From the Nominator

The ambitious goal of achieving gender equity in the advancement profession requires an equally ambitious program. The Amplify Women and Gender Initiative is an eight-week program that focuses on individual, leadership, and organizational capacity-building. Amplify puts women and other marginalized groups at the forefront of leading change, tackles not only external forms of oppression, but also internalized sexism and racism, and brings in community and organization development. The resulting program is a comprehensive learning experience that inspires action and sustained commitment. 

More than 80 women from 13 CASE-member institutions participated in the inaugural program. The women met weekly for a shared learning experience, followed by small group breakouts facilitated by staff at their home institution. After Amplify ended, all 13 groups have continued to meet, which is a testament to the long-term impact of the program. In addition, a new cohort of women will start in March 2021. This group will include women from different CASE Districts and a pilot in other fundraising industries such as health care.

Pre- and post-surveys as well as program evaluations demonstrate the effectiveness of Amplify. The majority of the participants reported an increase in their leadership, resilience, confidence, self-compassion, action-orientation, systems thinking, personal development, and community-building. In addition, the program achieved an 85.71 NPS (Net Promoter Score) that ranks it as a “world-class experience” by industry standards.

This project is a collaboration with Boston University.

From the Judges

Through the Amplify Women and Gender Initiative, Dartmouth College has thoughtfully created an innovative and robust program that centers women and other marginalized groups as leaders in ending systemic sexism and racism within the advancement profession. With a clear a vision for the future, and engaging content that combines industry research and storytelling, this program serves as a road map for much-needed industry-wide change that is as complex as it is necessary. By fostering a community of committed individuals and allies, Dartmouth has ushered in an organized movement for industry equality.