The ‘Impact’ of Impact 100 Richmond

Keiter is actively involved in making an impact!

Impact 100 is a testament to the impact that women can have when they join forces. Founded by Wendy Steele in 2001 in Cincinnati, OH, Impact 100 allows women to pull their collective monies together to donate back to their communities. The Impact 100 Richmond chapter was founded by Talley Baratka and Susan Meyers in 2009. Since bringing this concept to Richmond, they have awarded roughly $2 million to over 30 local nonprofit organizations.

Keiter has been an active participant in Impact 100 Richmond for over 12 years. Up to ten of Keiter’s philanthropic women have made contributions to fund at least $100,000 grants awarded annually. Keiter enjoys participating in this heart-warming and fulfilling event, knowing that their donations have a direct impact on local charities. In recent years, Keiter has served as a partner to the Community Foundation Program Administrator by providing an audit of the votes for the Impact 100 Richmond grants.

Keiter has several employees that were active in this year’s event. These include Fonda Lang, Marketing & Practice Development Director, Richard Lewis, BAAS Partner, Paul Staples, Senior Tax Manager, and Ryan David, BAAS Senior Associate. Richard is on the committee that oversees the votes and verifies the winner of the event with Ryan and Paul. At one time it took almost 10 plus people to count the votes but because of technology, they are now able to complete the procedures with a team of 3.

When asked to reflect on this year’s event and the milestone it represented, Fonda stated “The excitement of women coming together to support the unique needs of our community and truly making an impact is very fulfilling. This year was an especially memorable event—with the donations marking $2 Million in community investment in the Richmond area since this chapter’s inception.”

“It was very inspiring to attend this years’ event and observe the membership’s philanthropic commitment. The atmosphere was full of energy and excitement,” Richard Lewis stated. This was only Richard’s second year involved. This was also the first year that he got to experience Impact 100 live and in-person.

There were five finalists this year: Swim RVA, UMFS, United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg, UP RVA, and VA Foundation for Community College Education. Each of these organizations work to provide value in their communities.

Swim RVA works to build health equity through aquatics in the northside of Richmond and Eastern Henrico. UMFS works to transform and provide educational opportunities for vulnerable children. United Way of Greater Richmond and Petersburg work to provide the Women Rise Childcare scholarship. UP RVA is helping children through their operation summer success program. Finally, Virginia Foundation for Community College Education works to provide coaching and support to foster students who are in community college.

Virginia Foundation for Community College Education took home the grand prize of a grant in the amount of $100,000 for their “Great Expectations” program. Additionally, there was enough membership donations to award the other 4 finalists with grants of $4,000 each.

Being involved in organizations that bring value to the local community is very important to Keiter and fits into our core values of collaboration and relationships. We will continue to build relationships and partner with organizations like Impact 100 Richmond that are making a difference. The theme of the evening for the Impact 100 event was “A woman alone has power, but together we have impact!”. This was put on stickers and given as a take home token to the participants that were involved. These words, like the impact being made by the organization itself, are timeless.