Welcome to the latest installment of Intention 2 Impact’s Heart-2-Heart — our monthly newsletter where we share what’s on our mind, in our hearts, and up our sleeves.

This month, we’re reflecting on what Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields festival got right about women, culture, and giving, sitting with FreeFrom founder Sonya Passi as she watches 10 years of impact finally become data, and dropping a very important save the date for Pay Her Forward’s 6th annual fundraiser. ✨

ON OUR MINDS

When the Stage Is the Strategy: A Daisy Chain Fields Dispatch

ICYMI, last month women’s musical and philanthropic history was made.

Daisy Chain Fields, the feminist music festival dreamed up and headlined by Olivia Rodrigo, brought Stevie Nicks, Alanis Morissette, Chappell Roan, Bikini Kill, and Doechii to a single event, plus a Dolly Parton tribute led by Sarah McLachlan. If that lineup gave you Lilith Fair déjà vu, that’s the point: the festival that gleefully debunked the tired industry belief that two women-led acts can’t go back to back — let alone headline a show. Turns out they can. All of them. For a full 12 hours straight. 🔥

And this is about so much more than the music. Daisy Chain Fields brought together some of our very favorite things: women icons, making ‘good’ visible, and pop art & culture. Throughout the festival grounds, women’s history markers and quotes threaded the walkways, art installations by women anchored every corner, and a nonprofit pavilion spotlighted ten organizations building a world of safety and thriving for all — especially women.

One of them was our client FreeFrom (read more about them in the “In our Hearts” below), who works to end gender-based violence by changing the economic conditions survivors face. Each org got a moment on the mainstage, introducing the performers to a crowd of 45,000. We sure love to see philanthropy take the stage — quite literally.

But wait there’s more….every artist performed for free. 👀 Ticket and merch revenue sent $10M straight to those ten nonprofits — a figure that doubled to $20M when Melinda French Gates walked out during the closing set and matched it on the spot. 

I2I’s Kathleen was there, reporting live (and sweating through a record-breaking heat wave for the cause). Her dispatch? Beyond the crowds and the bathroom lines, there was a physical, unmistakable difference in a space of this magnitude curated by women, for women, and filled mostly with women. It felt safe. Nurturing. Generous.

Sounds cool, but so what?

We’re an impact measurement firm, so naturally our brains went there. We have no idea what Olivia Rodrigo’s theory of change looked like (call us, Liv 😉) — but every signal points to a resounding success. 45,000 people showed up. $20M is now unlocking tangible capacity for ten organizations to pursue their missions. Demand for a repeat next year is already loud. And Kathleen finally saw Stevie Nicks live, which — for the record — is its own impact metric.

The bigger win is harder to count: a shift in what we collectively consider stage-worthy. For years, “making good visible” has been treated as a nice-to-have — the thing you do after the real work. Daisy Chain Fields put it center stage, sold it out, and matched it to the tune of eight figures. As our friends at the Elevate Prize Foundation taught us, when you make good visible, you make it fundable. Daisy Chain Fields was a masterclass in that theory of change. 

So aside from HOT TO GO stuck in our heads, we’re sitting with the what-would-it-take (WWIT) questions. WWIT for more celebrities and donors to follow Olivia and Melinda’s lead? For tickets priced so this kind of joy and safety isn’t gated behind festival-tier prices?

We don’t have every answer yet. But we saw the proof of concept — 45,000 strong, in the heat, singing along.

What made you feel like good was finally getting the spotlight this year? Hit reply — we’re collecting signals. ✨

IN OUR HEARTS

Watch This: Sonya Passi on the Moment Impact Became a Verb & FreeFrom’s 10 Year Impact Report 💜

Since July, we’ve been saying impact is a verb, not just a noun — and we’d never ask you to just take our word for it. So hear it from Sonya Passi, Founder + CEO of FreeFrom, on the moment it clicked for her and her team.

Sahiti & Emma sat down with Sonya to talk about FreeFrom’s forthcoming 10-Year Impact Report — the receipts on something FreeFrom has known in its bones all along: give survivors an economic floor, and they move from crisis to thriving. For ten years, Sonya told us, she felt like she was underselling the work. 

“Impact” seemed like a word reserved for organizations doing something more countable. Then she saw the data we’d pulled together, and she sobbed. “I couldn’t imagine being able to demonstrate the full power of our work, and finally I feel like I can,” she shared.

That’s the part we keep coming back to. For ten years FreeFrom did this work knowing exactly what it was worth — they just didn’t have the numbers to prove it. Now they do.

Watch the highlights from the conversation here and keep your eyes peeled for the 10-Year Impact Report. Hit reply and tell us what stuck with you.

UP OUR SLEEVES
Six Years of Pay Her Forward — Save the Date! 🎉

I2I’s signature philanthropic initiative, Pay Her Forward, is back for round six!  If you are headed to the annual American Evaluation Association conference, join us for our Happy Hour & Headshots on Wednesday, November 18, 2026, from 5–7 pm ET. RSVP here.

This year, every dollar raised goes to Despierta, a Charlotte nonprofit providing bilingual, trauma-informed mental health and leadership programs for Latina youth, young mothers, and women. Since 2020 they’ve reached 10 Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, and 100% of  the students they serve report increased confidence — the kind of number that makes an evaluation shop like us do a double take. 

A suggested $30 donation includes a professional headshot (taken by Laura Wolff) and light refreshments with excellent company! 

Please RSVP by Monday, November 2, 2026.