LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With Kentucky Derby 150 just around the turn, Carey Goldstein is making her hat to wear at the track. While her hat may draw attention in the stands, she is leaving her mark throughout Louisville.

What You Need To Know

  • Impact 100 Louisville works to empower women to give back to the community 

  • Each member donates $1,000. As a group, the women choose which local organization will receive a $100,000 grant

  •  Carey Goldstein and her mom, Dani Kannapell founded the Louisville chapter

  • The group is part of a national model with 60 chapters throughout the country including one in Owensboro

“Going back into our community, and actually that is one of our main focuses. And actually, the Backside Learning Center was the recipient of a $100,000 grant. So we’re excited for them. They’re starting a new Headstart program for their employees,” Goldstein says.  

Impact 100 Louisville empowers women to give back through collective donations. Each member donates $1,000. As a group, the women choose which local organization will receive a $100,000 grant. 

Goldstein and her mom, Dani Kannapell, started the chapter in 2020, aiming to give organizations enough money to make a large impact. 

“Everybody needs money, you know, I mean, all the nonprofits are doing good work. All the nonprofits are doing their best, and all of them have dreams that they can’t do,” Kannapell said. 

There are now over 550 Impact 100 Louisville members from across the city and spanning generations. 

After watching the work her mom has done with the organization, high school junior Mary Shea Ballentine was inspired to start a group for girls her age to give back. She has created Impact 100 Louisville Jr. as a way for high school girls from various backgrounds to work to make a positive influence in the city and state. 

“You can have an idea, no matter how impossible it may seem, and with the right determination and the right group of people and supportive environment you surround yourself in, you can really get far because there’s always going to be women around you to lift you up,” Mary Shea said. 

Goldstein says she has enjoyed working with people of all ages to break down barriers. 

“We have women in their 80s and their 50s and their 30s and it’s kind of fun to see women working together from all generations and just getting to know each other a little bit.” 

Last year, the group raised over half a million dollars, allowing them to grant five nonprofits $100,000. 

Impact 100 Louisville is now accepting members for 2024. The group is part of a national model with 60 chapters throughout the country, including one in Owensboro.

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