In The Press

  • Powered by Women: Amanda Brock, Spark

  • Amanda Brock, Executive Director at Spark

  • March 2017
Spark, powered by Amanda Brock, is igniting a movement of young proffesionals in support of women’s causes. Amanda Brock, Spark´s Executive Director, has doubled the size of their network since joining the team in 2013. Under her leadership, she has worked to improve the lives of over 30,000 women and girls, and has executed 60 programs per year to educate the Spark Community. Amanda has a unique vision that has attracted young professions to become part of the philanthropic world, cultivating a new generation of donors. Read the article here.  
 

  • When Women Are Stronger… We All Rise

  • 360 Bay Area

  • August 2016
We soak in some inspiration from women in the fight of their lives… true and lasting gender equity. On this episode, we chat up Cynthia Nimmo and Kirsty Burow from Women’s Funding Network and Amanda Brock from Spark who teach us how we can join the fight and #DoMoreGood. As the interim Executive Director of Spark Amanda Brock is leading a network of young professionals in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and New York City who invest to improve the lives of women around the world. Listen to the podcast here.  
 

  • Nonprofit (with Amanda Brock)

  • Amanda Brock, Program Director at Spark

  • January 2016
“It was kind of like going to a happy hour except you get to talk about how you want to make the world a better place and the first questions isn’t what you do for a living.” Spark’s Executive Director talks about her job, life, and reasons why every one of us should be a philanthropist. “The amount of different tasks I get to do is really exciting, and every aspect of what I do is super important towards the impact we’re trying to make in the world.” Read the article here.  
 

  • The Influencers: SOMA Magazine

  • Jackie Rotman, Executive Director at Spark

  • December 2015
In SOMA Magazine’s “Obsession” issue, our Executive Director, Jackie Rotman, was interviewed for her influence leveraging philanthropy as a universal tool; “From a professional history that began with bright ideas as a teenager, Jackie’s career is rooted in quality of life. At 14 years old she founded Everybody Dance Now!, a nonprofit organization with a knack for instilling self-esteem into the lives of underserved youth through dance. Now, Jackie serves as the Executive Director for Spark. Based in San Francisco, Jackie and her team at Spark use strategy and investment of the global sort to support women’s initiatives around the world and spark altruistic discoveries along the way.” Read the article here.  
 

  • SF’s Secret Society for Women by Women

  • Riley Rant, Rally

  • September 2015
One of our favorite non-profits in San Francisco, Spark, is turning 10 years old. Not yet a tween, not yet a woman, but still the leading network in the Bay Area for young professionals to mix, mingle, and advance gender equality. Below are 5 reasons why we think Spark is so spectacular—and why you should consider supporting this epic non-profit. Read the article here.  
 

  • Cultivating a New Generation of Donors

  • Amanda Brock, Program Director at Spark

  • August 2014
It all started with seven young women who wanted to make a difference. They were all passionate about becoming philanthropically engaged in international women’s rights, but found that the philanthropy game was not an easy one for even the most spirited 20-somethings to crack into. Their solution? Spark, a platform for the philanthropic and civic engagement of young people. Spark’s Program Director gives Women’s Funding Network the scoop on how Spark has succeeded in engaging in philanthropy and how others can too. Read the article here.  
 

  • Three More Ways to Engage Millennial Donors

  • Kathleen Kelly Janus, Stanford University & Spark Co-Founder

  • August 2014
For many nonprofit organizations, getting young people to support their work seems like an insurmountable challenge. The good news is that engaging Millennials does not have to be such mystery. In fact Millennial supporters can become an organization’s most avid champions. Kathleen Kelly Janus’s first SSIR post (below) on the subject of Millennial giving rose to the #1 most read SSIR blog post that month. Due to this overwhelming success, she authored a follow-up piece sharing three more strategies to spur Millennial engagement. Read the article here.  
 

  • Three Ways to Engage Millennial Donors

  • Kathleen Kelly Janus, Stanford University & Spark Co-Founder

  • July 2014
Cultivating the next generation of donors is the lifeblood of the future of the women’s movement, or any nonprofit for that matter. The challenge is that older and younger donors approach activism in different ways. Kathleen Kelly Janus, Spark Co-Founder, discusses the ways Spark has broken through the generational differences and harnessed Millennial participation. Read the article here.  
 

  • Announcing Spark’s New Executive Director

  • Gayle Karen Young, Spark & Wikimedia Foundation

  • April 2014
Spark is thrilled to announce that Jackie Rotman is joining our team as Executive Director. Jackie comes to Spark with nine years of experience in nonprofit leadership and strategy, international development, and philanthropic advising. She previously served as Founder and Executive Director of Everybody Dance Now! which has helped underserved youth cultivate self-esteem and establish healthy lifestyles through dance since 2005. Read the announcement here.  
 

  • The Weekly Review

  • Rowan and Molly, The Weekly Review

  • March 2014
Spark’s Program Director, Amanda Brock, speaks to The Weekly Review about Spark’s philanthropic network of young professionals, commitment to supporting norm-shifting grassroots women’s organizations, and shares stories of Spark grantees and their exciting growth since their Spark grants. Listen to the radio segment here (Amanda’s interview starts at 1:05:30).  
 

  • Celebrating Women Who Ignite Global Change

  • Gael Sylvia, BlogTalkRadio

  • April 2012
Sylvia Global lands in San Francisco with Shannon Farley, founding Executive Director of Spark. Millennials are the growing face of philanthropy. With more than 5,000 global members ages 20-30s. Within Spark, they are creating their own leadership opportunities, including men and devising an intersectional model around the issues that they care about. Listen to the interview here.  
 

  • The Future of Philanthropy is With the Cupcake Bakers

  • Christine Zachai, Forward Philanthropy

  • March 2012
What do we know about how younger generations differ in philanthropic practice and priorities between generations, especially with so little focus on younger philanthropists? Christiane Zachai explores this question in her article “The Future of Philanthropy is With the Cupcake Bakers”. Read the article here.  
 

  • Women, Philanthropy and the Future of Wealth

  • Sam Beinhacker, Arabella Advisors

  • March 2012
Women are positioned as never before in history to make a huge difference in philanthropy, not only with our time and compassion, but also with our money. As women’s wealth and influence grows, organizations that want to engage them in philanthropy will have to shift their approaches to address women’s unique interests and leadership styles. View the webinar here.  
 

  • Spark Case Study: A Network for Women’s Equality

  • Natalia Castaneda

  • August 2011
Spark provides members an opportunity to deepen their engagement with the cause – instead of simply attending an event or donating money, members can volunteer with grantee partners, mentor others, participate in grantmaking, and even join a delegation of members that visit grantees around the world to see the impact firsthand. Read the rest of the article here.  
 

  • Philanthropy is a Lifestyle Choice

  • Kathleen J. King, DivineCaroline.com

  • October 2008
Spark, a young nonprofit, is changing the notion of philanthropy. For its members, philanthropy is a lifestyle choice–one that engages them on many levels. According to Executive Director Shannon Farley, Spark helps you change the world–and network, find a tennis partner, and a new apartment all at the same time! Read the rest of the article here.  
 

  • Group finds women in Jordan coping with familiar problems, Spark took money, advice to villages near Amman

  • Phil Sands, San Francisco Chronicle

  • November 2006
Jordan, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, is ruled by a monarchy, and has come under fire from international rights groups for its lack of democratic political reforms and its human rights record. A Spark delegation hopes that by helping women in modest projects like the clothes shop, they would feel empowered to take on wider issues affecting them. Read the rest of the article here.