Philanthropist Wendy H. Steele is Florida’s honoree for USA TODAY’s Women of the Year

Wendy H. Steele is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. The program launched in 2022 as a continuation of Women of the Century, which commemorated the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. Meet this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com.

Bags of the essentials — dried fruits, socks, toothbrushes and other supplies — are always stocked in the back of Wendy H. Steele’s car.

Steele, 61, keeps the kits in constant supply in case she sees someone in need while driving. It’s a simple gesture, Steele said, but one that helps ease the sting of sadness she feels when she sees injustice or inequity around her.

“What I’m giving them is small, but it now connects that heart connection into action,” Steele said. “When I drive away, I feel better.”

Actions like these are the differences between empathy and compassion, Steele said. And they come in all sizes: the care packages she delivers, the community of women that rallied to help raise her after she lost her mother at 14, or her multimillion-dollar philanthropy initiative that’s mobilized women all across the country to donate to causes they care about.

Steele is the founder and CEO of Impact100, a nonprofit dedicated to mobilizing women in philanthropy, and Florida’s honoree for the USA TODAY Women of the Year Program.

When Steele moved to Cincinnati with her three young kids in 2001, she immediately sought volunteer work and philanthropy on the side of her career in banking. But she noticed the women of the community were disconnected from charity, she said — that even if these women did donate, they often didn’t know how their contribution was spent.

Steele’s familiar desire to turn empathy into compassion inspired Impact100 and its unique approach to philanthropy, she said. Each chapter — more than 60 across the country, per the company’s 2020 annual report — involves 100 women who each donate $1,000, and the donation affords them a vote in where the chapter allocates its collective grant of $100,000. Some chapters have more than 100 women, increasing the number of its collective grants.

“Women needed to know what it felt like to be part of the solution instead of wringing their hands and watching the news and worrying about how terrible things are,” she said. “That, to me, was vital.”

The founding chapter in Cincinnati donated its first grant of $123,000 to the McMicken Dental Clinic in September 2002. Since then, Impact100 has donated more than $140 million in grants across its chapters.

Steele has gone on to deliver TED Talks, author a memoir, and advise chapters nationwide from her home office in Clearwater, Florida, where she currently resides with her husband, Rick, and her Yorkie mix, Gracie.

(Responses have been edited for length and clarity)

Q: What issues did you see in the philanthropy world that inspired Impact100?

A: I went into the banking business, graduated with an economics degree. I was living in New England, and I got involved with the community. I would go to work, and I would find these organizations, and I might say, "We could really use your skills, can you come?" And they might say no because it's arts and culture and they only care about supporting education, but sometimes they would say, "I'm a stay-at-home mom. I can't justify paying a sitter to come out with you." I thought it was a math problem, that the math didn't add up. You couldn't afford to do that. When I moved to Cincinnati and I was meeting all new people and getting involved in all these nonprofits, I kept hearing the same thing. I realized it wasn't a math problem, so I started asking more questions.

For generations, philanthropy for women has been based on the idea that men went to work, women raised the kids, and when the kids went to school, they had free time. There was also this sense among any of the women that I met, where they would say, "Well, I gave money to my community, my college, my church, and I never really knew how it was spent." They would say things like, "I don't know enough. I don't have enough. It wouldn't make a difference."

What I knew was that the community really needed these women. They needed their minds, their hearts and their checkbooks. The other thing I learned during that period was that the nonprofits needed more significant grants to really execute a strategic plan and move the needle.

Q: Who paved the way for you?

A: My mom passed away unexpectedly when she was 42, and obviously the world changed in every conceivable way. But one thing that changed was in the midst of this chaos, these women came out of the woodwork, women who didn’t even know our mother. And they started to help. It started the way you would expect, casseroles and extra carpool shifts, but it continued on. My dad was a single father at 44 with three kids, and they would coach him on parenting. They made a difference in all of our lives, and it sort of connected the dots between the things I did as a kid to help others that feel really small and the things that this community of women did for our family that felt really big.

Q: What’s your proudest moment? Your lowest?

A: The Proudest moment in my personal life would be the kids that I’ve been lucky enough to raise. They have all grown up to be generous and kind and thoughtful and aware adults. That for me is the best thing that I could ever accomplish.

The low point is right now when I see struggle and can’t do anything about it. That inability to move the needle is really hard.

Q: What’s your guiding principle or mantra?

A: There are probably two. One of them is, “We all should leave the world a little better than we found it.” And the other is my high school’s motto: “Not I, but we.”

Q: Who do you look up to?

A: I share a birthday with Martin Luther King, Jr., so I’ve always admired him. I felt like we had this weird connection because we shared a birthday, and that’s what happens when you’re 8 and you realize that someone famous has your birthday. I think because of that I’ve always paid attention. When you look at everything he accomplished, it’s hard to fathom. And he did it all with grace, and he did it all with peace, and he did it all by bringing everyone along. It wasn’t about him being in the spotlight — though, deservedly so, he was at times. It was about bringing all of us along to what he already knew to be true.

Q: How do you overcome adversity?

A: In a lot of ways, it’s the people who stepped up around us. My maternal grandparents stepped in in a huge way. They didn’t live near us, but they invited us to their home one at a time. They called it the “honored guest program.” For the weekend, we would do whatever I wanted to do. I flew on an airplane alone and I got to go and stay with them. They were world-class encouragers.

Q: What’s your definition of courage?

A: Courage is doing the things you know must be done even when it terrifies you.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Wendy Steele Florida philanthropist is USA TODAY Women of Year honoree