Recently, the Women’s Fund team reached out to Karen Gentleman, a founding mother who has remained involved with the organization for nearly thirty years. We wanted to get her insight on Women’s Fund’s impending 30-year anniversary (coming in 2026), the recent State of Women in Central Indiana Report, and reflections on our publication’s namesake, Dr. Diane Brashear.
As someone who worked alongside Dr. Brashear, what do you think her opinion would be of the publication that bears her name? What types of articles do you think she would want us to include?
I think it’s great, and I believe Diane would find it just terrific. She was a big believer in anything that got the word out about what Women’s Fund was. In terms of articles, Diane was always a believer in getting out stories about women who were leading the charge and doing a wonderful job in the community.
She used to tell a story about how she met with a very important foundation in the area—the meeting was with all men. She challenged them and said, “Come up with the names of women who are leaders in Indianapolis and Central Indiana.” And they came up with only seven names, and she just couldn’t believe it. So, with that paucity, she dove into the work of trying to make everyone aware that there were far more than seven women leaders here.
On Shaky Ground was the Women’s Fund’s predecessor to the recent State of Women in Central Indiana Report. As the main author of the very first On Shaky Ground, what are your thoughts on the new report?
Since On Shaky Ground was first published, every update shows that we are still “on shaky ground”. The challenges facing women and girls continue to just go up and up and up. It’s crucially important for Women’s Fund to continue to tackle those needs. One of the statistics I always liked to point out are the challenges for women as caregivers. The State of Women Report certainly documents that you’ve got twice the demand [for quality childcare] than you do of the supply in parts of Central Indiana. Because of that imbalance, the costs for childcare are just humongous.
Next year, the Women’s Fund will celebrate its 30th anniversary. As a founding mother, what are your hopes and aspirations for the next 30 years?
I personally would like Women’s Fund to stay focused on women and girls in Central Indiana. The problems are major everywhere, but they impact women and girls especially hard here.
I also think we’re going to need to continue to have the strong board that Women’s Fund has always had in terms of skills, gender, ethnicity and age.
And then, there’s the strong support of Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF). Under Diane’s leadership, that was a big question about whether to affiliate with CICF or not. And I think that was probably the best early decision that we made. It was not an easy decision because in the nineties, CICF was a male- and white-dominated space. And we had to sort of say, well, we think this will help. And it has.
We know there are many wonderful organizations and causes to support in our community. Can you share more about your motivations to support Women’s Fund?
I just continue to be impressed over the years by Women’s Fund’s strong mission. Especially when their mission changed to specify not only that they invest money but also that they convene, which is a crucial role, and that they advocate. So those three verbs, I think, are something that are very important. And I think its structure as an endowment always appealed to me because I do give annual operating support to other wonderful organizations, but you do that, and then the money’s gone. So having something that lasts and will continue to make an impact over the years has just been a wonderful reason to support Women’s Fund.
This article was published within the November 2024 issue of the Women’s Fund’s Diane magazine.
