Women's Foundation of Boston 2020 Annual Report

BEKAH SALWASSER Bekah Salwasser joined the Red Sox Foundation as the Executive Director in January of 2018. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Brown University and has extensive experience in philanthropy and both professional and semi-professional sports. After four years working as Community Relations Director for the Boston Celtics, Bekah went on to lead Scholar Athletes as its Executive Director, a program that supports public high school athletes with both their athletic and academic achievements. Earlier in her career, Bekah served as a professional soccer player for the Boston Breakers and as Executive Director of the Charlestown Lacrosse and Learning Center. Why did you get involved with the Women’s Foundation of Boston? Because of my work with philanthropy and in the nonprofit industry, I felt compelled to make connections and build better relationships and WFBoston made that happen. To accomplish this goal, together with WFBoston, I co-founded the Women in Nonprofit (WIN) Network to support Greater Boston nonprofit women leaders. Tell us more about the Women In Nonprofit Network (WIN)? The impetus for WIN was to help ease the burdens female leaders face and to let them know that they are not alone. With over 270 members at the end of 2020, WIN creates opportunities for these leaders to network, connect, and establish a network that they can learn from and rely on. How did WIN pivot during COVID? WIN became more necessary than ever. We hosted two virtual events during 2020 on timely topics. One featured virtual event planning tips and the other dug deep on racial equity and social justice. We had over 150 leaders attending each event and our post event surveys proved that these conversations were extremely beneficial during this incredibly challenging year. What are your plans for WIN in the future? I plan to help continue growing WIN to create the chance for nonprofit leaders to share career opportunities and exchange valuable knowledge and experience.” The impetus for WIN was to help ease the burdens these female leaders face and to let them know that they are not alone.” ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER SPOTLIGHT