Women’s Foundation of Indiana’s OPTIONS program was designed to help participants get smart about critical issues impacting women and girls, and learn to use their work, wealth and wisdom to make ours a community where women and girls can thrive.
The 10-month program, featuring monthly two-and-a-half-hour sessions, includes guest speakers, field trips, community exploration and leadership development. Participants, age 25 and older, end the program with:
Join the more than 500 women who have amplified their philanthropic voice, power and leadership through OPTIONS.
When we come together with mutual respect and a passion for women and girls’ health and well-being, we can learn and do so much. I loved networking with my OPTIONS class 21 and donating 100% of our collective funds directly to the community groups that we visited and the on-going scholarship fund.
Eligibility to apply: Interested candidates must be 25 or older and identify as a woman or non-binary femme.
The cost to participate in the program is $500. Applications for the class in 2026 are now closed. Please email Wendy McNamar at her contact info below if you would like to receive information to apply for the 2027 class.
All applicants are asked to commit to being curious, open-minded and interested in the following:
The thing I most appreciated from my OPTIONS experience, and still do, is the fact that I walked into a room and knew that everyone in that room had shared values. Just merely stepping through the threshold of the conference room door, I know that we have very foundational core things in common. That is a very rare thing and something wholly unique to the OPTIONS program.
The OPTIONS Program increased my understanding and exposure to issues facing women and girls in Central Indiana, but it also connected me to the amazing organizations in our community working to address those issues. Prior to OPTIONS, I was pretty unfocused with my community engagement because I was overwhelmed by all of the things I cared about, but what OPTIONS did was help me hone my philanthropic plan, so that I can more intentionally spend my time, talent, and treasure moving the needle on issues that were most critical to me. But perhaps the best gift OPTIONS gave me was an incredible group of brilliant, kind, strong, and generous women whom I now call friends, and I can walk alongside as we work to make the world a better place.