What a month we have had at Dining for Women! Less than a year ago we were hammering out the details of our 2020 Vision and on March 8th we met the First Lady of the United States to celebrate our partnership with the Peace Corps’ Let Girls Learn program.

DFW’s Partnership Program is now initiated with this proactive, issue-based funding for girls education. This partnership allows us to coordinate our work with other organizations to make a global impact. It is the necessary balance to our Featured Grants in which we are able to respond to needs identified by in-country organizations. Now, in the company of organizations like Proctor and Gamble, Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, J. Crew, and Salesforce Foundation, we are part of a bigger movement to eliminate the barriers to education for girls all over the world.

At DFW, we know that what we do best is bring people together to amplify the power of one. We have brought nearly 24,000 people together to impact the world with more than $5 million dollars raised since our inception. But it’s not just collective giving that has propelled us to this point, it is our collective aspiration to change the way the world works for women and girls. Our Peace Corps’ Let Girls Learn partnership will directly and indirectly impact more than 50,000 people working towards accessible education for all.

With this partnership, we are creating connections in all directions. In addition to other nonprofit organizations and corporate relationships, there are thousands of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), many of whom we have in our ranks at DFW, who have wonderful stories from the countries of most of our grantees. Over the coming year, we will share opportunities for RPCV speakers at chapter meetings as well as other local opportunities to learn how the DFW values and Peace Corps values align. You will find that RPCVs, like DFW members, know the power of grassroots projects and the importance of connections at home and at their posts.

When we considered partnering with the Peace Corps Let Girls Learn program, it was subject to our usual rigorous screening process through our Grant Selection Committee. In addition to this process, it was vetted by our communications team, our board of directors, and in numerous personal and remote meetings with our Program Director, board members, and me. It is our commitment to you, our members, that we provide you with the very best opportunities for your philanthropic dollars in grassroots projects seeking equity for women and girls. We know definitively that the Let Girls Learn program is worthy of being a DFW partner.

In launching our Partnership Program with such an important organization, we are now firmly on the path to achieving our 2020 Vision. However, as the First Lady said when we met her, “We have a lot more work to do.” And we will surely have a great time doing it together!