able to help people think strategically about their philanthropy. And, I feel honored to work with the talented, smart, dedicated board members who make our work a reality. I know how fortunate I am to truly love my job!

The most important thing to know about me is I am a working mother and wife. This colors my viewpoint on everything. I know what it feels like to try to make the best decision possible regarding childcare. I can't imagine what it would feel like if didn't know where my next dollar was coming from. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to not feel safe or feel like my children weren't safe. I do know, I would do anything in the world to keep my children safe.

Because of the many blessings in my life, I feel a great commitment to doing everything I can to help other women access affordable, quality childcare; to be safe from violence; and, have the ability to financially care for themselves and their families without depending on the goodwill of others.

I look forward to hearing your comments, thoughts and ideas. I hope this space becomes a place for great conversations about women, girls and philanthropy.

Thank you for your interest in and support of Women's Fund.