Now in its 35th year, the MPI Foundation is showing no signs of slowing its mission to elevate the meeting and event industry and the professionals within.
“Since 2009, more than US$4.1 million has been distributed by the MPI Foundation,” says Kevin Kirby, executive director, MPI Foundation. “Last year alone, the Foundation gave out more than $250,000 in scholarships and grants—and we want to keep that going.”
To continue and expand upon its recent achievements, the MPI Foundation relies on donations from the industry. Former MPI Foundation Chair Stephen Revetria and Joey Nevin, a member of the MPI Foundation Global Board of Trustees—both from Giants Enterprises and the MPI Northern California Chapter—heard Kirby’s pleas and came up with a plan.
That plan is a matching grant arrangement with Giant Enterprises dubbed “Double Play.” Between now and, essentially, the MLB World Series, Giants Enterprises will match MPI chapter donations to the MPI Foundation, up to $30,000.
"We identified Double Play as a way that we could engage with the greater industry community and draw attention—and funding—to the important work of the MPI Foundation,” Revetria says, noting how the Foundation directly benefits event professionals and supports the industry at large. “Obviously, we love the baseball tie in—what’s more exciting than a double play?”
Encourage your local MPI chapter to give to the MPI Foundation this year and your donation will be twice as valuable, thanks to Double Play and Giants Enterprises. Of course, there are other ways to help. The Foundation’s heralded Rendezvous events are perhaps the most visible opportunity for meeting professionals, as these celebratory networking gatherings take place alongside industry conferences worldwide.
“We are doing a silent auction at IMEX in Frankfurt and partnering with CIM magazine for Rendezvous there,” Kirby says. “We’re also doing a Rendezvous timed with IMEX America—and at the World Education Congress (WEC) in Toronto, we’ll have a silent auction plus Rendezvous. We’re working on a very cool venue—details to come!”
So, please join the MPI Foundation at WEC and throughout the next year to celebrate 35 years of growing the world of meeting professionals and the meetings profession.
“We hope to continue that celebration through the 2020 WEC in Grapevine, Texas,” Kirby says.
Kirby’s also exploring some interesting and impactful ways for the MPI Foundation to give back to our community, beyond the scope of just meetings and events. Specifically, he’s looking into activities that are geared toward helping women and girls, appreciating that the association’s membership is roughly 80 percent female.
“The MPI Foundation has to have a heart, and we have to do a better job telling our story—why the Foundation exists and what it does,” Kirby says. “We have a lot of good stories to tell.”
Don’t miss WEC in Toronto, June 15-18.
