Four different hands are holding each others' wrists in unity.
Advocacy | March 28, 2023
Weitz Insights
A Grantee Gathering: Shining Stars welcome sign standing on a navy blue table with small 3D silver stars in front of it.
A rectangular, shimmering silver backdrop with navy, dark teal, and silver balloon garlands on either side.
Power Sharing | September 25, 2025
Grantee Gathering: Shining Stars
This blog is estimated to take 3 minutes to read.
Earlier this year, I received an email with a greeting that read, “What a time to be alive!” How true is that?! This millennium’s silver jubilee has been marked with many wins to celebrate and many losses to grieve—2025 is anything but boring, that’s for sure. Our communities are certainly experiencing unique and challenging circumstances. During many of the meetings we had this year, people expressed feeling disheartened, anxious, and/or stressed. This is why our team was especially eager to celebrate our nonprofit partners at our fourth annual Grantee Gathering: Shining Stars. We understand that an afternoon away from the office is not going to make everything better, but our hope is that it does make something feel lighter. Like previous years, this casual daytime event was a space for our partners to recharge, relax, network, and engage in creativity.
This gathering in July was out of this world! The Post really delivered, providing a cozy and elegant setting as our venue. Our team enjoys featuring different caterers every year, and this time around we were spoiled with flavorful, aromatic choices from both Little India and Veg.Edible. Conscious Comforts offered a variety of sweet treats free of gluten, nuts, and sugar that were extremely popular! Dreamy Displays outdid themselves with a gorgeous balloon backdrop that seriously sparkled. Vibrant music set the tone thanks to DJ Crabrangucci, and Maria Julie wonderfully captured candid moments as our photographer. We are keen on creativity, which is why we were excited to have three activity tables: Cosmic Cords (bracelet-making), Constellation Station (mini canvas painting with acrylic markers and stickers), and Send a Shooting Star (custom appreciation cards to send to someone at a local nonprofit). Our partners are a talented, artistic bunch! For those who were interested in games, UNO cards and Mancala were at several tables for people to play. One of the most fun things for us in the planning process is selecting giveaway items. Folks were able to choose from a myriad of magnetic bookmarks, motivational stickers, stress balls, and jump ropes to take home.
During our short program, our team expressed our appreciation for the impactful work our grantees do every day. Those familiar with Subway Takes will recognize it as a quick-format online show where host Kareem Rahma asks people on public transit for their blunt opinions. As an homage to this show, I thought it would be entertaining to go around the room asking for GG Takes, and folks did not disappoint with opinions that ranged from encouraging zipper merges (100% agree!) to believing Crocs should only be gardening shoes (100% disagree!). I appreciated everyone’s humor and laughter! After diving into some application and foundation updates, we announced networking bingo winners who received gift cards to local shops and restaurants.
Many were kind enough to share their thoughts about Grantee Gathering with us. Here are some reflections from this year’s participants via our feedback survey:
“I love the energy in the room! It’s such a wonderful vibe of support and a bit of levity, which we don’t get in day-to-day life.”
“I had an awesome experience networking. It was a great room of people to connect with, and experienced several serendipitous conversations that were both personally and professionally helpful and encouraging.”
“During my time there, I found that the professionals and organizations I interacted with were not only easy to connect with but also genuinely supportive. These relationships helped foster a collaborative environment and opened the door to many valuable opportunities for future partnerships and growth.”
“As a first-time attendee, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet new people, connect with colleagues from across the city and be introduced to organizations that are new to me.”
We extend immense gratitude to our grantees—the stars that make our galaxy shine bright. The Weitz Family Foundation is thankful to be in your orbit!
Next