There are moments in life, sometimes quiet, sometimes loud, that alter everything that follows. For me, one of those moments arrived on a newsstand in January of 2003: the People magazine feature that told a simple, practical story about a new model of giving. When I first answered the phone several months before, and the caller said she was the Deputy Midwest Bureau Chief from People magazine, I was certain it was a joke. We struggled to get any local media outlets to cover Impact100. How could I believe that the most widely subscribed magazine in the world would be calling about featuring my story? Every time I return to the memory, I feel the same astonishment and deep gratitude of how that story invited a community into being.
The Impact100 model was designed in the summer of 2001 with a clear purpose: invite women into civic leadership through collective giving and provide transformational, sustainable funding to local nonprofits solving the most pressing community problems. We awarded our first grant of $123,000 in the fall of 2002.
Then, in January 2003, People brought our work to a massive audience. That coverage widened the doorway so thousands more could see the path we laid and follow it.
Publicity changed the rhythm of possibility. Overnight, women from towns I’d never visited called and asked how to launch a chapter in their communities. Readers who had never thought about giving in this way saw a clear, accessible path. The simple and powerful model was now being replicated, and the news story made the idea visible and possible.
Here we are in January of 2026, twenty-five years since our launch! It hardly seems possible. The movement is still growing and expanding. Impact100 chapters now span communities in multiple countries, and by the close of 2025, we had awarded more than $178 million in transformational grants. Those numbers still feel astounding. So many women (and many men, too!) choosing to lead, to learn, to pool resources, and to make their community a better place for all to live, work, and play.
I am forever grateful to the journalist who listened, to the editors who saw merit in my story, and to the readers who turned their curiosity into action. I am also grateful to the thousands of volunteers and chapter leaders who did the patient, rigorous work of executing the Impact100 model well. People told the story, and together, we built the movement.
Although I never expected Impact100 to multiply the way it has, from the very first inquiry, I’ve been thrilled to see this model resonate and inspire others to form chapters of their own. In the early years, I personally handled every inquiry and gladly spoke with prospective Impact100 Founders. Over time, that support became formalized in the creation of Impact100 Global. An independent 501(c)(3), Impact100 Global exists to ensure the readiness continues. I understood that without a solid structure, too many leaders would not find the support they needed.
We launch and lift chapters by providing tools, training, and systems at no cost to local leaders, helping preserve the how and the why of Impact100, so it can be amplified, incubated, and sustained as community-led action.
Our story is still being written. As we celebrate this twenty-five-year milestone, we honor the moment that helped launch it all and the many hands and hearts that carried it forward.
My heartfelt thanks for the People magazine story that helped introduce Impact100 to the world. Now, 25 years in, the story keeps getting better. Join us as we remember our roots and celebrate our collective Impact.