HomeYWConnect Employee Newsletter- Jul/Aug 2022
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July – August 2022

July Birthdays

1 Heather Martin
6 Whitney Garrett
9 Millard Wombles
10 Deborah Locklear-Oglesby
11 Alacia Bagley
11 Sierra Derenburger
14 Adara Herring
15 Julie Gay
17 Beverly Norris
24 Demonet Oliphant
27 Jaden Taylor
28 Helen Widman 

August Birthdays

1 Candice Moore
2 Mary Lemrick
3 Joyce Stewart
6 Harley Howell 
9 Ellen Roberts
10 Janice Tunstall
12 Amy Brake
20 Regina Clemons
21 Kristy Hylton
22 Kim Williams 
24 Jerry Cobbs 
29 Lu Kramer 

 

July Anniversaries

1 YEAR
Ashley Gillam
Ashley Gordon
Michael Nicholson 

2 YEARS
Kate Croteau

4 YEARS
Nakita Wilson

6 YEARS
Amos Li

10 YEARS
Millard Wombles

14 YEARS
Jessica Wichtman-Will

18 YEARS
Vuanita Hill

August Anniversaries

1 YEAR
Mariah Cox
Shelby Gayer
Stephen Hiller
Donovan Hines
LaShanta Lewis
David Lubin
Marie Lundy
Pierre Pipkin
Demonet Oliphant
Jaden Taylor
Helen Tewolde
Deborah Tooson
Meagan Ward
Evelyn Williams 

2 YEARS
Alaina Marie Rutter 

3 YEARS
Breona Cunningham
Mariah Davis
Jacqueline Johnson
Marilyn Muniz
Caroline Woliver
Kia Woodward 

4 YEARS
Patricia Hunley
Kimberly Trimmer 

5 YEARS
Regina McCoy
Jamez Murray-Earliwine
Anita Rastogi

8 YEARS
Candice Moore
Joyce Stewart 

10 YEARS
Anne Cronin
Laura Miller
Deborah Schipper 

11 YEARS
Mary Rogers

16 YEARS
Michelle Chapman
Beverly Norris 

19 YEARS
Kristy Hylton

21 YEARS
Sally Ristucci

22 YEARS
Joan Ward

26 YEARS
Christine Hickernell

28 YEARS
Jennifer Hannah

30 YEARS
Clyde Watson

 

 

 

 

Mariama Ba
Project Specialist 

Joshua Marshall 
Front Desk Associate 

Molly Ryan Kowaleski
Director of Marketing and Communications 

Lailah Carrion
Program Assistant 

Allison Crouse
Program Assistant  

London Durr
Program Assistant  

Deja Geddings
Program Assistant 

Harley Howell
Program Assistant 

Rhiannon Howell
Program Assistant  

Marylyen Ximena Jimenez-Ayala
Program Assistant 

Davin Lee
Program Assistant 

Travis Marshall
Kitchen Product Assistant 

Caitlin Miville
Program Assistant 

Aliya Myers
Program Assistant 

Sabrina Philippe
Program Assistant 

Breanna Ridgeway
Program Assistant 

Carmen Rivera
Program Assistant 

Hope Selah Kerr
Program Assistant 

Michayla Latrice Long
Assistant Toddler Teacher 

Adara Herring
Family Support Specialist 

Shardel Suber
Family Support Specialist 

 

YWCA Columbus Advancement Team would like to welcome Molly Kowaleski. Molly joined YWCA Columbus on May 16 as director of marketing and communications. Molly brings nearly 10 years of marketing, communications, and public relations expertise to the YWCA. Molly formerly served as an account manager with Geben Communication, where she honed her skills by leading internal and external partners through numerous campaign strategies and projects. Molly can be found on the G Level of the Griswold Building. We welcome you, Molly! We are so grateful that you joined us.  

The Advancement Team also welcomed Mariama Ba on June 1. Mariama joins us as project specialist, a role that supports the Advancement and Leadership and Social Justice teams. Mariama comes to us with a strong background in government relations after serving the Ohio Senate for four years. We are excited for her to use her expertise and passion to advance the mission of YWCA Columbus! Welcome, Mariama! 

Justice, Equity and Belonging Program Manager Spencer Stultz departed in June, and Belen de Leon, Leadership & Social Justice program coordinator, will be leaving YWCA Columbus at the end of July after being awarded a full ride to U.C. Berkley Law School. Navya Nalla will be joining the team soon as a Leadership & Social Justice program coordinator. 

 

 

Team Announcements + Updates

Fundraising Updates

March – May 2022 has been a busy time for the YWCA Advancement Team. In addition to raising nearly $600,000 during Women of Achievement, we are beginning to see numerous gifts close from our partners and donors. Some gifts/grants that we would like to mention include:  

  • Albert J. and Eve G. Pfeiffer Fund ($25,000) to support YWCA Family Center 
  • Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund on behalf of Discover and New Albany Operation Center ($25,000) to support the YWCA Family Center Meal Program 
  • Champion Cares Foundation ($25,000) matching support for Women of Achievement 
  • Bread (formerly known as Alliance Data) ($25,000) DEI & Activists and Agitators 
  • CoverMyMeds ($50,000) Activists and Agitators, WOA 22 and DEI Trainings 
  • Bank of America ($40,000) to support YWCA Family Center  
  • Nationwide Foundation ($500,000/$20,000) FC Project/Bright Futures Program 
  • Groundwork Ohio ($55,000) Youth Development and Early Childhood Education Campaign 
  • American Electric Power Foundation ($250,000) Year Two Investment into the AEP Foundation Center for Racial Equity at YWCA Columbus 

We are excited about how our community partners continue to support the essential and transformative work of YWCA Columbus with more than $1.6 million in contributions. We will continue to share this great news with you as we work together to execute the essential work of YWCA Columbus in 2022. Thank you to all of the directors for your continued support of these submissions. 

YWCA Kids Place

For the Westerville Kids Place Department, Mandi Buchwald and Rene Call have done an amazing job kicking off Summer Camp! In addition to some exciting new field trips and presenters this year, we are participating in an agricultural education program thanks to a grant received by the Ohio Afterschool Network (OAN). OSU agricultural students are helping our Explorers take on a pitch contest while they do STEM activities with our younger campers around chick hatching. We’re even incubating chicken eggs as part of this summer’s learning lab sessions!

We are in our second year of operating a Summer Wraparound program to support the Westerville City Schools Summer Intervention session. We’ve had some exciting speakers this summer, including CATCO, Boxland Media, Pin-Up Pythons, and the Genoa Township Fire Department. Our enrollment has more than tripled since last summer!

 

Take Action Against HB616 and HB454!

YWCA Columbus recently attended a rally against HB616, otherwise known as the “Don’t Say Gay, Don’t Mention Race” bill, in support of Honesty for Ohio Education. At the rally, Dan Heintz recommended folks take three action steps against HB616 by following a simple equation: 6 + 1 + 6. Register 6 of your friends to vote + write 1 op-ed or letter to the editor + contact 6 elected officials to tell them about your opposition to this deeply harmful proposed legislation. To learn more about HB616 and HB454 and how to contact your elected officials, click here to access our advocacy packet!

 

Save the date for the Non-Police Crisis Response Forum on July 27 at 5 p.m., which YWCA Columbus is supporting. More details to come! 

 

Upcoming Employee Engagement Opportunities

Wealth Building and Financial Wellness Workshop

Thursday, July 28th  |  5:00-6:30pm

Many of us know that women, especially women of color, earn less than men on average, but the gap widens exponentially when we assess wealth disparities. According to the WFCO Wealth Gap Report, the Gender & Racial Wealth Gap refers to how structural racism and sexism compound and contribute to the wealth gap, which in turn further exacerbates political, economic, and social disadvantages on the basis of gender and race.

Join Chase financial education managers as they share the basics of how to move beyond basic budgeting and focus on more holistic financial health, long-term planning, and wealth building. Click here to register for the workshop.  

Staff & Alumni Book Club

Thursday, August 25th  |  5:00pm

“A Burst of Light and Other Essays” by Audre Lorde is an award-winning, path-breaking collection of essays that is a clarion call to build communities that nurture our spirits. Lorde announced the need for radical politics of intersectionality, while struggling to maintain her own faith as she wages a battle against liver cancer.

From reflections on her struggle with the disease to thoughts on lesbian sexuality and African-American identity in a straight white man’s world, Lorde’s voice remains enduringly relevant in today’s political landscape. Sign up here.

Employee Summer Picnic

Sunday, August 28th  |  12:00-3:00pm

Location: Wolfe Park Shelter House (across from St. Charles High School on E. Broad St.) More details to come! 

 

 

Shout out to the YWCA Advancement Team on the success of 2022 Women of Achievement (WOA). This event was led by Jessica Wichtman-Will, director of donor engagement, and Lea Goldsmith, events project manager. Raising nearly $600,000 in unrestricted revenue, this event is one of Central Ohio’s most successful fundraisers. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our entire team: shout out to Michael Nicholson, creative coordinator, for all of the creative elements that helped give the event a special touch; Diana Yates, marketing coordinator, for ensuring that the word was out in the community regarding the event on social media and email; Ruthi Orloski, database administrator, for ensuring that donors were registered and that all gifts are acknowledged; Joseph Glandorf, corporate and foundation grants administrator, for pitching in to edit all materials and for anything else that was needed; and to AC Dunlap for leading YWCA Columbus to new PR opportunities. You all demonstrated rockstar behavior (yet again!)! And I just want to let you know that I truly appreciate working with such a dynamic and thoughtful group of people.
The first summer for Y Kids Place Wraparound at USN officially opened on June 21! Despite some unexpected staffing challenges, the YKP and USN teams worked together to have a successful opening week.  Thank you to all of our YKP-USN staff for your hard work, resilience and professionalism.
Stacy celebrated 20 years at the YWCA. She is the real MVP at Safe & Sound and we are so thankful for her!!
Our school-age summer camp is off to a great start thanks to our awesome camp staff Alaina Rutter, Ryan Kennedy, and Mariah Cox.

YWCA Columbus News

10TV uplifts a short video from Christie Angel on why AAPI heritage month is important. (May 2022)

We got to thank Congresswoman Joyce Beatty in person for the $850,000 support for our YWCA Family Center. (May 2022)

In June, we celebrated Pride and celebrated Juneteenth out loud on social media. We shared the real history of each, and thanks to our creative lead, we interviewed community members about what Juneteenth means to them. (June 2022) 

Christie Angel recently penned a letter to the editor at The Columbus Dispatch, encouraging policymakers and regulators to end the sale of flavored tobacco products. (June 2022) 

View YWCA Columbus’ 2021 Annual Report here on our website.