Join us as we connect with Wendy and learn all about how she started Impact100. Wendy believes there are two kinds of people in the world: those who see needs and realize they can be part of the solution, and those who still need to be invited to the party.

Impact100 was founded by Wendy Steele in 2001 in response to feeling as though women’s roles in philanthropy needed a new way to be expanded and encouraged. Wendy launched the organization with the goal of empowering women to see themselves as activists through utilizing large grants to make an impact within their communities.

By 2002, Impact100 received nonprofit status and donated its first grant of $123,000. In 2003, People Magazine published a story about Impact100, and Wendy’s idea quickly began to spread.
Today, her model has been replicated in cities all over the world and only continues to grow.

Wendy won the 2014 Jefferson Award for Public Service for her philanthropy work. She has been featured in several books, including “The Transformative Power of Women’s Philanthropy,” Women, Wealth and Giving,” “Women’s Giving Circles,” and “The Right Sisters – Modern Women Inventors.”

Wendy currently splits her time between Michigan & Florida, where she, her husband, and their five children all serve as active volunteers.