2019-20 WLP Annual Report

MISSION
MEMBERSHIP
Dear Members and Partners,
This year we celebrate the 15th anniversary of
the founding of USF Women in Leadership &
Philanthropy and honor the legacy of leadership of
Stephanie Goforth and the Hon. Sandra Freedman.
Although we are apart, we are more united than ever
in support of the vision of our insightful founders to
recognize, encourage and uphold the USF women
leaders of today and tomorrow. The success of our
mission speaks for itself, with over 330 individual
and 26 corporate members, 200+ WLP scholars,
and 6 competitive faculty awards presented annually.
Since our founding, we have raised almost $6
million and have invested well over $1 million
in support of our mission.
WLP members know the collective joy of reaching
back to help the next generation achieve their
educational and career goals through investing in
scholarships, meaningful mentoring, and leadership
development programs. In addition to supporting
our students, we take special pride in providing
transformational grants to six female faculty
members each year through the Dr. Kathleen
Moore Faculty Excellence Award program.
record setting 79 WLP scholars became new
graduates. We applaud their accomplishments
and look forward to celebrating their future
achievements and impact on our region, our state,
and our world.
None of these successes would be possible without
the tireless work of our dedicated WLP staff and
volunteer leaders, especially in this unusual year.
We also salute all USF faculty and staff who ensure
the uninterrupted delivery of a preeminent USF
education under difficult circumstances on all
three USF campuses – Tampa, St. Petersburg, and
Sarasota-Manatee..
The continued success of WLP is the direct result
of the generosity of all of our members who lend
their time, talent, and treasure to make WLP the
impactful organization that it has become. In this,
our 15th year, we are more grateful than ever for
our Founding, Lifetime, Corporate and individual
members for fulfilling the vision of our founders
through their engagement and continued
leadership and support.
The mission of the USF Women in
Leadership & Philanthropy program is to
engage and educate visionary leaders and
philanthropists to make a difference for
women throughout USF and in
the community.
SOURCES OF
WLP FUNDS
The structure and function of the USF
WLP program requires a consistent source
of spendable income. Because the majority
of individual gifts to WLP are made to
restricted endowed funds, our primary
sources of operating income include annual
membership contributions, corporate
memberships, sponsorships and ticket
sales from the Annual Fall Symposium and
other WLP events, and contributions from
the USF Faculty & Staff Campaign. WLP
also benefits from the investment of staff
salary and budgetary support provided by
the USF Foundation.
USF WLP’s groundwork was established well
over a decade ago by our founding members
whose initial investments created a firm
foundation for the fulfillment of WLP’s
mission. By establishing individual endowed
scholarship funds, contributing to the WLP
endowed scholarship, and building the
program endowment, our Founding, Lifetime,
Individual and Corporate members provide
WLP the strong basis for the tremendous
growth and impact that distinguishes the
program today.
On our 15th anniversary, we are delighted to
announce that this past academic year (2019-20),
despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, a
Lagretta Lenker, Ph.D. ‘92
Chair, USF Women in Leadership & Philanthropy