Changemaker Collective helps girls lead, study, and community

In “She Who Rises,” women talk menopause. In “Wings,” women network. Across many subgroups, the Happy Valley Changemakers Collective, a new nonprofit, is helping women lead, learn, budget and even breathe together.

“For me, the heart is women,” said Jennifer Eisenhuth, chief people officer of the Changemaker Collective, which became a Happy Valley-based 501(c)(3) in early March. “I see so many women play it safe, and I know they can do so much more.”

Happy Valley Changemaker Collective stemmed from the 2024 W.E.Connect conference for women entrepreneurs at Happy Valley LaunchBox powered by PNC Bank. There, women wrote their skills, struggles and goals on a shared wall.

“All that data was collected, and we determined that this needs to be more than an annual conference,” said Eisenhuth, who helped organize the event. “It should be every day, all the time.”

Eisenhuth, along with Elizabeth Hay, director of Happy Valley LaunchBox, and Beth Shaha, established the Happy Valley Changemaker Collective in January, with Andrea Pandolfi joining later as CFO.

With more than 650 members, growth has not been a challenge for the organization. But maintenance will be.

“We have the responsibility to sustain,” Eisenhuth said. “To make sure this doesn’t fizzle out”

With a robust schedule of events, meetings and workshops, many of which take place at the Happy Valley LaunchBox, the Changemaker Collective shows no signs of slowing down.

On June 3, members and newcomers gathered at Boal City Brewing for an event hosted by the Lifestyle and Community Collective, one of the six main cohorts within the Changemaker Collective. Around 25 women mingled around a circle of Adirondack chairs and a colorful paper sign. “Harkening back to my cheerleading days,” said Ashlie Setcavage, who made the sign and helped organize the event.

While other subgroups, such as the Sustainability and Entrepreneurship collectives, chase clear goals, the Lifestyle and Community Collective has a purely social agenda. “Play is at the center of what we do,” said Setcavage, one of that collective’s three leaders.

Newcomers got the message. “We got here and were immediately pulled into conversation,” said Emily Walls, who came to the event with her sister-in-law, also a first-timer. Both remarked on the diversity of industries represented. Among those in attendance were an autism advocate, a content creator and at least one aspiring business owner.

“Working in corporate America, it’s difficult to be in a room with a group of women who aren’t competing,” said Lisa Pellicciotta, who is starting her own business. “But with the collectives, everybody supports each other.”

After leaving her job at a mall management company, Pellicciotta visited family in Italy and returned to Centre County with a fresh perspective. “I’m kind of tired of making money for other people,” she recalls thinking.

The Changemaker Collective’s support has been vital as Pellicciotta enters the next stage of her professional life. After a recent meeting for Women’s Entrepreneurship and Mentorship (WEAM), a circle within the Entrepreneurship Collective, a guest speaker gave a presentation on opening a business. Pellicciotta followed up to schedule a one-on-one appointment.

Still, Pellicciotta insisted that Changemaker Collective is as concerned with women’s communities as it is with their careers. “Good people do good things,” she said. “We just need the space.”

The Changemaker Collective is inviting people to join their “Ironman Hype Zone” at Commuter Drive on Sunday. Readers can find more information about the organization and their upcoming events at hvchangemakers.com.