2022-23 BTC Calendar: Amethyst Circle Founders

Women for Madison’s Amethyst Circle Founders have started something bold for JMU. The goal? 200 women giving $1 million for scholarships by May 2023. The call went out for 10 founders to jump start the effort, and more than 40 said yes in just three months. This visionary group, built on individual commitments of $15,000, has joined together to make a tremendous impact for students and on women’s philanthropy at JMU. “Women are powerful together,” Dawn Smith Barnes (’93) told the Women Who Amaze Summit gathering in May 2021, when the Amethyst Circle was publicly announced. Numbers continue to grow; 65 women have signed on as Founders and 54 more have joined as Amethyst Circle Members at the $5,000 level. Recruiting continues toward the 200 goal. “We recognize the difference JMU has made in our lives,” Barnes said. “We believe future students should have the same opportunity.”