Say “Hello Pancreas” this November

We are partnering for your pancreas! Croixstone has joined forces with the Charlotte Pancreatic Cancer Alliance to create awareness on behalf of your hard-working digestive organ during November’s “Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.”

Who is the Charlotte Pancreatic Cancer Alliance? Charlotte Pancreatic Cancer Alliance is a nonprofit community group founded by three of Croixstone’s leaders (Patti Weber, Grace Lynch, and Mark Weber) to create awareness of pancreatic cancer on a local, regional, national and global level. The group was founded in 2020 and is a member of the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition. The group was founded in memory of Patti’s father (Jim Benson), Grace’s niece (Carmen Reyes), and Mark’s mother (Shirley Weber).

Say “Hello Pancreas”! The average person around the globe knows very little about one of their hardest working organs – – their pancreas. Leaning into this year’s global awareness campaign, Croixstone and the Charlotte Pancreatic Cancer Alliance invite you to say “Hello Pancreas” this November to get to know your pancreas buddy a bit better.

Two Ways to say “Hello Pancreas”! Here are two fast and easy ways to get to know your pancreas this month.

• We invite you to visit hellopancreas.com as the first step in getting to better know your pancreas.

• We encourage you to read the Charlotte Pancreatic Cancer Alliance’s November newsletter that features a variety of actions and events in which you can participate to build your friendship with your pancreas.

Application Period for SEED20 2024 is Now Open

About Croixstone and SVP Charlotte: Croixstone is a proud Community Partner of Social Venture Partners Charlotte (SVP Charlotte). This unique nonprofit organization provides a way for passionate and committed individuals and companies to collectively invest their money, skills and time to nurture and support some of the most promising nonprofit organizations attacking social and economic inequality within the greater Charlotte region.

What is SEED20?: SEED20 is the nonprofit pitch contest hosted annually by SVP Charlotte. This high-profile program provides a terrific opportunity for innovative nonprofits to tap into professional development around messaging, gain access to high quality marketing assets, benefit from incredible community exposure, and build their social capital.

Spread the word: SVP Charlotte announced yesterday that the application period for the SEED20 Class of 2024 has officially launched. Please share the following link with your professional network and help us spread the word: https://tinyurl.com/applytoday4Seed20

Save the date: You don’t want to miss the SEED20 Class of 2024. Join us to watch them take the stage on Tuesday, March 26 at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte.

SEED20 OnStage is Back!

Join the Croixstone team (virtually or in-person) for a very unique nonprofit experience.

The big picture: The Charlotte region’s most unique nonprofit pitch contest, SEED20 OnStage, returns to the stage this month on Thursday, April 27 at 7pm EDT.

About the host organization: This signature event is hosted and produced by Social Venture Partners Charlotte (SVP), one of the Charlotte region’s most unique nonprofits that supports fellow nonprofits.

Why it matters: Innovators imagine the future and fill in the gaps. The SEED20 stage provides social entrepreneurs across the Charlotte region with a platform to share their innovative ideas that benefit our community.

How it works: 10 nonprofits will give three-minute pitches on why they are passionate about the work they are doing and the impact it is making on our community. You and the rest of the audience then vote on the grand prize of $20,000.

And there is more: After the pitches conclude, you will have the opportunity to grab an adult beverage, snacks, and then mix and mingle with the nonprofit leaders who inspired you.

Check out these links: Click and learn more. You’ll understand why you want to be in the room on event night.
• Check out SVP’s pitch for SEED20: 47 Second Pitch Video
• Learn more about the nonprofits: Visit the event website at SEED20 Class of 2023
• Buy event tickets: Onstage Tickets! (in person are $80 and if you can’t make it in person, livestream tickets are available for $25)
• Donate: Use Pledge to donate to one or all of these amazing nonprofits (no fees for contributions less than $1,000– you can reduce the tip amount all the way to 0)

Croixstone and SVP: Croixstone has served as a corporate partner with Social Venture Partners Charlotte for several years. SVP is a nonprofit comprised of Partners (both corporate and individuals) who donate their professional skills and invest their collective social and financial capital in innovative nonprofits who are tackling Charlotte’s most pressing problems.

“Innovation is seeing what everyone has seen
and thinking what nobody has thought.”

-Albert Szent-Györgyi

Croixstone’s Lisa Cahill to Participate in ENCOUNTER Charlotte

One of Croixstone’s favorite hometown nonprofits is Leadership Charlotte. This great organization has a mission to develop and enhance volunteer community leadership by providing a diverse group of emerging and existing leaders with the opportunity to increase their community knowledge, civic network, and service to the community.

Leadership Charlotte offers two programs to fulfill its mission. The organization’s core program is “Leadership Charlotte”, a 10-month program where an average of 50 participants explore current issues with a variety of community leaders. Additionally, the organization offers a scaled-down version of its core program called “ENCOUNTER Charlotte.” This program serves as an orientation to Charlotte and to community leadership over a two-day period each spring and fall.

Croixstone’s very own Lisa Cahill (Senior Talent Leader) is participating in ENCOUNTER Charlotte’s spring 2023 program. She joins participants from a diverse portfolio of organizations across the Charlotte region including: Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, Novant Health, Truist Financial, Microsoft, Grant Thornton, Bank of America, Second Harvest Food Bank, Dowd YMCA, and more.

Croixstone’s CEO, Patti Weber, and Managing Partner, Mark Weber, are past participants of ENCOUNTER Charlotte. Learn more about the organization here.

Reimagine the Way You Give

Almost 7 years ago, our co-founders Patti Weber (CEO) and Mark Weber (Managing Partner) were seeking a new way to put their skills and interests to work in a meaningful way to give back in their home city of Charlotte, NC.

That search led them to an exceptionally unique nonprofit called Social Venture Partners International (SVP), an organization with a network of 3,400 philanthropists in more than 40 cities around the world. These philanthropists, called “Partners”, help those out to do good to do better – by bringing together donors, nonprofits and social enterprises so together all can make a greater collective impact.

SVP Partners practice what is called “engaged venture philanthropy.”  Venture philanthropy is a type of impact investment that takes concepts and techniques from venture capital finance and business management and applies them to achieving philanthropic goals. SVP Partners invest money, time and skills in promising, up and coming nonprofits in their local communities.

The Charlotte Affiliate of SVP is seeking to welcome new Partners who relate to the concept of engaged venture philanthropy. Learn more about SVP Charlotte here, and/or reach out to Mark Weber, who volunteers on the SVP Charlotte Board, at mweber@croixstone.consulting.

We Have a Passion for Purple!

In addition to sharing a mutual passion for consulting, our three senior leaders (Patti Weber, Grace Lynch, and Mark Weber) are known for their passion for creating awareness for pancreatic cancer.

Purple is the official color that represents pancreatic cancer, and the trio is known across the greater Charlotte region and beyond for their long-term advocacy for the the disease. In fact, their passion runs so deep that Patti, Grace, and Mark launched the nonprofit Charlotte Pancreatic Cancer Alliance community group last year to amplify their voices.

Shortly after forming the group, the trio wasted no time in joining the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition, a consortium of nearly 100 advocacy groups from 33 countries on 6 continents.

The World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition spotlighted the work of Patti, Grace and Mark in the October 2021 issue of its global newsletter. Learn more here.

We are Purple Podcasting!

Listen to Croixstone’s leaders on the Project Purple Podcast

For our CEO, Patti Weber, it is her father.
For our Senior Manager of Business Operations, Grace Lynch, it is her niece.
For our Managing Partner, Mark Weber, it is his mother.

To know Croixstone is to know that each of our three leaders have been touched in a very personal way by pancreatic cancer, the USA’s third leading cause of cancer-related deaths.

In January of 2020, Patti, Grace and Mark launched the Charlotte Pancreatic Cancer Alliance, a nonprofit community group that raises awareness for the disease.  Last week, the three leaders shared the stories of their loved ones and their new community group on the Project Purple Podcast, ranked #1 on Feedspot’s “Top 10 Pancreatic Cancer Podcasts You Must Follow in 2020.”

Listen here.

Charlotte Growth Report

The workforce in the Charlotte region has grown by 28 percent since 2001 (compared to just under 10 percent growth nationwide). This is one of several fascinating statistics included in the Charlotte Chamber’s 1st Quarter 2018 Growth Report.  Read the report to learn about the largest sector by total employment in the Charlotte area (surprise – it isn’t financial services or retail) as well as the importance of both Professional Services and Manufacturing to the Charlotte region’s economy in Q1.

Croixstone Hosts Table Today at Annual Good Fellows Luncheon

Croixstone Consulting founder Mark Weber, a long-term member of The Good Fellows Club, is hosting a table at today’s annual Christmas luncheon at the Charlotte Convention Center.

A club of 1,700 business and civic leaders, The Good Fellows Club was founded in 1917 by a group of men at Charlotte’s Second Presbyterian Church. Through the years, the club has evolved into a charity that has raised millions to help the working poor who often can’t get aid at other nonprofits.

The club’s board of directors consists of a number of well-known Charlotte business leaders including:

  • W. Frank Dowd, IV, President
  • John W. Harris, Vice President
  • Thomas E. Meckley, Treasurer

Last year, The Good Fellows Club raised more than $500,000 at the organization’s annual Christmas luncheon.  Read more about last year’s event courtesy of The Charlotte Observer.

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