Photograph by Rose Palmieri courtesy Impact 100
A powerful Greater Cincinnati women’s giving circle has been quietly—and not-so-quietly—transforming our region for 23 years. Impact 100 Cincinnati, a women-led philanthropic organization, has directed more than $7 million to nonprofits across Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and Eastern Indiana. These grants and awards provide crucial financial support and elevate visibility and momentum for these local organizations. Impact 100 has announced its 2025 grant finalists, with four organizations set to receive $100,000 grants and two organizations receiving $10,000 awards on September 25 at Music Hall.
A Unique Model of Giving
The concept behind Impact 100 Cincinnati is refreshingly simple: Women join Impact 100 and 100 percent of their membership contributions are pooled into a collective grant fund. “My donation of $1,000 goes so much further when combined with others,” Impact 100 President Janet Collins says.
Members work in teams to evaluate the grant applicants. “We learn about the nonprofits and their missions, local challenges they face, and their innovative solutions to improve our community,” Collins adds. Ultimately, the membership selects which projects will receive $100,000 transformational grants. Impact 100 members witness the tangible difference their contributions can make.
Those members (more than 400) come from over 80 ZIP codes and range in age from teens to their 90s. Throughout the year they connect through educational panels, social mixers, and updates from past grant recipients.
More Than Just Nonprofit Grants
Photograph courtesy Impact 100
The $10,000 awards are made possible by a program called Extend Your Impact, introduced in 2024. It allows anyone to contribute to a fund supporting the finalist organizations. The Ohio Justice and Policy Center (OJPC), was a 2024 Impact 100 finalist.
OJPC’s mission is to create fair, intelligent, redemptive criminal-justice systems. Although it was not one of the four major grantees, its $10,000 award made a difference. The award enabled the agency to jumpstart outreach and services, including to the Ohio’s women’s prison in Marysville and other correctional facilities.
“The Impact 100 award certainly helped us map out a strategy that involves greater outreach to women’s prisons and to prison wardens as well,” says Gabe Davis, CEO. “It’s satisfying to know that by knowing the system, for example, some women can now navigate the parole process without an attorney.”
Publicity about OJPC’s Impact 100 Cincinnati award also triggered additional substantial donations that continue to support its growth and impact. “The $10,000 award was a nice shot in the arm, and being part of the Impact 100 process gave us exposure and served as a bolt of confidence to help us raise additional funds,” he adds.
This Year’s Finalists
The six finalist organizations and their projects for 2025 are:
Immigrant and Refugee Law Center (IRLC)
Preventing Deportation and Family Separation
Ensure viability of accessible legal services for Greater Cincinnati’s immigrant and refugee families and support expansion of educational outreach through IRLC’s capstone Know Your Rights program.
INTERalliance of Greater Cincinnati
Empower IT: Bridging Gaps in IT Talent to Advance Social and Economic Mobility
Expand coordinated efforts to support INTERalliance outreach and leadership programming to students who otherwise would not have access to these career paths in IT.
Ohio Valley Voices
Accessible Playground, Accommodating our Children
Build an innovative playground specifically designed to remove barriers for children who are deaf or hard of hearing with multiple disabilities, providing a safe, accommodating, and therapeutic environment.
Project Yoga
Nama’Stay in School, and Nama’Stay H.E.A.L.T.H.Y
Expand the Nama’Stay in School and Nama’Stay H.E.A.L.T.H.Y programs, bringing evidenced-based, trauma-informed yoga, mindfulness, meditation, and breathwork—led by certified instructors—to empower 2,500+ additional underserved students across Ohio and Kentucky, by nurturing resilience, calm, and confidence.
Serenity Recovery Network
Supportive Housing Expansion
Renovate a newly acquired multi-family home into extended supportive housing with nine additional beds for women recovering from substance use disorders, offering graduates of Serenity’s sober living program stable, affordable housing on the same campus to ensure continuity of care, peer support, and access to essential services.
Whole Again
Summer Food and Enrichment Program
Support safe and accessible summer enrichment camps in low-income areas of Hamilton and Butler counties, providing nutritious meals to reduce food insecurity and academic enrichment to prevent summer learning loss.
Join Impact 100 members and the supporters of the finalist organizations at Music Hall on September 25 to see who gets this year’s grants.
“It’s always so inspiring to go through this process and learn about organizations making a difference in our communities,” Collins says. “Impact 100 is proud to support these groups and happy to welcome new members who want to join us in our mission of improving lives.”
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