When one thinks about the Women & Girls Fund, and what they have accomplished during their twenty years of existence, it is quite understandable to notice a tear in one’s eye. For two decades, the Fund has dedicated itself to supporting some of the Mid-Shore’s most innovative and successful programs to not only lift women and girls but empower them for a brighter future.
Behind this remarkable story is the Women & Girls Fund founder Alice Ryan. With the help of friends and a passion to find a way to support women and girls at a time when resources were few and far between, Alice worked with the Mid-Shore Community Foundation to form this unique organization in 2002.
And now with a history of over $800,000 in grants and a $1 million endowment, the Fund has become one of the Mid-Shore’s most respected philanthropic organizations. Beyond their direct support, the Fund has taken seriously the task of working with their beneficiaries to become stronger, more independent organizations and at the same time have developed creative ways to nurture a new generation of women philoinatioposits.
In light of these extraordinary accomplishments, the Spy will be working with the Women & Girls Fund board members over the next year to put a well deserved spotlight on the causes they support and the special women leaders that lead those efforts.
We begin this “Twenty Years and Counting” series with founder Alice Ryan. Last week, we sat with Alice at the Fund’s offices in the Bullitt House in Easton to understand her original motivation in starting the program, what the Fund has accomplished over the last twenty years, and her hopes for the Women & Girls Fund as it enters its next twenty years of existence.
This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about the Women & Girls Fund please go here.
MAryLou Armstrong-Peters says
What a wonderful interview with a great lady who is making a major difference for women and girls on the Eastern Shore! We are blessed to have Alice Ryan in our midst. Wishing them success into the unknown future where I firmly believe their generosity will still be changing lives.
Sara Jane Davidson says
This was a good video and well done. You started a wonderful program that will last for a long time. You should feel very proud of this accomplishment.
Kathleen Case says
Thank you, Alice for this amazing work and your dedication to making a difference – for grant recipients, those they serve, and the inspiration for girls to become givers from a young age and throughout their lives.
Maxine Farrell says
Bravo Alice! Pioneering a strong effort for Women and Girls. It is so impressive that we have such an organization in our community. We have tremendous needs and I hope the strength of this organization continues. Alice is the type of woman who knows how to give back, but she also knows how to personally get involved and have a greater impact.