One measure of success for Wolfpack Women in Philanthropy came on a Thursday morning in April, when 450 people headed into Reynolds Coliseum for the group’s second annual symposium. The attendance at the first symposium in 2025? About 200. 

“That’s a 125% increase,” an obviously thrilled Paige Harris told the gathering once everyone was seated and ready for lunch. Harris, of Washington, N.C., is chair of the NC State Alumni affinity group, which formed in 2018 with the goal of encouraging women to give to NC State and increase women’s participation on boards that serve the university.

The 2026 symposium provided opportunities for networking, updates on initiatives the group is funding, and an address from Deborah Norville, former anchor of Inside Edition and author of Thank You Power: Making the Science of Gratitude Work for You. Research shows that gratitude makes people more resilient, creative and optimistic, Norville writes, and giving to others brings rewards of its own. “When you are changing their world, you are also changing yours,” she said to the Reynolds crowd.

“When you are changing their world, you are also changing yours.”
Deborah Norville

Wolfpack Women in Philanthropy not only encourages women to give back, but it has also created a fund that annually gives grants of $10,000 each to three organizations or initiatives. In 2025, the fund supported a Poole College of Management program to improve financial literacy in the workforce. It also helped expand mentorship in the ELEVATE program, which serves students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. And it aided a College of Education program to explore the intersection of art, AI and creative computing. 

The symposium attracted alumni, donors, deans and women who were interested in keeping their connection with NC State. Some were like first-time attendee Taylor Zublena of Apex, N.C., whose father-in-law, Joseph Zublena, was a longtime director of the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service. He established an endowment to benefit Extension employees. She is not an alumna, but “I feel that connection,” she says.

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