For Maddie Craigen, philanthropy has been part of her DNA for as long as she can remember. In high school, she founded a nonprofit, put on fundraising events, and worked closely with public safety and youth in the community to build stronger relationships. Her senior year, she was honored with the Philanthropist of the Year award from the Yampa Valley Community Foundation.
“I grew up in a family-run luxury property management business, and like most 18-year-olds, I thought I knew everything and wanted nothing to do with what my parents were building,” she says. “So I went the complete opposite direction. I was pre-med in college, fell in love with the fast-paced environment of emergency medicine, graduated at the top of my paramedic class, worked at the largest level one trauma center in Phoenix, and then served as a Phoenix firefighter-paramedic before finding my way back to my roots. I always say I’ve had one foot in service and one in business, and these days I channel both across entrepreneurship in luxury concierge travel and philanthropy.”
Today, she runs Women in Philanthropy (WIP) alongside Madelyn Lydon. And here, she speaks with us about the organization, her favorite charities, restaurants, and luxury travel.
Instagram: @women.in.philanthropy
LinkedIn: Maddie Craigen; Women In Philanthropy | Arizona Chapter
Tell us about Women in Philanthropy.
Women in Philanthropy is a membership organization for professional women in the Phoenix area who are serious about giving back, growing, and surrounding themselves with other women who share those values. Our values are ‘Connect. Inspire. Impact.,’ and everything we build is designed around those three things.
What makes WIP different is the intentionality behind it. This is a curated community, not just a social circle. The women in this community are vetted, values-aligned, and genuinely invested in one another’s success and in the communities we serve. We’re intentional about who is in the room, because we believe the room matters. Being a part of WIP means being part of something that is actively shaping what philanthropy looks like for the next generation of women leaders in this Valley.
What inspired you and Madelyn Lydon to launch the organization?
When I left the fire department, one of the things I missed most was the built-in culture of service. In the fire service, giving back isn’t something you schedule around your life. It’s woven into the fabric of what you do every single day. You’re working alongside your community, in people’s homes, on their worst days, and there’s a sense of purpose in that that’s hard to replicate.
Getting into the business world, I found myself looking for that same sense of community and came up mostly empty. There are a lot of social groups in Phoenix, which I genuinely love about this city. But I kept noticing that truly professional women are different. We are deliberate with our time, selective with our circles, and we don’t show up to things that don’t mean something. I hadn’t found a space that respected that and was designed for us.
The concept of “show me your five closest people and I’ll show you your future” has always resonated with me deeply. Maddie and I came together around a shared belief that if you’re going to invest your time in a community, it should be one where the thing you have in common with every woman in the room is a commitment to giving back. Because the friendships you build around shared values of service are some of the most meaningful you’ll ever have. I’ve seen it firsthand through my involvement in the philanthropy community here, and it showed me the kind of people this world attracts. We built WIP to create more of that.
Women in Philanthropy focuses on both charitable impact and professional development. Why was it important to combine those two goals?
For me, those two things are inseparable. The women who actively choose to give their time to others are, in my experience, exactly the kind of people I want to be in business with, refer my network to, and build alongside. We share common values, and that’s the foundation of every great professional relationship.
What I’ve found is that bringing incredible women together around a shared purpose of service creates something remarkable as a byproduct. Intentional networking, professional development, and genuine business relationships become a natural outcome of the community rather than the point of the pitch. When you’re in a room full of women who are both professionally driven and deeply committed to giving back, the personal and professional growth that happens is almost inevitable. WIP is designed to give that a structure and an intentional home.
What organizations do you support and how do you choose who you support?
Three organizations I’m deeply passionate about, and that WIP is partnering with this year, are Aspiring Youth Academy, Amanda Hope Rainbow Angels, and Arizona Burn Foundation.
I got involved with Aspiring Youth Academy after attending one of their luncheons and learning about the impact they’re making in Title I schools, giving kids real-world education about business and entrepreneurship. This past spring, I had the privilege of spending a week as a counselor at their spring break camp, alongside my co-founder, Maddie Lydon. Watching these kids put together professional business pitches in four days, having conversations with 16-year-olds about business plans, EBITDA, and exit strategies, genuinely filled my cup in a way I wasn’t expecting. It is a remarkable organization. (Subtle brag—the “Maddie Cabin” of young women we had in our cabin won the award for best all-around business pitches, for the entire camp… girl power women in business!)
Amanda Hope Rainbow Angels found me at a time when I was getting deeply involved in the local philanthropy community. Hearing Lorraine Tallman share her story and what AHRA was built on, and the ways in which they work to ensure families going through some of the hardest times of their lives never feel alone, was profoundly moving. Getting to be in the room with some of the strongest kids I’ve ever seen and witness the community AHRA has built is something I carry with me.
Arizona Burn Foundation is personal in a different way. Coming from the fire service, I’ve seen firsthand the devastation of burn injuries and what it means for families to have an organization like ABF in their corner. Their mission is to improve the quality of life for burn survivors and their families in Arizona, and what moves me about that is the breadth of who they serve. Burn injuries don’t discriminate. They can happen to anyone, at any moment, completely without warning. And to have an organization that is not only dedicated to helping survivors heal but also committed to prevention, advocacy, and education in our communities is something I feel deeply connected to. What I find so powerful is that ABF doesn’t just show up in the acute moments. They are there for life. The journey from surviving to truly thriving doesn’t happen overnight, and ABF understands that better than anyone. Having witnessed that kind of trauma up close, I know how vital that commitment is and how vital ABF is to this Valley.
These are just three examples of the extraordinary organizations doing incredible work in this Valley. I could give you fifty more. That’s part of what makes WIP so exciting. We get to continue learning about, partnering with, and being a force multiplier for the nonprofits that are already doing the hard work.
What are some of the biggest goals you have for Women in Philanthropy over the next year?
Building a strong founding membership class is the foundation, and we’re actively recruiting right now. But beyond the membership, I want our events to be things people genuinely look forward to. We have a mahjong tournament in the works for this fall, a pickleball tournament, and we’re looking ahead to a golf tournament and a wellness event in the spring. These aren’t just fundraisers for the sake of it. They’re designed to be genuinely fun, financially meaningful, and reflective of who our members are.
One of my biggest priorities is making sure our members have real, hands-on volunteer experiences with the people and organizations we’re raising money for. I want every woman in this community to know the WHY behind the check before we ever write it. To have been in the room, on the ground, with the families and kids we’re supporting, so that when we do write that check at the end of the year, it carries the full weight of everything we’ve seen and experienced together. That’s what transforms giving from a transaction into something truly meaningful.
At the end of the year, I want to look back and say we showed this founding class what’s truly possible when a group of powerful women who share the same values walk into a room together.
When you’re not working on this organization, we’d find you…
Traveling, without question. Travel has been a part of my life since childhood. My parents built a luxury vacation rental company, both are accomplished sailors, and they are currently in the middle of a two-year sailing trip around the world. A lifelong dream of theirs. So when I’m not working, there’s a good chance I’m joining them somewhere beautiful and experiencing a new part of the world with my family.
Outside of that, I work professionally as a luxury concierge/travel agent, so “exploring the world” is genuinely part of the job description. My specialty is luxury yacht charters and exceptional villa vacations, which means my vetting process looks a lot like paradise. I also do some consulting in the vacation rental space in business development from my years in the industry.
And if I’m not somewhere on the water or in the air, I’m outside. I grew up in Colorado, so being outdoors is non-negotiable. Hiking Camelback, working out, or heading back to the mountains in any season. I believe in making the absolute most out of life, and that shows up in how I spend every hour I’m not working.
Favorite restaurants?
Christopher’s at Wrigley Mansion, Uchi, and Buck & Rider Camelback.
Something we’d be surprised to learn about you?
I spent several years as a Phoenix firefighter-paramedic and also worked at the largest and busiest level one trauma center in the city. Most people don’t connect those dots when they meet me, and I understand why. It’s hard to find two worlds further apart on the surface than firefighting and luxury travel. I call it my post-high school side quest. I knew I wanted to forge my own path before coming back to the family business, and emergency medicine gave me that.
What it also gave me was a perspective that I carry into everything I do. In the fire service, you are with people on their absolute worst days. In luxury travel and philanthropy, I get to be with people on some of their best. That contrast is something I never take for granted. It also gave me years of working hands-on in communities across Phoenix, South Phoenix, and West Phoenix, seeing where people need more support and where others are quietly showing up to provide it. That experience is a big part of why WIP feels so personal to me. I also like to say that anyone in entrepreneurship is really just a firefighter in a different format. You’re constantly putting out fires. I just changed the location.
How can people get involved with Women in Philanthropy?
Membership applications are open now through June 21 for professional women ages 21 to 45 in the Phoenix area. If you are serious about making an impact, building meaningful relationships, and being part of something truly special from the ground up, we want to hear from you. All membership information and the application can be found on our website under the membership page.
No matter where you’re starting from, my door is always open. Whether you want to learn more about membership, ask questions, or just grab a coffee and chat, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m always happy to connect personally, and so are our VP and board members. You can reach me directly at president@womeninphilanthropyaz.org and I would love to hear from you.
If membership isn’t the right fit, we’d still love to have you in our community. Head to our website and drop your email on our newsletter list. Anytime we’re hosting an event or activity, you’ll be the first to know. Our members are the heart of WIP, but the community they bring into our events is just as vital, and we would love to have anyone who shares a heart for service show up alongside us.
