History

Founded in 2017, Impact100 Martin has contributed more than $2.3 million to nonprofit organizations in Martin County through 2025. We are a volunteer-run organization and are grateful to all of the women who serve on our various committees.

In that first year, Elizabeth Barbella, President & CEO of The Community Foundation Martin-St. Lucie (TCFMSL) and Ellyn Stevenson, its Board Vice Chair, brought together 107 founding members and awarded its first Impact Grant.

The chapter established a social media presence and held its first kickoff event in 2018. In 2019, the keynote speaker at the Grant Awards Celebration was Wendy Steele, founder of Impact100, now Impact100 Global.

Later in 2019, several members of the chapter participated in the Impact100 Global Conference in Pensacola, Florida, gaining valuable insights into how to grow the chapter.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred us to re-evaluate the pressing needs in our community. With full support from our Impact100 Martin members, we redirected $224,000 to assist with local relief and recovery efforts. Funds were distributed to 14 nonprofits in Martin County that participated in the county’s COVID-19 Consortium.

Going into 2021, the pandemic lingered, and the chapter further adapted by incorporating virtual meetings, videotaping the nonprofit candidates’ presentations, and live-streaming the Grant Awards Celebration.

2022 marked the chapter’s fifth year, and the Membership Committee raised the bar to securing 306 members so the chapter could announce it had contributed $1 million to nonprofits in five years. This lofty goal was handily met, demonstrating the extraordinary commitment of the women of our community to local philanthropy.

In 2023, Impact100 Martin was approved as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, graduating from the incubator provided by TCFMSL as a Field of Interest Fund. We are incredibly grateful for the support provided by TCFMSL, which is still our partner in grantmaking. We established a Board of Directors and adopted Neon, our administrative platform that supports the Member Portal and integration of membership, events, communications, grants, and accounting functions.