High Water Women (HWW) was founded by Leslie Rahl of Capital Market Risk Advisors, Inc., and Kathleen Kelley of Kingdon Capital Management in early 2005. Our mission is to provide constructive avenues for senior women in the hedge fund industry and their friends and colleagues to support philanthropies and volunteer endeavors that better the lives of women and children.
As women become more successful in areas of finance, many wish to make a difference through charitable giving and philanthropic activities. We believe that we are best able to "make a difference" where philanthropy and volunteerisms are coupled and therefore we partner with organizations where our members' philanthropic and volunteerism goals converge.
The High Water Women Foundation is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 organization. We focus on philanthropies that support family homelessness, education, at -risk teens and young women's health, and empowering women both at home and abroad.
Some of the projects we are involved in include:
- Raising money for partner organizations
- Organizing mentor programs to help the next generation of senior women
- Facilitating volunteer opportunities
- Holding information sessions for philanthropic entities
- Holding educational meetings on topics such as not for profit board responsibilities and tax effective philanthropy.
Click here to read more about our partners and projects
Here are some of the ways in which we've made a difference in the brief period since our founding:
- Raising Money: High Water Women has raised over $1,000,000 for its partner organizations through events such as Casino Night 2006 and a wine tasting in 2005.
- Helping Disadvantaged Kids Get Ready For School: Through the generosity of hundreds of individuals in the hedge fund and Wall St. community we collected over 800 backpacks filled with clothing and school supplies for homeless children, children of HIV mothers and other disadvantaged New York City area youths in time for Back to School 2005.
- Bringing Holiday Cheer to Homeless Kids. High Water Women volunteers collected nearly 1,000 holiday gifts for distribution to children in homeless shelters through Secret Santa programs in 2005 and 2004.
- Holding Information Sessions for Charitable Entities and Projects. High Water Women has hosted information sessions for organizations such as Inwood House, The New York Women's Foundation, Teach for America, Iris House, New Yorkers For Children, Women in Need, New York Charities www.nycharities.org, Children's Rights, Women's Trust www.womenstrust.org, the Grameen Foundation USA, and DreamYard.
- Making Our Community a Better Place Through Volunteer Projects. Our volunteers have helped out on numerous projects both big and small. Some examples include:
- Participating in a "Cool Women, Hot Jobs" career day at the Young Women's Leadership School of East Harlem
- Building a garden for the children of South Brooklyn Community High School
- Providing professional assistance to the Development Committee for the Children's Rights organization
- Taking elementary school students from PS 111 in Queens to a Polaroid Workshop at the International Center for Photography
- Collecting infant gear and clothing for Baby Buggy's families in need
- Holding monthly FUNDay one-on-one mentoring programs with Partnership With Children students
- Collecting and distributing much-needed layette items for mothers-to-be at Inwood House
