GIVE To Be Great
Creating philanthropic opportunities in the multifamily industry isn’t just something Mindi Kissling does; it’s who she is. And for the past 20 years of her career, it’s an area where she has made a profound impact.
Mindi believes that to be a great company, you must first be a good one. As a result of that mindset, she played an instrumental role in launching GIVE, Windsor Communities’ community engagement program. Since its inception in 2022, GIVE has operated with a singular mission: to create communities where people feel genuinely cared for. In doing so, the program has engaged over 90% of Windsor’s associates in the 17 markets across the United States where Windsor operates.
However, Mindi and the team also recognized that fulfilling a mission of “care” extends beyond simply providing a place to live. As such, GIVE “seeks to deliver comfort, stability, and hope where it’s needed most following six guiding pillars,” and many of the program's greatest successes have come under Mindi’s leadership.
GIVE's Six Guiding Pillars
Mindi's Atlanta team donated $1,825 of household items to the Our House shelter for women and children. During a volunteer shift, the team packed 80 welcome home kits, prepared over 200 diapers for unsheltered infants, sorted 10 boxes of donated clothing, prepared and served meals in the kitchen for families, and wrote 80 welcome home cards for unhoused families at the historical Dr. Martin Luther King Center.
During a single-day event, Mindi’s teams helped remove 1,000 pounds of trash from the Northern Strand Bike Trail in Everett and Malden, Massachusetts. Malden’s Mayor later recognized it as their community's largest organized cleanup.
During a one-day event, Windsor teams packaged 39,275 meals to help feed people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Mindi created the Windsor Bear Care program in 2012 to involve Windsor residents in philanthropic efforts. The program allows residents to sponsor and name bears that are then donated to the Ronald McDonald House. To date, Windsor has raised over $175,000 and donated over 10,000 teddy bears to the Ronald McDonald House and Scottish Rite Hospital.
Barks for Beers was established in 2013 for Austin-area residents, and since then, the event has raised over $50,000 in support of Divine Canine in Austin.
Through Mindi’s implementation of Fun(d) Day Friday, Windsor Communities raised $7,018 in one day for an internal grant program supporting teammates in times of need. This amount far surpassed the original internal fundraising goal of $2,500.
The largest GIVE event occurs each year at Windsor’s Operations Conference (Ops Con), which Mindi helps coordinate and oversee — and, of course, participate in. In preparation for the event, Mindi works with conference coordination leaders to select a local charity supporting one of GIVE’s pillars.
For this year’s event, they partnered with The Pack Shack, which helps coordinate meal-packing events, and in only two hours, their volunteer team of approximately 500 Windsor associates produced 175,000 meals, which were then donated to the Atlanta Food Bank and Metro Atlanta YMCA.
Now in its third year, Mindi has expanded the program nationwide and added regional chair positions, each tasked with implementing and executing 40 annual events. To ensure a smooth process in these new markets as the program expands, she facilitates meetings between the regional chairs and representatives from Ronald McDonald House Charities to review the partnerships and programs.
The program's impact has grown because of Mindi’s dedication and ingenuity.
Unexpected Impact
While the GIVE program increasingly impacts associates and residents, Mindi’s heart for service began long before she came to work for Windsor Communities. In fact, Mindi’s philanthropic journey began in 2000, when she began her career in property management at Post Properties, where she created Love Cures All. This community engagement program started as an annual partnership with Young Texans Against Cancer to raise funds through silent auctions, raffles, and other charitable events.
However, her experience walking the Avon Breast Cancer Event, a 60-mile walk from Baltimore to Washington, DC., in 2002, inspired her in ways she never imagined. In many ways, this particular walk was a personal “failure.” She hadn’t prepared properly for the distance, was not in the best physical shape, and after three days, she was experiencing tremendous pain.
What kept her going were not only the friends and family who had donated thousands of dollars for her to participate — coupled with her desire not to let them down — but also the many brave and inspiring people she met along the way.
Mindi says no one, including her parents, thought she would complete the walk. But she did, adding that “Not only did I walk every step of those 60 miles, it fueled the fire for me to use my creativity and leadership skills to make a difference on a larger scale.”
"Being surrounded by people who had survived breast cancer or were walking for those who did not survive gave me perspective. The temporary pain I endured was nothing in comparison to people who were undergoing treatment and fighting for their lives."
The Ripple Effect
From the time Mindi joined Windsor Communities in 2010 until now — rising through the ranks from property manager to her current role — she has honed her passion for community, spearheading many of the company’s current philanthropic efforts.
Mindi’s first charitable program, the Windsor Warrior Program, was the precursor to GIVE. Through the program, associates in Texas and Atlanta would participate in bachelor/bachelorette date auctions, benefitting Young Texans Against Cancer. Over the program’s 10-year run, she raised almost half a million dollars. It was a huge success.
Because the Windsor Warrior Program was so successful, Windsor’s leadership rebranded it as GIVE in 2022 and expanded it to the national community engagement program that exists today.
Mindi’s role in creating philanthropic opportunities for Windsor associates and residents alike has produced a ripple effect across the country, sparking excitement for making an impact in their local communities. Her dedication to this goal has made a lasting impact.
GIVE's charitable support not already mentioned includes:
- Solutions Wear
- MetroWest YMCA
- Land’s Sake Farm
- Animal Protection Center of SE Massachusetts
- Pickup4ACS – The American Cancer Society
- The Children’s Hospital of Colorado
- The Giving Table
- Dress for Success
- Colorado Coalition of the Homeless
- Hopeline: Back-to-School Drive
- The Salvation Army
- LifeLine Project
- Trusted World
- City of Charlotte
- Andrew and Walter Young Family YMCA
- Austin Farm Sanctuary
- Anti-Cruelty Society Shelter
- North Texas Food Bank
- Hunger Busters
- Dallas LIFE Shelter
- Feed My Starving Children
- Cultivate the City
- Kids Meals Inc, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina
- Community Food Bank of New Jersey
- Riverside Park Conservancy
- Hayward Shoreline of the San Francisco Bay
- Habitat for Humanity, Greenlake Park
Mindi’s efforts have not gone without notice, internally and externally. In 2023, Windsor received the Community Service Award from the Irving City Parks and Recreation Department for The Big Give. This volunteer event occurred at Windsor’s annual Ops Con in Irving, Texas, where 500 associates partnered with the NAACP’s Irving branch to provide more than 200 children with bikes, helmets, and backpacks. It was a fun community event for families.
Mindi Kissling’s dedication to creating a culture of giving within the multifamily industry is a testament to her heart for making an impact in the lives of others. Through her leadership of the GIVE program, she has inspired thousands of associates to make a positive impact in and around their communities.
"Start small; think big. One person can make a difference. Use your influence for good. Find something you are passionate about, create a plan, and engage others to bring the vision to life."
Start Small. Think Big.
That mindset inspired The Windsor Bear Care Program, now the GIVE A Bear Program. It’s a special program for Mindi because the idea came to her in a dream about one of her favorite childhood books, “Corduroy.” Her teddy bear brought her great comfort as a child, and she wanted to give that same comfort to children facing illnesses.
GIVE A Bear will expand this year from four to 17 markets nationwide in partnership with 15 Ronald McDonald House chapters. Windsor will raise funds at 150 communities to support the initiative and donate 850 teddy bears.
About Mindi
Mindi Kissling grew up in Pennsylvania, and thanks to her dad’s love of Philly sports, she is a diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan. Her sister is her best friend, and they text with their dad during every game. Mindi moved to Texas in 2009, currently in Friendswood. She and her fiancé, Robert, will be married on November 2 in Fredericksburg, Texas.
She and her soon-to-be husband enjoy listening to live country music, traveling, participating in 5K walks, and spending time at home watching their “embarrassingly large TV.” One day soon, she hopes to convince Robert that they need to adopt a Boxer.
Grace Hill’s Impact Hero Awards Program recognizes individuals who go above and beyond to help others and make a difference in their local community. Learn more.
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