News & Event
“Our grant recipients work hard every day to make changes to systems that improve women’s lives and help them provide for themselves and their families,” said Meghan Cummings, Executive Director of The Women’s Fund. “From job training to changing tires, they help women and families, making the Greater Cincinnati region a better place.”
These $500 – $2,000 grants focus on supporting systemic efforts to improve women’s incomes, job security, and their ability to provide adequately for themselves and their families.
The following organizations received funding:
The Women's Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation leads our community in ensuring the economic self-sufficiency of women in our region. Through leadership, research, and grantmaking, The Women’s Fund works to identify and address the barriers affecting working women and their families. Learn more and get involved at www.cincinnatiwomensfund.org.
Learn about The Women’s Fund report 2014 PULSE: 2020 Jobs and Gender Outlook here.
One of the nation’s leading community foundations, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation helps people make the most of their giving to build a better community. We believe in the power of philanthropy to change the lives of people and communities. As a community foundation, GCF creates a prosperous Greater Cincinnati by investing in thriving people and vibrant places. An effective steward of the community’s charitable resources since 1963, the Foundation inspires philanthropy in eight counties in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. At the end of 2015, GCF had net assets of $533 million.
January 2019
The David C. Herriman Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation (GCF) has granted its 2019 awards to two regional arts organizations, Know Theatre of Cincinnati and Revolution Dance Theatre.
The grants, the first for the fund, will be awarded annually to arts organizations in the eight-county GCF funding region — Butler, Clermont, Hamilton and Warren counties in Ohio; Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties in Kentucky; and Dearborn County in Indiana.
They honor the legacy of the late Northern Kentucky philanthropist and arts patron David C. Herriman, who established the fund for the purpose of “making possible what would otherwise be impossible” for both large and small arts organizations. The awards will particularly focus on new works, the education of youth and performance enhancement through funding to bring in performance artists, directors, choreographers, authors, musicians and other creative artists.
“We are thrilled that David’s immeasurable passion for the advancement of the arts in his adopted hometown lives on in such impactful ways,” said Ellen M. Katz, GCF President/CEO. “We are honored to help ensure that his vision will be preserved for generations to come.”
Know Theatre of Cincinnati will receive $30,000 to fund its “Welcoming New Voices to the Know” guest residency program for artists of color during its 2019-2020 MainStage season. The Over-the-Rhine theater will conduct a search for up to four guest directors and/or designers of color from New York and Chicago to provide fresh perspectives to their audiences and shadowing/mentee opportunities to local artists. Know Theatre is recognized as a “theatrical playground where all are welcome,” amplifying under-represented voices and presenting inclusive productions.
Revolution Dance Theatre (RDT) will receive $10,000 to fund its Ballet on the BLOC collaboration with BLOC Ministries to bring high-quality arts experiences and classical dance access to the Lower Price Hill community. The funds will be used to cover professional fees for residencies at Oyler Elementary School and the neighborhood Q-Kidz Dance Team, as well as an extended residency with instructor KaRon Brown-Lehman, monthly events for intermediate and advance level dancers and a performance at Aronoff Center for the Arts. RDT is dedicated to “breaking barriers between the ballet art form and people of color” by bringing dance classes and resources to under-represented communities and producing works that celebrate diversity.
The anonymous committee that considered the funding requests includes a member of the arts community, a faculty member of a local university or college and a person representing a county of GCF’s funding region, a position which will rotate each year between the eight counties.
“Our committee was pleased and proud to review many excellent applications,” said a committee member. “The process underscored the depth and strength of the arts community in which we live and work. David’s goal of ‘making possible the impossible’ most clearly resonated in the grants to Know Theatre and Revolution Dance Theatre. We encourage all to attend their grant-winning performances to enjoy the impact of a most cherished friend and philanthropist, David Herriman.”
The David C. Herriman Fund of Greater Cincinnati Foundation will award up to three grants — one large, and one or two smaller — totaling $220,000 in 2019. GCF will publish a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the next funding cycle in April. Proposals will be due on October 1.
I want to take a moment to thank you for being such an important part of The Women’s Fund family. I’m tremendously honored to lead this organization comprising so many passionate donors and volunteers.
I have been with The Women’s Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation for more than four years and, quite simply, I live and breathe this work. Investing in women and their families is the strongest, most effective way to make our community more prosperous.
My vision is to make women’s self-sufficiency a community imperative—an issue that is discussed in back yards and board rooms and carried out through a dynamic plan of action.
Thanks to your support, the trajectory of The Women’s Fund has been exceptional. We are changing the conversation about women and girls in Greater Cincinnati.
I am grateful that you understand and appreciate the importance of the systemic work that we do. It makes all the difference.
Although I know many of you already, I look forward to reconnecting over the next few months and discussing your hopes for The Women’s Fund in the years to come.
We have so much more to accomplish together and I’m eager to hear your ideas. You can reach me anytime at cummingsm@gcfdn.org or 513-768-6144.
Thank you for your generosity and your confidence in our work.
Warm regards,
Meghan Cummings Executive Director
The Women's Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation leads our community in ensuring the economic self-sufficiency of women in our region. cincinnatiwomensfund.org
CINCINNATI (January 13, 2017) - The Women’s Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation has received $150,000 from the Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee. These funds will support numerous projects furthering the fund’s mission to ensure the economic self-sufficiency of women.
Funding will support research into domestic violence triggered by employment advancement. The Women’s Fund and its community partners have been collecting data on this phenomenon for the past six months. This grant has attracted the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to do a local qualitative study to better understand the situation and provide solutions.
Funding will also support a series of workshops for local foundations on gender lens grantmaking that will help drive more effective investments with non-profit partners.
“The Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund was created to honor Jacob Schmidlapp’s daughter, Charlotte and support women’s educational and economic advancement,” said Meghan Cummings, executive director. “We are honored to celebrate her legacy by putting these funds to work on projects that support women and encourage their advancement. This grant is a transformational investment in our work.”
Together, The Women’s Fund and the Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund are making a powerful difference by driving top-level change and leadership on these important issues.
CINCINNATI (June 4, 2015) — The Women’s Fund of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation recently presented its 2015 mini-grants to 12 well-deserving nonprofits.
The Women's Fund's mini-grant ($500 - $1,500) cycle funds organizations that provide services and programming to improve the lives and economic status of women and girls in the Greater Cincinnati region. Our grants focus on supporting systemic efforts to improve women’s incomes, job security and their ability to provide adequately for themselves and their families.
List of 2015 Mini-Grant Grantees for Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency:
These grants were made possible by the generosity of The Women's Fund donors. Because of them, $1 million has been granted to Greater Cincinnati programs and projects that help women since the inception of The Women's Fund in 1995. See the list of projects we have funded.
We would like to thank our wonderful volunteer grant reviewers for your time, thoroughness and wisdom!
CINCINNATI (June 6, 2016) —The Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s (GCF) Governing Board recently approved $3.3 million in Community Fund grants in its second quarter. Thanks to the generosity of its donors, GCF is able to offer help to local needs.
A number of Community Fund grants this quarter included requests for help with mental health services with a focus on trauma-informed care:
The Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s increased funding for trauma parallels a national movement towards preventing childhood abuse, neglect and household challenges such as domestic violence, substance abuse, mental illness or parental separation. The Centers for Disease Control-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the largest investigations of childhood abuse and neglect and later-life health and well-being. The study found as the number of ACEs increase so does the risk for alcoholism and alcohol abuse, depression, suicide attempts, fetal death, illicit drug use, poor work performance, financial stress, poor academic achievement, adolescent pregnancy and more. “Unaddressed trauma can be an underlying cause for many problems later in life,” said Molly Robertshaw, MSW, Program Officer. “If GCF invests in increasing access to trauma-informed services now, those affected by trauma in our community are more likely to have the opportunity to live healthy lives.” Through its Generous Together program, GCF partnered with its donors to provide a grant to Little Sisters of the Poor for $65,000. Generous Together provides donors an opportunity to partner with GCF in providing support to grant seekers. The grant to Little Sisters of the Poor will assist in the purchase of an emergency power generator. “We are grateful for the opportunity offered by GCF to further assist the Little Sisters of the Poor, whose work we have admired and supported for many years,” said Peter Schmid, a GCF donor. The Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s Community Fund supports the current and greatest needs in our community. Contributions to GCF’s Community Fund build more resources to invest in the good work of nonprofit organizations in our region. Contributions can be made at www.gcfdn.org/yourcommunity.
See the complete list of spring 2016 grants [PDF]