The Ojai Women's Fund was started seven years ago by Karen Evenden, Peggy Russell and Kyle Crowner with $50,000 to donate and a big vision for reshaping and democratizing philanthropy in Ojai. It is patterned after a fund Karen was familiar with in Seattle. The idea is that it is affordable to anyone with a desire to make Ojai a better place to live. So far, they've disbursed more than $600,000.

With now more than 4,000 members, it has become an inspiring success, having granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to many dozens of worthy nonprofit groups in Ojai. It has spawned many affiliated groups of givers, such as the Real Housewives of Ojai, The Valley Girls and Women of a Certain Page. Polly Nelson and Catherine Meek join the podcast to talk about the fund and its goals. They are requesting proposals from local groups at this time. Those proposals are brought before the members for a vote on which to fund. As chairs of the grants committee, it will be Catherine and Polly's job to work with the grantors and put those plans into action.

Polly moved to Ojai five years ago full-time after commuting back and forth from the Los Angeles area to care for an ailing parent, and she sees the Women's Fund as a way to put her years of experience as a retail executive and trainer to work. Catherine Meek was herself a recipient of a grant for her "School on Wheels" which brings mobile classroom education to the streets for homeless and sex-trafficked women in Ventura County.

We talked about Ojai's shifting charitable needs, education, homelessness, affordable housing, growth, urban sprawl and how a little bit of involvement at the right time can pay huge dividends. We did not talk about Atlantic salmon fishing in the Kola Peninsula, new rule changes in baseball or the cloning of polo horses.

Check out the Ojai Women's Fund at ojaiwomensfund.org or email [email protected] for more information or to apply for a grant.