Newest Philanthropic Collective Awards $208,000
on June 04, 2026
Lynne Maher, Ashley Murphy, Holly Muscolino, Chloe West and Nancy Parker Wilson
Two Newport County nonprofits walked away with $104,000 each on May 28 after 208 Rhode Island women gathered to cast the votes that would determine the first- ever grants awarded by Impact100 Newport County, Rhode Island’s inaugural chapter of the global Impact100 Network.
The Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District will use its grant to scale its student-led AgInnovation farm in Portsmouth into a farm-to-school system serving public schools across Aquidneck Island that will expand farm production, embed agricultural curriculum in classrooms and create reliable pathways for locally grown food to reach school cafeterias and food pantries. With 74 percent of Newport public school students coming from low-income families, the project addresses both food access and educational equity at a system level.
The James L. Maher Center will use its grant to launch “Harvesting Ability,” a paid employment program in which adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities grow and sell herbs and vegetables at farmers markets, restaurants and school culinary programs across the island. The program addresses two urgent community needs simultaneously: the persistent employment gap facing people with disabilities and growing local food insecurity, while building a self-sustaining revenue model designed to outlast the grant.
The two organizations were selected from a field of 29 applicants by a membership that pooled $1,000 contributions to create a $208,000 grant fund, every dollar of which goes directly to the community. Five finalists presented their projects to an audience that filled the ballroom at the Wyndam Hotel before members voted at the organization’s annual meeting and awards celebration.
“A year ago, this was a vision. Tonight, it became $208,000 in the hands of people doing extraordinary work,” said Maura Lindsay, founding president of Impact100 Newport County. “That’s the power of giving together.”
The grants support projects spanning the organization’s five focus area committees. In addition to the Maher Center fulfilling the education focus area and the ERICD’s AgInnovation project in the health and wellness area, finalists included the Boys & Girls Clubs of Newport County, looking for an additional van to provide wider access to club opportunities (Family Focus); NewportFILM, for a February film festival (Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation Focus); and the Common Fence Point Improvement Association, for all-inclusive handicap accessible “Together We Play” equipment (Environment, Recreation and Animal Welfare).
Impact100 Newport County is part of the Impact100 Global Network, an alliance of more than 80 chapters worldwide that have collectively awarded over $178 million in grants.
The Newport County chapter, founded in 2024, is the first of its kind in Rhode Island. Membership surpassed its founding goal of 100 members in its first year, doubling anticipated impact from the outset. The momentum shows no signs of slowing. The organization celebrates its first anniversary on June 9 at the Jane Pickens Theater and is already well on its way to raising its first $100,000 for the next grant cycle, a sign that the collective giving model is taking hold as a lasting force in Rhode Island philanthropy.
“We’re just getting started,” said Lindsay. “Every dollar coming in for next year’s cycle is proof that this community believes in what we’re building together.”
