Q&A with Julie Manning Magid, Advisory Board Member

Q. How long have you been connected with Women’s Fund of Central Indiana?
A. I was a member of OPTIONS Class 3. I served as the OPTIONS ex-officio representative before becoming a member of the Advisory Board. I have served as the Nominations Chair and Women’s Fund Society co-chair and participated on a finance sub-committee. I am currently the Vice-Chair elect and will serve as Chair in 2012. I will celebrate 10 years with Women’s Fund at the end of my Chair term.

Q. Who are your role models for "giving back" to your community and how did they influence you?
A. Certainly many of the women I have met through Women’s Fund. The leadership while I have been involved is incredible – Yvonne Shaheen, Wendy Yerkes, Karen Gentleman, Julie Davis and now Ann Murtlow. What fabulous women to learn from about community, philanthropy and making the world a better place! I would have to say that my original role model for giving back to your community was my mom. She had a full-time job running her own business, 10 children as well as care for her parents as they aged, she became a single parent in her early 40s but somehow never let all of that interfere with her community involvement, from helping organizations to giving time to friends. Whenever I feel overwhelmed I realize that I have not begun to tap the resources my mom draws from day in and day out. On top of that, she also taught me how to shoot whiskey and drive anything with a clutch.

Q. What issues impacting women & girls are you most passionate about? Do you have any personal connection to any of these issues?
A. Education is very important to me. It is one of the reasons I personally became involved with Women’s Fund -- to continue learning and seeking new experiences, but as a Professor at Indiana University Kelley School it is my life's work as well. Education empowers women and these women can change their community for the better. Also, one of my primary areas of research is on pregnancy and how it affects women in their careers. Pregnancy and childbirth challenges should be better addressed in the community to allow women to reach their full potential and to help the business community better utilize the potential of investment in its employees.

Q. What would you tell other women and girls about Women's Fund to encourage them to get involved?
A. Women’s Fund is like having personal philanthropic advisors to help you lean about philanthropy and the issues affecting women and girls but also to screen agencies, conduct due diligence, provide guidelines and follow-up to grants and assure grants will continue in perpetuity through an endowment. By donating and becoming involved in WF you can make an impact far beyond whatever personal resources and community involvement you already have because you are immediately connected to an organization that multiplies the impact of your investment and connections exponentially.

Q. Tell us a little more about yourself.
A. I have been married to Terry for 15 years. He is the Executive Director of Indiana's Public Employees' Retirement Fund. I have worked as a Business Law Professor at IU for 10 years, the last 2 as a tenured Associate Professor. Terry and I have 3 sons who all attend the Orchard School. Although we aren’t from Indiana originally, we have found it a wonderful place to pursue our careers and raise our sons.