Red Dress Impact Celebration: From Fundraisers to Lifesavers
On Friday, June 28th, Alpha Phi Foundation hosted the Red Dress Impact Celebration Dinner during Alpha Phi’s 74th Biennial Convention. This event was held to recognize 31 years of awarding our signature Heart to Heart Grant, including the inaugural Heart to Heart Community Grant, 20 years of Red Dress events, and the profound impact Alpha Phi has had in saving women’s lives. We kickstarted the event with a celebratory video highlighting the rich history of our philanthropy and the significant role Alpha Phi has had in improving women’s heart health and cardiac research. Then we really got our hearts pumping after a fundraising challenge was issued to the women in the room to raise $25,000 for the next Heart to Heart Community Grant. What happened next can only be described as awe-inspiring and truly representative of what it means to be an Alpha Phi. Attendees of all ages from chapters all over began to share their heartfelt stories of how Alpha Phi and our commitment to heart health has impacted them. In just a few short hours, our initial goal was shattered. Together, we raised more than $115,000 to continue funding cardiac research endeavors and education. Thank you to ALL Alpha Phi Foundation donors who have made our support of women’s heart health possible. Every gift matters and YOU are saving lives. You can still make an impact by making a gift here. Alpha Phi Foundation also proudly unveiled a newly designed Red Dress pin, available to all Chapters to order online for philanthropy events. Please visit aphifdn.org/RedDressPins to order. Each Chapter is able to receive up to 100 complimentary pins annually.
July 1, 2024 12:52 pm
An Interview with Kim Brown Brannon on Leaving a Legacy of Leadership
We sat down with Kim Brown Brannon (Gamma Rho – Penn State) to celebrate the Gamma Rho Scholarship becoming fully endowed and her path to supporting other Alpha Phis succeed in leadership roles and life! In addition to being the driving force behind fundraising for this scholarship, Kim also served on the Alpha Phi Foundation Board of Directors from 2014-2018. Long before she joined the Gamma Rho Chapter of Alpha Phi at Penn State, Kim was exposed to the Alpha Phi experience and the true meaning of our High Ideals of Membership. Kim’s mother, Jill Stevens Brown (Beta Iota – West Virginia) was an Alpha Phi and loyal donor through and through (she joined the Silent Chapter in 2022). Kim recalls her mother’s excitement with each delivery of The Alpha Phi Quarterly and her commitment to making an annual contribution to Alpha Phi Foundation. It’s been my lifelong passion and interest to give back to Alpha Phi – I got the inspiration from my mother who was also an Alpha Phi. I remember my mom always receiving her Quarterly when I was a kid. She loved to look through and see what was new. She was a loyal donor over the years too. When asked about spearheading the Gamma Rho Scholarship fundraising efforts, the fondness Kim has for her chapter and collegiate experience shines through and her “why” is apparent. Not only is there a tremendous amount of pride and respect for her fellow Gamma Rho alumnae who have helped support this scholarship endowment, but now that Kim herself has served as a Scholarship Reader, there is also a tremendous amount of faith in the future of our collegiate Alpha Phis. “I love reading the scholarship applications, and you can very clearly see there is a need out there. I so look forward to being able to impact Gamma Rho sisters the way Alpha Phi has impacted me.” I am a strong believer in the Foundation, going back even to my collegiate years. I think part of why I have continued to give back goes back to a Foundation Board member meeting with me and our chapter when I was a collegian and I very vividly remember that whole conversation. Even $5, a small amount, gets collegians started raising those funds early and building a habit. I’m a big believer of starting early. Alpha Phi is very proudly an organization of “firsts” and our dedication to empowering women through leadership opportunities is a cornerstone of our history. Throughout Volumes I, II, and III of our history books, funded and published as part of Alpha Phi Foundation’s dedication to heritage preservation, you will find countless examples of Alpha Phis being the first to achieve or accomplish a milestone. Alpha Phi was the first sorority to have a dedicated Chapter house (Alpha – Syracuse, 1886), Georgia Neese Clark (Upsilon – Washburn) was the first woman to be appointed the Treasurer of the United States in 1949. Alpha Phi was the first NPC organization to establish its own Foundation in 1956. Alpha Phi was even the first to create it’s own website in 1995. These notable “firsts” can be traced back to our fierce commitment to funding leadership programming and putting women in positions to succeed, flourish, and thrive. Kim Brown Brannon can easily be identified as a female pioneer in her own right. With over 30 years of progressive leadership experience in a traditionally male-dominated field, Kim has served as a top-ranking official with multiple global information technology enterprises including SAP National Security Services and Raytheon, leading systems operations and cybersecurity initiatives. Kim reflects upon her success in her career as a strategic innovator with credit to leadership opportunities provided to her as a collegiate Alpha Phi. Kim has held a variety of volunteer roles within Alpha Phi, including the Alumnae Strategy Team, Committee on Leadership, Government Relations Committee and Carnegie Mellon’s Team Tartan. Living in the Washington D.C. area, Kim credits her leadership experience and volunteer roles with Alpha Phi Foundation for the opportunity to lobby Congress on behalf of the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee (FSPAC), which seeks to provide financial aid to the campaigns of federal office candidates who support the objectives of fraternity life, pictured above in 2013 and 2014 in The Quarterly. “Having the opportunity to gain leadership experience through a women’s only organization provides a safe space to learn some of those tools necessary in the professional world. You get to practice those skills and feel comfortable putting them to use later in life. In fact, it was in my Information Technology Leadership role at Raytheon, we hosted a big Women’s Leadership Forum and and the audience itself wasn’t all women, at least 50% men, but it was all about how we all work differently and can rely on each other’s strengths to work together and succeed.” “In that scenario, I specifically referred to the leadership lessons I learned in Alpha Phi.” Make a gift today! Are you interested in leaving your legacy by creating a scholarship opportunity for your chapter? Contact giving@alphaphifoundation.org today and let us know!
April 24, 2024 2:56 pm
Two Heart to Heart Grants Awarded for 2024
Alpha Phi Foundation is pleased to announce two recipients of the Heart to Heart Grant for 2024. In its thirty-first year, the Foundation created a new arm of eligibility for the Heart to Heart Grant to better serve funding in the cardiac space, whether traditional bench research or education and programming projects. Proposals were accepted in two categories: Clinical and Community.
February 29, 2024 9:28 am