Spark’s Impact: 2005-2019

Akili Dada's mission is to transform girls and young women from underprivileged backgrounds into leaders in their communities. Spark members not only raised funds for Akili Dada, they also helped with a number of pro bono projects, including setting up an accounting system and helping draft a proposal that resulted in a $500,000 grant from Google. This is how we spark change!

Spark’s support helped ARTE launch their Global Women Heroes Project, which provided a response to the injustice that communities of color in New York City face under the crippling effects of mass incarceration and gender inequality. For their inaugural project, ARTE worked with both incarcerated young women at Rikers and high school students at the Maxine Greene High School for Imaginative Inquiry to create a public mural in West Harlem. As one student, Celeste, shared, “[The project] is something that actually allows you to escape from the chaos of the world. With ARTE and with the mural that we just worked on, it sends a really big message to a lot of people, not just females, but males, even teenagers, young adults about who is really trying to help us out in the world.”

The Mosintuwu Institute’s Garbage Bank helps women create marketable bags, wallets, and other goods out of trash. This not only gives the women economic opportunities, but also empowers them to speak up in local politics as they advocate for improved waste practices. Spark’s grant and pro bono support helped the women attend trainings to improve their designs. Having an international funder also gave the program validation within the local community.

"Spark was really foundational for me. My experience with Spark taught me firsthand what it means to run a nonprofit organization. I became a better foundation Program Officer and grantmaker, because I could sympathize, empathize, and strategize with nonprofits that were sometimes going through similar challenges as we were at Spark. It also enabled me to serve on other Boards. And, I now use those same skills to lead an organization. As Executive Director at a foundation, I am the main contact with the trustees. Spark was my crash course in how to interact with Board Members, how to read and use bylaws, and how to understand the segregation of duties between Board and staff. Now, that's my job every day."

"When I was still working in the private sector, I was finding success in my career but feeling thoroughly unfulfilled. I was introduced to a Spark by a friend who was also a member and it changed my life. My involvement in Spark inspired me to commit to women's empowerment full time. Without my Spark experience, I don't think I would have taken the risk of moving to Austin site unseen to help Wendy Davis jumpstart her nonprofit Deeds Not Words, committed to galvanizing the power of young women to disrupt the status quo through organizing, policy-making, and voting. Since leaving in 2018, I’ve continued to advocate for gender equity through politics and now serve on Austin’s Human Rights Commission. Thanks to Spark I've learned that it's worth it to push for the empowerment of women, as you'll help inspire new changemakers in the process – like Spark did for me!"

"Spark empowered me to know I deserved “a seat at the table." When I returned to the Midwest where I grew up, I never would have thought to search out giving circle opportunities, intimidated by the process and assuming they were for more influential and “important” women than myself. Thanks to Spark, I have been able to connect with the incredible work of the Chicago Foundation for Women through their local giving circles, and have learned so much about the communities I grew up in. I know this will not be the last time I go for something previously intimidating thanks to my Spark experiences!"