Alumnae Action Plans

What is an Action Plan?

GIVEN Action Plans are new initiatives that benefit others. Whether it is large- or small-scale, an Action Plan is meant to put your gifts in service of the Gospel within a particular community.

Through their attendance at the Forum and participation in GIVEN’s year-long mentoring program, cohort members each learn how to activate the gifts that God has given them and offer the gift that only they can give. For helpful tips about discerning and writing your Action Plan, download our Action Plan Guidelines.

“Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.” Mt. 10:8

“Humankind, full of all creative possibilities, is God’s work. Humankind alone is called to assist God. Humankind is called to co-create. With nature’s help, humankind can set into creation all that is necessary and life-sustaining.”

St. Hildegard

Samples of GIVEN Action Plans

Entrepreneurial

As a a millennial Catholic convert from a non-denominational church, Corynne desired to illustrate the many faces and vocations of women in the Church and show that the Church welcomes and values millennial Catholic women of all walks of life. This desire led to Corynne founding “The Catholic Woman,” a nonprofit that reaches thousands of women through social media outreach, video programs, and a recently published book A Place to Belong: Letters from Catholic Women.
Learning to pray with art was transforming in Katie Weiss’s journey with God and she wanted to share that with others. She created a 5-week program to teach other women how to pray with art, focusing on the gift of the feminine genius. Since GIVEN, Katie’s action plan has grown into a full-time mission. She founded an organization called Behold, which publishes guides to the practice of “visio divina” and provides workshops for parishes and the Behold online community.
When Emily first encountered the Church’s teachings, she was in awe at the belief that the Lord is truly present—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—in the Blessed Sacrament. At the same time, she was also introduced to cycle charting and found wholeness through a complete understanding of her own body in the light of the Body of the Lord. The New Eve Foundation empowers women through an integration of resources and retreats on body literacy, cycle charting and femininity catechesis.

Care for the human person

Krista Corbello’s mission is to bring forgiveness to families, compassion to communities, and healing to the hurting, specifically to people who lost a sibling to abortion. “Even this Way” ministry and outreach was born out of a desire to help others like Krista who were considered for abortion and/or have aborted siblings. Dozens of siblings all over the country write their story-of-origin on the “Even This Way” blog, and afterwards, have shared how cathartic it is for them to write it down.
Studying Biology in college and conducting research in women’s health, Annie became interested in the problem that women and girls do not see the inherent value in their menstrual cycle. She started making journals and calendars, but realized she had more she wanted to say. Annie published the book Woman of All Seasons: The Symbolism of the Menstrual Cycle to teach women that their menstrual cycle is healthy and that listening to your cycle can help you come to a better understanding of yourself.
As a family medicine physician, Macy desired to bring Trauma Informed Care (TIC) to her organization. This began with introductory presentations to all the providers within the organization about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the effects that toxic stress has on the body and long-term health. With the development of a more formalized TIC training protocol, healthcare providers can help patients seek deeper healing from trauma that may be impacting their overall health and wellbeing.

Secular Professional

After attending the 2016 GIVEN Forum, Samantha Kelley was inspired to launch FIERCE Athlete Inc. FIERCE Athlete (Femininity, Identity, Embodiment, Receptivity, Catholicism, and Encounter) exists in order to promote true and authentic femininity within female athletics based on the teachings of the Catholic Church. FIERCE Athlete provides sports clinics, summer camps, retreats and online workout and training resources.
Samantha created a platform to reconcile the messages of empowerment in feminism with the truth of Catholic teaching. In his Letter to Women, John Paul II acknowledged the oppression women have faced throughout history, and says “the secret to... achieving full respect for women” will be through “an effective and intelligent campaign for the promotion of women.” FemCatholic responds to this call as an online platform for news coverage on women’s issues, workplace advocacy, and courses on sex education and other female topics.
While studying Biochemistry at Vanderbilt University, Kathryn was inspired to create a reflections series for Christian PhD students to help with discerning the next step in their careers. This series provides helpful tools for better understanding what personal prayer and discernment looks like, especially when asking big questions about the future. Although Kathryn initially wrote the program for her PhD student community, the principles can be applied to any kind of life discernment.

Catholic Professional

While at the GIVEN Forum, Marianne went to adoration and felt the Lord inspiring her to plan a young adult retreat on identity as sons and daughters of God. At the time, there was nothing like this offered in her local young adult community. Marianne’s vision was to begin a healing of identity to strengthen other young adults and create a ripple effect. The first retreat was so successful that Marianne lead a second one the following year and more young adult retreats are being offered in her community!
Born out of her own personal struggle and the lack of resources provided by the church, Tori created Peace of Home, a Lectio Divina for teens suffering from their parents’ divorce. Through a closer look at the Holy Family, teens can firmly root themselves in the Gospel during this traumatic time in their lives. Through self reflection and journal prompts, teens are encouraged to express their feelings, build a relationship with Christ, and form community within their parish or school.
Allison Crawford spent two and a half years as a missionary and nurse for Farm of the Child, a Catholic children’s home in Honduras. This experience inspired her to create “How to Come Home” transitional resources for Farm of the Child missionaries to guide them through the process of returning home after their service. The program includes an in-country day of reflection for missionaries prior to their departure from the mission and a re-entry retreat facilitated by trained mentors and spiritual directors.

Artistic

When praying about her GIVEN action plan, Mary Catherine’s heart was drawn toward the persecuted Christians in the Middle East and the great need to use beauty and the arts for evangelization. This led to Mary Catherine creating the “No Greater Love Festival,” where over 500 attendees came together for a living history reenactment of the Florida Martyrs, a documentary screening of “Our Last Stand,” Eucharistic Adoration, reconciliation, Mass, and live worship music. The festival raised $31,704.25 for the Knights of Columbus’ Christians at Risk initiative.
In 2015, Ali created the “Oodles of Doodles” Instagram account out of a New Year’s resolution to improve her hand-lettering. As part of her GIVEN Action Plan, Ali hosted a workshop for young adult women, teaching them how to doodle with prayer and scripture. Through this doodling workshop, women learned how to put into muscle memory words from the Lord into the heart. Ali’s Oodles of Doodles has grown into a full-time ministry.
In 2015, Ali created the “Oodles of Doodles” Instagram account out of a New Year’s resolution to improve her hand-lettering. As part of her GIVEN Action Plan, Ali hosted a workshop for young adult women, teaching them how to doodle with prayer and scripture. Through this doodling workshop, women learned how to put into muscle memory words from the Lord into the heart. Ali’s Oodles of Doodles has grown into a full-time ministry.

Entrepreneurial

Care for the human person

Secular Professional

Catholic Professional

Artistic

Still want more?

Check out our Alumnae Stories to read in-depth Q&A’s with our GIVEN alumnae! Learn about their lives, interests, work, and Action Plans.