Each year the Circle of Sisterhood at NC State donates a $10,000 grant to a charity of their choosing. This year it selected the Africa Development Promise. 

According to Caroline Pawl, the vice president of education of the Circle of Sisterhood at NC State, Circle of Sisterhood is the entire panhellenic community’s philanthropy which they all collaborate on. 

“It’s a great way for girls in any panhellenic organization to get to know each other, and work together for a cause that is close to our hearts, as we are all women getting an education at NC State,” Pawl said. 

Julia Clark, the president of the Circle of Sisterhood at NC State, said that the national Circle of Sisterhood was founded in 2010 by Ginny Carroll. 

“Our founder, Ginny Carroll, read the book ‘Half the Sky’ which really goes into depth about the mistreatment of and how unequal women are in different parts of the world, and it talks about how getting an education can really change their life,” Clark said. “Carroll felt moved to create an organization that would really help these girls who aren’t so easily about to get an education. We pay for that education and meals and things so they are able to stay in school and support themselves.”

Each year, Circle of Sisterhood raises funds through events planned by the executive board. They often partner with companies or businesses, and Circle of Sisterhood receives a percentage of the money from purchases from those companies.

“Last semester, we did some Zoom educational events, including trivia and then some fun facts about Circle of Sisterhood,” Pawl said. “We’ve done a lot of virtual percent of purchases, we did one with Kendra Scott last semester that was super profitable, and we have one with Zaxby’s coming up as well.” 

According to Clark, each year the national executive board picks out ten or eleven organizations for the campus partner to work with and support. Each campus chapter then picks one from those selected organizations to focus on.  

“This year we did the [African Development Promise], which helps women in Uganda and Rwanda,” Clark said. “It’s a business school curriculum to fund their businesses to improve their lives and their families’ lives.”

The executive board at NC State chose the charitable organization they connected with the most and they thought was the most sustainable, according to Clark.

“We liked how this organization focused on not just helping women in the moment, but instead helping them develop skills to help themselves and future generations,” Clark said. “Our campus and executive board is really passionate about, not Band-Aids, but long term solutions. We felt this was a really supportive organization that would help women with their business and financial skills that they can pass on to other generations and affect a lot of people in a positive way.”

Students who aren’t involved in fraternity and sorority life can still support Circle of Sisterhood by participating in percent of purchase events and educational events. 

Stay updated on the Circle of Sisterhood’s events by following it on Instagram @cofs_ncsu.