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Tell UsThis is Jody Waits's page
About Jody Waits
Jody Waits, Pride Foundation’s Director of Community Giving. No one is more excited about connecting people with the issues they most care about than Jody. She is a strong advocate for donors and has a wealth of information about how to give effectively and smartly that she will be sharing on this blog.
Posts by Jody:
IRS & Community Property for Same-Sex Couples in Washington
Join Pride Foundation and Lambda Legal for a community update on community property issues for same-sex couples in Washington State on February 6 in Seattle at Town Hall Seattle. Can’t make it? The program portion of the evening will be recorded and an audio file will be made available following the session.
Be Prepared for 2011 Tax Season!
IRS & Community Property for Same-Sex Couples in Washington
Monday, February 6th @ Town Hall Seattle
The Great Hall – Upstairs Auditorium
1119 – 8th Avenue (@ Seneca)
Seattle, WA 98101
Seattle, WA 98101
6:45pm Registration & Refreshments Begin
7:30pm Program, Followed by Open Q & A
Many gay and lesbian couples have been – or will be – affect by recent changes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made regarding tax treatment for same-sex couples in community property states, including Washington. The IRS has announced that it will apply community property tax treatment registered to domestic partners and same-sex spouses in Washington State to reflect “income-splitting” – in the same way that it applies those laws to different-sex married couples who file their federal income tax returns separately. Remember: If you are one of the people these new rules affect, the IRS is requiring you and your partner or spouse to “income-split” on your 2011 federal income tax filings due April 17, 2012.
- Do these new community property and income-splitting rules apply to you?
- Need help understanding the IRS changes and how file correctly and advantageously?
- Want to ask a question of an expert who can assist you?
Speakers and details include:
Laura Hoexter, Esq., Estate Planning Attorney – Helsell Fetterman, LLP
Jordan Heitzman, CPA – Rainy City CPA
Kris Hermanns, Executive Director – Pride Foundation
Judi O’Kelley, Esq., Deputy Director of Development – Lambda Legal
Register online at: http://www.lambdalegal.org/take-action/tax-season/protect-yourself
Email or call with questions to Jody at: (206.323.3318 x27 / 800.735.7287) or [email protected].
This session is open – so please feel free to invite business colleagues, family or friends. We do kindly ask for RSVPs by noon on February 3rd.
Top 6 reasons to start a Pride Foundation scholarship fund
2011 Scholars and their supporters join staff Uma Rao (second from the right) at the Scholarship Breakfast Celebration earlier this year
Pride Foundation has more than 50 different types of scholarships available – many of these scholarships were initiated by community members wanting to ensure that our community’s future continues to nurture and support our existing and emerging leaders. All promote leadership and diversity in the LGBTQ community.
Staff members Uma Rao and Caitlin Copple suggest six reasons to start a scholarship fund:
6. Financial burdens of education are great. Additionally, LGBTQ students are less likely to have familial financial support. Too often individuals with great promise are unable to complete their education due to financial strains.
5. Scholarship funds benefit a wide spectrum of individuals. Our scholars range widely in age, location, identity, and course of study. Further, Pride Foundation Scholars come from diverse backgrounds and educational experiences. Our volunteer review teams are often inspired by someone’s perseverance and courage, and see our scholarship program as one way to make an investment in a person’s potential. Pride Foundation scholarships support any post-secondary education including technical school or trade school.
4. You can have as much or as little input in selecting the criteria for the scholarship fund as you want. Knowledgeable Pride Foundation staff are here to guide you through the process and to help you select criteria that are right for you!
3. Bring your friends together to build a legacy: Individuals or groups can seed scholarship funds. The 75+ members of Rainbow City Band – Washington’s own LGBTQ and allied band raised the $25,000 required to endow a scholarship. It took them 5 years but with determination and energy they did it!
2. Starting a scholarship fund is a great way to make learning environments safer, more welcoming place for all students. In Montana, Caitlin is working with the University of Montana Foundation and two past presidents of the Montana State University’s Queer-Straight Alliance to endow scholarships for LGBTQ students.
1. When you fund a Pride Foundation Scholar, you change one person’s life for the better immediately, by saying, “I believe in your dreams and possibilities – the community has your back!” Last year, there were 101 scholars who received Pride Foundation scholarships – totaling in $365,000!
No one says it better than scholarships director, Anthony Papini:
“The impact of scholarships reaches far and wide across our communities. It’s thanks to the generosity of those who start scholarships that we are able to help so many incredibly talented, but financially strained, students succeed academically. Plus, scholarship donors can feel rewarded knowing that their gift keeps on giving! These students go on to do remarkable things in their communities and make a difference in the lives of so many other individuals thanks to their educational achievements!”
Starting a scholarship fund at Pride Foundation is easy and we would be happy to talk to you about it, whether you are just thinking about it or fully committed to the idea. Please contact Jody Waits, Director of Community Giving at 1.800.735.7287. You can also download our Change The Future brochure, which explains more about starting a scholarship fund.
Caitlin Copple is Pride Foundation’s Regional Development Organizer in Montana – email Caitlin. Uma Rao is the Regional Development Organizer in Western Washington – email Uma.
Welcome Christina Rocks
Fresh back from midday boxing class, Pride Foundation’s development team (Jody Waits, left, and Christina Rocks) is ready to fight for love!
With a last name like “Rocks” – we knew she was going to be perfect. Pride Foundation is excited to welcome our new Community Giving Manager – Christina Rocks. She comes to the team with a deep passion for equal rights, education and building thriving communities. Christina has a history of working in student leadership and civic engagement – now bringing her highly honed skills around logistics, publications, event management and building lasting relationships to Pride Foundation. Her perspective as a vivid straight ally, enthusiasm for a new adventure and commitment to Pride Foundation’s mission will be essential in to our 26th year, as we continue to seek full equality for LGBTQ people across the Northwest.
She also is a visionary when it comes to accessorizing, recipe research and kicking it in a stupendous pair of shoes. Welcome Christina!
Walgreens shows its Pride!
On a sunny Friday afternoon, the doorbell at Pride Foundation rang. It was Brian – the store manager at the local Capitol Hill Walgreen’s. He brought a friendly smile and a surprise check for over $1,300 to support Pride Foundation!
The story behind the donation was that… for the 2011 Seattle Pride Festival, in a first-time effort, sixteen Walgreen’s employees volunteered to host a booth at the festival. They brought along with them the Walgreen’s Wellness Bus which provided free health screenings, tests and core serivces to more than 160 visitors. The Walgreen’s team also distributed more than 3,400 pedometers to Pride Festival participants. Volunteers reported that it was a really, really fun day!
As a way to share their gratitude with the community, the also sold bead necklaces (have to keep sparkly!) at their booth and gave all of the proceeds to Pride Foundation – an incredible gift.
We thank the volunteer team and Capitol Hill Walgreen’s for the commitment to the LGBTQ community and for bringing good health and smiles (and donations!) to the neighborhood. See you again next year!
New fund works to end bullying
Beyond the Bridge Co-Founders – Teri and Stacey – catch a sun ray on the balcony before a Seattle Pride Weekend house party kicks-off!
It was a perfect equation for a Pride Weekend house party in Seattle: Sunshine through the windows, beautiful art beckoning from every wall, delicious food, joyful co-hosts, and a living room filled with individuals who believe in the power of working together to gain full equality for all people and families.
Earlier this year, Pride Foundation was approached by two long-time friends and supporters (Stacey and Teri) who had a vision of supporting LGBTQ youth in profound crisis. Passionate about abolishing bullying and increasing the affirmation and resilience of LGBTQ young people, they wondered: If they shared their vision – would others want to join them?
Out of this question and after a call to Pride Foundation to help, Stacey and Teri decided to start an Area-of-Interest Fund at Pride Foundation that would focus on providing resources to prevent LGBTQ youth suicide. In addition to efforts focused directly on suicide awareness and prevention, they wanted to support work in the following areas: reducing bullying in schools, helping LGBTQ youth find affirming faith communities and build resilience to messages of intolerance, and increasing family acceptance.
With the “Beyond the Bridge Fund” officially formed and with great courageousness, they set out to approach their friends and family to consider making a gift. Often brought to tears by the generosity of those who shared donations, in a mere five months, Stacey and Teri had surpassed their initial fundraising goal, built a website and social media outreach plan and approached dear colleagues to host a house party during Pride Weekend in Seattle. Which brings us back to where this post began…
Surrounded by more than 60 familiar and new friends on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, they shared the story of how the Beyond the Bridge Fund came to be and what inspires them to fight for safety and a chance to thrive for every young person… The belief that there is hope in the possibilities.
Pride Foundation is honored to be the home of the Beyond the Bridge Fund and offers humble gratitude to Stacey and Teri for choosing to build their legacy as a family in partnership with Pride Foundation. Thank you as well to Chet and Jerry (and Sherman the puppy!) for sharing their home and hosting such an inspiring gathering. To life and joy, beyond the bridge!
For more information about the Beyond the Bridge Fund please visit www.pridefoundation.org/beyondthebridgefund-org or contact Pride Foundation’s Director of Community Giving – Jody Waits at [email protected].
Ring, Ring: Our fabulous phone team
This spring, we were very lucky to welcome back our incredible campaign, as they reach out to friends of Pride Foundation across all five states. Each personally committed to equal rights and having worked with Pride Foundation for many years, the team always reports how friendly, kind and hopeful Pride Foundation donors are. Through their calls this spring, nearly 800 of you made a generous gift or pledge totaling over $50,000 – incredible! Thank you donors and the caller team: Tyler, Nikky, Jill & Jay (and Chappy – the world’s grooviest campaign dog!)
Tax developments for Washington same-sex couples
Long-time Pride Foundation supporter, Nancy Nickelson, asks a taxation question of Judi O’Kelley from Lambda Legal.
One rarely exclaims, “Yippee!” when offered a free seminar about tax code. However, with recent IRS developments impacting same-sex couples in Washington State, last week’s session co-hosted with Lambda Legal, swelled to welcome nearly 400 guests. Attendees came with pencils in hand, a strong desire to understand the IRS changes and prepared with questions about applying the new rules of community property to their own tax filings.
Click here to listen to the file and feel free to share this link with friends. The session was approximately 2 hours long, so please get comfortable, and know that you can pause and replay the audio file. With help from our friends at Town Hall Seattle, we were able to record the entire session, including the lively Q&A discussion with the audience.
Listen to the recording: “Washington State Tax Developments for Same-Sex Couples” from Pride Foundation on Vimeo.
The speaker panel welcomed three experts, listed below with contact information:
Laura Hoexter, Esq., Estate Planning Attorney – Helsell Fetterman, LLP
Cynthia F. Buhr, Esq., Family Law Attorney – Law Offices of Cynthia F. Buhr, PLLC
Judi O’Kelley, Esq., Director of Life Planning – Lambda Legal
Further, Lambda Legal has a comprehensive FAQ sheet about community property and IRS application changes for same-sex couples in Washington, California and Nevada. Click here to download the document or register for a March 16 teleconference.
Many people inquired about contacting a Certified Public Accountant for further assistance. Below is a list of individual CPAs and accounting firms that are members of the Greater Seattle Business Association – a LGBT and allied business and professional chamber of commerce serving the Puget Sound region. When gaining professional counsel of any kind, we strongly encourage people to interview multiple providers and find the expert who has the area of knowledge, location and style that works best for your needs.
Thank you again to Lambda Legal for a great collaboration!
Ako, Roen D.I. CPA (Accountants, Certified Public)
Newman Dierst Hales, PLLC
Phone: (206) 284-1383
E-mail: [email protected]
Dave Bembridge CPA PS (Accountants, Certified Public)
Phone: (206) 323-7103
E-mail: [email protected]
Geoffrey Shelton, CPA (Accountants, Certified Public)
Phone: (206) 783-5225
GSBA’s 1992 Businessman of the Year
E-mail: [email protected]
Harley F Broe, CPA (Accountants, Certified Public)
Phone: (206) 322-7298
1992 GSBA Business Woman of the Year Award
E-mail: [email protected]
O’Leary, Rick, CPA, MBA (Accountants, Certified Public)
Rick O’Leary and Company
Phone: (206) 282-1923a
E-mail: [email protected]
RainCity CPA (Accountants, Certified Public)
Heitzman, Jordan B.
Phone: (206) 402-5266
E-mail: [email protected]
Seabold Group (Accountants, Certified Public)
Norberg, Martha CPA
Phone: (206) 522-1152 x304
E-mail: [email protected]
Ter Claeys, EA, CPA (Accountants, Certified Public)
Phone: (206) 322-9472
E-mail: [email protected]
Watson & McDonell, PLLC (Accountants, Certified Public)
McDonell, Lillian, CPA, Audit Partner
Phone: (206) 624-2380 x104
E-mail: [email protected]
Giving Circle close to matching challenge goal
A giving circle is a great way to connect local people with local projects – and have a lot of fun doing so. In 2010, the Whidbey Giving Circle (a fund housed at Pride Foundation) received two matching challenges totaling $5,000. Co-chairs Larry Lowary and Gerry Betz provide an update:Greetings!
As we prepare to embark on a new year we’d like to take this chance to review the good work being done by groups supported by the Whidbey Giving Circle and to ask for your donations to support these unique activities that benefit the LGBTQ community right here at home.
We’re still shy of our goal to raise matching funds to be eligible for $5,000 in challenge grants offered earlier this year. Although many worthwhile groups and organizations solicit help this time of the year, no other local group does what we do: fund scholarships and programs for the Whidbey Island gay and lesbian community.
Over the past three years we have supported seven students from Whidbey Island with scholarships to pursue their educational goals. We’ve also supported the Whidbey Children’s Theater in their production of “The Wrestling Season” (2008) and the upcoming production of “The Other Side of the Closet.” (February 2011). Both plays explore challenges and joys in the LGBTQ community.
And one of our greatest successes has been providing consistent grant dollars to Citizens Against Domestic Sexual Abuse (CADA) as it works with LGBT and questioning young people across Whidbey Island. We’re especially proud that there are now regularly meeting clubs and or/gay-straight-alliances in every high school on the island. Supported by guidance professionals, students have safe places to come together to discuss questions, challenges, family, friends and their personal identities. Without Giving Circle assistance, CADA would not have been able to start this program or keep it going.
We invite you to join us in this exciting work. A gift at any level makes a significant difference.
Additionally, your gift provides you with membership and the opportunity to volunteer and vote on the 2011 grants and scholarships docket. Because of the challenge grant, your gift at this time is even more powerful, as it leverages the challenge and it instantly grows. You can make a secure gift online via the Pride Foundation website please mark “Whidbey” in the notes area at: (https://www.pridefoundation.org/giving/give-online) or call Jody Waits at (206.323.3318 x111) if you’d prefer to make a gift by telephone.
We are making progress and great strides for equality here on Whidbey Island and far beyond. There is still much more to accomplish. We appreciate your support and thank you for your contributions.
With pride,
Larry Lowary and Gerry Betz
Whidbey Giving Circle Co-chairs
Call it love: our amazing phone team
Twice per year, we welcome our incredible campaign team in to the office as they reach out to friends of Pride Foundation across all five states. Each personally committed to equal rights and having worked with Pride Foundation for many years, the team always reports how friendly and helpful our supporters are. Through the fall cycle, more than 500 of you made a generous gift or pledge totaling over $30,000 – incredible! Thank you donors and the caller team: Nikky, Tyler, Jay and Jill!
Rainbow City Band-ing together to create scholarship
Immaculate conception of a new musical arts scholarship.
The 75+ members of Rainbow City Band – Puget Sound’s own LGBTQ and allied band – are a group that welcomes a challenge! A new project means time to work together, learn and laugh – all skills that RCB has in spades. Five years ago the idea was hatched to raise funds to endow a new scholarship fund at Pride Foundation for student leaders focused on musical arts. With a $25,000 goal, the members knew it would take time and hard work to make it happen. Starting a musical arts scholarship fund means supporting the education of future LGBT and straight allied leaders.
Five years later, sitting in the Pride Foundation conference room on a warm September evening in the midst of an event planning meeting with the RCB leadership team, it all came to fruition. A folder was casually handed over. Opening it with a gasp, the full group realized it was the paperwork and payment check to put everything in motion to set up the music scholarship.
It is a moment in my life I will cherish for all time. We all burst in to tears. We all shared an impromptu toast with grape Martinelli’s. We all knew it was a testament to vision and team work.
Come celebrate! In honor of Pride Foundation’s 25th Anniversary, Rainbow City Band will graciously perform “Enchanted: A Tribute to Disney Music” on November 7th at Broadway Performance Hall at Seattle Central Community College. Kids under the age of five are free; all other tickets are $10/person available at the door. Half of all ticket sales will be deposited in to the newly formed Rainbow City Band Scholarship. Please join in to celebrate 25 years and the inspiring achievements of Rainbow City Band!
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