What a Night! Annual Meeting 2025 Delivered in a Big Way
- Impact Austin
- Jun 13
- 7 min read
Annual Meeting 2025 celebrated milestones, volunteers, partnerships, leadership, and steadfast community support in the form of collective giving. Already Impact Austin's prime Signature Event, Annual Meeting stood out as an exceptional celebration.
Generous sponsors and dedicated event support made the celebration possible
Impact Austin's Advancement team brought in generous community underwriters as Annual Meeting sponsors. Thank you to Amplify Credit Union, Audi South Austin, Baird Wealth Management/Susan Palombo, H-E-B, Swanger Prickett/Marty Swanger, C2C Media/Deanna DeHaven, and Erin McCord Consulting.
Guided by our Philanthropy Operations Manager Alyssa Reyna, Impact Austin's interns and volunteers came early and stayed late to manage our beautiful event. Thank you to outgoing interns Kessa Thurman and Eliana Flores and incoming interns Leslie Pineda-Hernandez and
Yelitza Castrejon. Even more heartfelt thanks go to Tiffany Young, Alexis Borgas, and Irma Garcia.
We celebrated young philanthropists
Girls Giving Grants has been working their brand of collective giving since 2006! In many other collective giving organizations, youth initiatives are just becoming established, but g3 awarded their 20th grant this year. Meredith McMahan, g3's outgoing president and a 5-year member, issued a special thank you to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas, which donated office space for g3's 2024-2025 meetings. Meredith announced that their 59 members donated $125 each and 960 volunteer hours to generate their 2025 grant of $6,500 to Saint Louise House. "This year, g3’s grant will go to empower women and their children to overcome homelessness for generations to come, providing child-centered case
management, activities supporting social and emotional development and financial support for children’s participation in summer camps and other extracurricular activities."
We applauded Impact Austin volunteers
President Deanna DeHaven remarked, "Our volunteers are the heartbeat of this organization. You are why we exist—and how we exist. From facilitating our grantmaking to recruiting members, fundraising, running events, managing our technology, and more—none of this would be possible without the heart and dedication you pour into our mission."
All FY 2025 volunteers were asked to stand to receive an Impact Austin daisy as a thank you. Deanna summarized, "This simple flower is not only the symbol in our logo—it holds deeper meaning. The daisy represents optimism, clarity, and quiet strength. It grows in clusters, spreads beyond where it’s planted, and thrives together—just like our community of givers."
Later in the evening, exceptional volunteers were honored.
Jerrica Deloney Witte - Val Kirk Above and Beyond Award
This award is the highest honor Impact Austin bestows annually on one volunteer whose contribution of time and talent fundamentally and substantially strengthens and improves the organization. Jerrica stepped into a leadership role this past year as GRC Coordinator and she crushed it! She consistently helped the co-chairs (and therefore the GRCs) stay focused on what unrestricted grants meant and adapted the messaging and GRC resources accordingly — no small feat in what was a huge, worthwhile pivot for the organization. Additionally, she led the GRC Kickoff event and gracefully held a conversation with the membership regarding DEIB, and what it means for Impact Austin, especially during a chaotic time for nonprofit organizations in our community. Finally, she consistently told us how open she was to feedback, which is such a gift.
Karen Davenport - Volunteer of the Year in honor of Allison Marshall
The Volunteer of the Year award is given to a member whose energy and leadership has catalyzed growth and positive change for the organization and for their fellow members. Karen is the co-chair for Girls Giving Grants, a role she has played for several years. Thank you, Karen, for your leadership in the G3 program and for creating repeatable processes, recruiting new volunteers to work with the girls and advancing the G3 programming.
Advancement - Committee of the Year
Co-led by Maddy Compogiannis and Ami Kane, the Advancement Committee exceeded its fundraising goals and instilled a caring collective culture within Impact Austin.
Gloria Hughes - Most Members Recruited - Thank you, Gloria!
Alyssa Reyna - not only our Philanthropy Operations Manager but also a new Impact Austin member, Alyssa was honored with a gift and Certificate of Awesomeness from Consuela. Alyssa goes above and beyond her job description for us!
We celebrated Impact Austin's collective call to action
Deanna DeHaven commented that FY 2025 was a year of "making bold, thoughtful decisions that position Impact Austin for a strong and sustainable future.....And we’re doing all of this in a time that is anything but ordinary." This year, we’ve been busy. Together, we have:
Deepened our commitment to trust-based philanthropy by launching our first-ever cycle of unrestricted grants—a historic shift that removes red tape and places more trust in nonprofit leaders;
Listened and responded to feedback from our community partners, directly shaping how we fund and support their work;
Shouldered more of the grantmaking burden, making the process easier and more equitable for applicants;
Expanded the reach and influence of our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Committee across the organization;
Hosted learning events to support our members on their philanthropic journeys through educational events, deep dives into community issues, and shared learning experiences;
Launched a new membership strategy to engage more women across Central Texas;
Embedded a Culture of Philanthropy and Caring Collective throughout the organization, inspiring greater awareness, giving, and engagement among our members.
And this month, our Board of Directors reaffirmed our unwavering commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging with a renewed public statement.
Earlier this year, over 50 nonprofit leaders came together to write and sign a letter to Impact Austin in appreciation of our move to unrestricted grantmaking. This letter is a powerful affirmation of the path we’ve chosen and the values we uphold. It also serves as an invitation to other funders—to listen, to trust, and to lead with courage.
We thanked retiring Directors Simone Talma Flowers, Katherine Mudge, Tracey Nelson, and Marty Swanger while welcoming four new directors to the FY 2026 Board: Rebecca Birch, Gloria Hughes, Erin McCord, and Jerrica Deloney Witte.
We celebrated a vision for the future
FY 2026 President Claudia Barlow shared her vision for the next fiscal year. "I am so honored to serve as President of Impact Austin for the next two years. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve with our Board of Directors, Alyssa, our committee leadership and all of the dedicated, passionate volunteers who make Impact Austin happen.
I am committed to furthering our mission to provide transformative grants to
Central Texas nonprofit organizations through the power of women's collective
giving.
I am committed to continuing our work to advance trust-based philanthropy
and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
I am committed to working with our community partners to listen and to learn,
so that we continue to collaborate with them to improve the lives of our central
Texas neighbors.
I am committed to offering more women the opportunity to be part of our
mission.
And I am committed to building and strengthening our culture of philanthropy."
Claudia reinforced the concept that more members means more grant funding. "The Board is currently developing a membership strategy that we will be working with our fabulous Membership Committee to bring to life. Our goal is to bring more women into our organization so that we can increase the grant pool and give more high-impact grants to area nonprofits...mobilizing to extend our outreach and provide new and different opportunities to learn how they can be a part of Impact Austin."
We celebrated grantmaking, the grantmakers, and our 2025 Grants
Grants Co-Chairs Karen McLinden and Michelle Rankin recognized all the members who had a role in selecting 2025 finalists and invited additional members to join the 2026 grants process. Margaret Ballinger will step-in as Grants Co-Chair as Michelle retires. Each GRC's co-chairs thanked their members and announced the primary and secondary grant recipients in each category. In 2025, Impact Austin shifted its grantmaking process to one more closely aligned with trust based philanthropy. All 2025 grants shown below are unrestricted with our trust in the organizations to spend our investment in the ways that best suit their missions. Check out our press release for details.
Congratulations to our newest Community Partners!
We thank members who made our 2025 grant cycle possible and successful
2025 GRANTS COMMITTEE
Nonprofit Coordinators - Elaine Jensen and Fay Evans-Martin
Grant Review Committee (GRC) Coordinators - Anne Helmick-Lyon, Jerrica Deloney Witte
Grant Finance Committee Coordinators - Margaret Ballinger, Connee Sullivan, Monica Huffer
Technology Coordinators - Peggy Hofmann, Melissa McDermott, Michelle Ahmad
Finalist Coordinators - Carla Denison-Bickett, Melissa Lorber, Laure McLaughlin
Community Partner Coordinators - Jennifer Hornish, Randeen Torvik Ragan
Girls Giving Grants Co-Chairs - Karen Davenport, Rebecca Birch, Mae Mendoza
Grants Advisor – Marla Whelan
Community Grant Review Committee (*leaders)
Michelle Ahmad, Alison Alter, Karen Bantuveris*, Lisa Barden, Brenna Cummings, Lisa Glenn*, Melissa Grant, Brionne Griffin Ann Harwood, Bobbi Jayasuriya, Ann Kasper*,
Nancee Lottmann, Jennifer Pelling, Jeanne Robertson, Kali' Rourke, Devi Shah,
Brittany Sharkey, Christine Shepherd, Jacquie Shillis, Carolyn Spector,
Margaret Von Flatern, Holly Whitten
Education Grant Review Committee (*leaders)
Roslyn Breen, Sue Breland, Susan R. Brown, Rise' Candelaria, Lisa David, Amanda Farmer*, Karin Foster, Cate Glenn, Nina Gonzalez, Nicole Halder*, Elaine Jensen, Sarah Kennedy,
Judi McCarthy, Linda Oliveira, Roberta Rincon*, Deanan Sanders, Tina Straus,
Elizabeth Vetter, Jeanne White
Health & Well-Being Grant Review Committee (*leaders)
Samira Balay, Bailey Barlow, Nancy Barlow, Kendra Beach, Linda Carey, Karen Cox,
Cheryl Dunn Donley, Teri Evans, Laura Freedman, Wendi Gordon, Sue Hart,
Angela Hebert, Kate Holloway, Lea Isgur, Brigitte Kivisto, Eileen Kovit, Jackie Kraal,
Cressida Kwolek, Melissa Lorber*, Erin McCord*, Audra Morris, Katherine Mudge,
Sara Pietsch, Kelli Raymond*, Jacqueline Rixen, Rachel Schmidt, Monica Simmons,
Susan Tormollen, Molly White
Thanks to all who attended and supported our 2025 Annual Meeting! We'll see you in the new fiscal year! Until then, enjoy a few photo memories of our June 9 event.
