2020 is a leap year, marks the start of a new decade, and promises big things in store for Dining for Women! I am thrilled to announce that we just reached 500 chapters across the US!  To celebrate this achievement, we will plant 500 trees in Malawi in partnership with our grantee, Ripple Africa. This is a momentous milestone that sets us up to deepen our impact in 2020 and beyond. Thanks to your passion and generosity, this year we will be able to:

• Proceed with our $100,000 Rohingya Refugee Project with UNICEF USA – a project that will improve the maternal and newborn health of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
• Continue our expanded program of 12 Sustained Grants per year – we now have a Sustained Grantee every month, with an increase in funding from $60,000 to $75,000 over three years.
• Roll out our new strategic plan, with the bold goal of tripling the amount of funds that we invest in grants and partnerships in support of women and girls around the world.

This is a very exciting goal, and I will be sharing more about why and how we plan to achieve this. Key to this plan is continued and diversified chapter growth in order to create greater impact and change in the world, while ensuring our organization’s long-term sustainability and success. This will involve adding new staff over the next few years so that we can maximize our investments, enhance our Member Education & Engagement Programs, and support our hundreds of volunteer leaders across the country.

Our strategic plan is built on input we received from you, our members. Our board, staff, and volunteer leaders have been collaborating, listening, and learning for over a year, and more than 2,000 members took our survey in October. What we heard overwhelmingly was that:

• You love our chapter model! You value the power in coming together, learning, and making a difference in the world.
• You are proud of the impact that, together, we make in achieving gender equality and transforming the lives of women and girls all over the world.

That’s why the new strategic plan puts our purpose and impact at the center of our work, by focusing on three key areas: learning, giving, and community building.

To support the new strategic plan, we will be updating the way we talk about DFW and the impact we make, including our mission and vision statements. The changes we are rolling out this summer will align our language and imagery (including a new logo) with our purpose. These changes will also position us for continued growth and ensure we are welcoming and inclusive to all.

You, our members, know the power of our impact. In our member survey, you told us that you want the world to see us as the mature, effective, powerful organization that we are. We are changing the world together!

We know that when women have equal opportunities, they become powerful change makers who transform their lives, their communities, and the world for the better. Looking ahead to 2020 and beyond, I know that the sky’s the limit. I am inspired by the depth of your passion and generosity, and can’t wait to share more about what’s in store this year.

Please watch for the next in my blog series where I will share more of what we learned in our 2019 member survey.