ABOUT KATIE GROVES:
Katie Groves is the Senior Director of Engagement & Experience at United Way for Southeastern Michigan, where she leads strategies focused on community engagement, corporate sponsorship, and organizational events and outreach.
With more than 20 years of experience in philanthropy and nonprofit leadership, Katie has built her career around connecting people, organizations, and resources to create meaningful community impact.
At the heart of her work is a passion for helping give people the opportunity to succeed and live happy, healthy lives. She brings a unique combination of strategic thinking and relationship-building to her work, helping organizations strengthen partnerships, grow revenue, and deepen engagement with their missions.
She believes that when we connect people to the right resources, opportunities, and one another, we can help create stronger communities where everyone has a chance to thrive.
RESOURCES:
Power of the Purse 2026 on Facebook
Power of the Purse 2026 on LinkedIn
TRANSCRIPTION:
Decky Alexander: This is 89.1 WEMU, and welcome to our weekly conversation on equity and opportunity in our county and in our community. I'm your host, Decky Alexander, and I'm honored still and always to welcome you to this week's edition of Washtenaw United. This could be the story of your mother or your grandmother or your aunt or your sister or you. It wasn't that long ago that a woman, despite their education, regardless if they were a judge or a lawyer, a parent, married or unmarried, could not open a credit card, bank account, or secure a loan in their own name without a husband or a male relative co-signing. Before that, a woman's financial identity was tied entirely to a man. It wasn't until 1974, with the passage of the Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act, that women in the United States were legally guaranteed the right to shape their own financial path. Today, on Washtenaw United, we talk with Katie Grove, Senior Director of Engagement and Experience for the United Way for Southeastern Michigan on The Power of the Purse, an initiative and fundraising event about women and for women seeking financial stability and independence. When women thrive, children, families and the whole community thrive. Katie, welcome to Washtenaw United! Thank you so much for coming! We appreciate it!
Katie Groves: Thank you! I'm thrilled to be here!
Decky Alexander: And we appreciate all the support that United Way gives WEMU and this particular show. So, before we move into the specifics of the Power of the Purse, let's learn a little bit more about you. The path to this work in and with community is as vast and unique as the people served and supported by the United Way and its programs. So, tell us a little about your journey to United Way for Southeastern Michigan and its work.
Katie Groves: Absolutely! So, I've spent my entire career in nonprofit. That's about 25 years now that I have spent in various different sectors, and it has always just been my passion to help individuals in the community that maybe are not able to help themselves in the same way that others might be able to. And it is such a prevalent concern and something that all of us are really only one crisis away, right? So, what brought me to United Way is just their overarching ability to unite the community in times of crisis, and they can really forge connections and allow the greatest impact by ensuring that we are putting the programs and services where the greatest needs exist. And we're able to bring people out of crisis and on a path towards stability.
Decky Alexander: So, Katie, for those of us familiar with United Way, it is an organization that focuses on what is often, as you alluded to, called wraparound services. It is job training and housing and reliable transportation and affordable childcare, and they're often all tangled together. Son when we talk about, Katie, the financial security for women, money rarely stands alone. Son how does an event, such as the Power of the Purse, support the larger story of what a woman needs to both survive and thrive?
Katie Groves: Absolutely! We all know that financial concerns can be a massive barrier in any family or organization. Power of the Purse brings together a large group of women that are there to have a wonderful evening, but for a wonderful purpose. So, we are there provide grant funding for five organizations within Washtenaw County that are serving women in different ways. So, last year, we provided five grants to 100% of the organizations that we granted were women-led. And we impacted more than 424 families through, as you mentioned, wraparound services. So, we supported a preschool. We supported an organization, Friends In Deed, that is very focused on emergency support. We support an organization that really focuses on counseling, the Women's Center for Southeastern Michigan. So, the wraparound services is, a lot of times, where we see people struggling the most because when financial might be the immediate problem, it also leads into you may not be able to provide child care, you might not have housing, you might not be able pay your utility bill. And so, United Way stands on 211, which is our 24-7 helpline that people can call, and we don't just solve one problem. If you call for food, we're not just answering that question. We're saying, "What else do you need? Do you need transportation? Do you need help getting to work? Do you help with your license?" Things like that. So, our goal is to not solve the problem, but to fix the underlying issue as well.
Decky Alexander: You are listening to Washtenaw United on 89.1 WEMU. I'm Decky Alexander. And today, we are having a conversation with Katie Groves on the Power of the Purse, an annual event supporting financial independence for women and families. Katie, we talk a little about the impact of Power of The Purse, but if somebody is going to the Power of The Purse and they enter in the door, what might they experience at this event?
Katie Groves: Yes. So, this is the first year that we've moved the event into the fall, so it's a great way to kick off the holiday season. So, you will come into Washtenaw Community College. They have a beautiful entry area where you will have over 100 purses to bid on. We have a spotlight purse from Neiman Marcus. We have a vintage section this year. We have an vintage Prada purse. So, this is really an opportunity for women to come together to celebrate kicking off the holiday season, but to be there with a very strong purpose of making sure we are raising as much money as possible that evening to put back into community, so that all women in the community have the same chance to thrive and to succeed and to provide for their families.
Decky Alexander: Katie, so the Power of the Purse is both for those who attend this event is both an acknowledgement of what is the needs for women to thrive in our community, but it's also an affirmation and celebration often of local leaders who trailblaze and transform this community. Who is the Power of the Purse honoring this year? Or is that a secret?
Katie Groves: It's not a secret.
Decky Alexander: Okay.
Katie Groves: So, Karen Chapell from Retirement Income Solutions, she is our Woman of the Year this year. We are so incredibly thrilled to honor her. She is dedicated to community. She's dedicated to United Way. She has served in many different capacities, and we are just truly, truly honored to be able to welcome her and honor her year because it's truly, truly a deserved honor!
Decky Alexander: Well, you alluded a little bit to sort of the essence and the art, of this particular event. And I have been to this event several times before. And this year, I am emceeing the event. And I had been struck by, though it's not necessarily advertised, it is about women and for women with mostly women in attendance. And the fact that people are there. It's beyond the Coaches and the Louis' are being auctioned off. Why do you really believe the Power of the Purse has become one of the most singular events for women of Washtenaw County, in your opinion?
Katie Groves: You know, it's such a great opportunity. We have an amazing committee who has been with us for many, many years. This year, it is led by Megan Mazurek and Liz Garza. And this is the 18th year of Power of the Purse, and it is just continuing to grow. We are shooting to exceed our profits this year, our goals, because we have such commitment and dedication from the committee and the community. And it is a unique way, right, to get together on a Wednesday evening and to come and just really kind of have a girls' night out. And we get to honor an amazing woman in the community. We get to hear about the amazing organizations that are women-led that we supported last year and all of the individuals, their testimonies of how they were able to keep their kids in daycare and continue working because of this grant that we provided. So, it's a great twist on a girls' night out, I would say!
Decky Alexander: Is there a particular testimony, past or even potentially present, that has really impacted or inspired you?
Katie Groves: Yes. So, I'm a mom. I have a four-year-old little boy. And so, of course, anything that is directly related to kids or childcare is very close to my heart. I know how incredibly expensive childcare is and how it just breaks your mama's heart if you are at work and you don't feel your child is safe at their preschool or at their daycare. And so, we, as I mentioned, supported Foundations Preschool of Washtenaw County. And there was a woman who could not afford to send her child to that preschool, and she was going to possibly have to quit working because she didn't have anywhere to send their baby. And being able to get this grant, they were able to provide scholarships that she was able to send your child to a high-quality preschool where she knew she could go to work, she could do what she needed to do to raise money for her family, and her child was safe and thriving and learning while she was doing that.
Decky Alexander: We have this real opportunity in this moment in time to ensure that the women in our community can thrive through this particular event. So, for listeners who want to buy a ticket or bid on a purse or support the cause, how can they get involved with Power of the Purse, Katie?
Katie Groves: Absolutely! Please visit our website. It's unitedwaysem.org/womenunited. You will find a link to Power of the Purse right there. Tickets are $100 each. We have a beautiful strolling dinner, open bar, music, entertainment, and sponsorships are still available, but please join us as a ticket purchaser. You will have a wonderful evening to support the community and to spend time with your friends!
Decky Alexander: That was Katie Groves, joining us on Washtenaw United to share why the United Way for Southeastern Michigan continues to illuminate the necessity for financial independence for women. Lift up a woman, lift up a community. To learn more about the Power of the Purse event, swing over to the website at WEMU.org. Washtenaw United is produced in partnership with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and you can hear it right here every Monday. I'm Decky Alexander, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU Ypsilanti.
WEMU has partnered with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to explore the people, organizations, and institutions creating opportunity and equity in our area. And, as part of this ongoing series, you’ll also hear from the people benefiting and growing from the investments being made in the areas of our community where there are gaps in available services. It is a community voice. It is 'Washtenaw United.'
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