This month, in honor of Women’s History month, we are celebrating the remarkable women of The Community Foundation who’ve helped shape our history. Many were First Ladies to the President of the United States—a special, historical relationship we’ve nurtured through the years. Here are a few of their stories.
Rosalynn Carter’s Precedent of Support
In 1978, First Lady Rosalynn Carter left Camp David during President Jimmy Carter’s 13-day peace summit, which helped to broker the first-ever peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. Mrs. Carter went back to the White House to host a luncheon for business leaders to rally support for the Community Foundation of Greater Washington–then just five years old. She gained support of many corporate and philanthropic leaders, including the Ford Foundation, that set a precedent for our early organization to grow into a champion of thriving communities today.
In 2019, Danielle Yates, our Managing Director of Marketing and Communications, got the chance to meet Mrs. Carter and former President Jimmy Carter at their church in Georgia (pictured left).
Barbara Bush’s Literacy Legacy
While former First Lady Barbara Bush had many passions, none was more personally identified with her than teaching children and their parents to read. Aware of The Community Foundation’s successful record of managing charitable funds for other national figures, in 1989, Mrs. Bush asked us to help establish her literacy organization.
The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy aimed to establish literacy as a value in every family in America; and, help families understand that the home is the child’s first school, with the parent as the child’s first teacher and reading as their first subject. In total, the Foundation awarded more than $40 million in grants to support the development and expansion of more than 900 literacy programs in 50 states and the District of Columbia.
While The Community Foundation is no longer home to the Barbara Bush Foundation (the Fund closed in 2011), Mrs. Bush’s legacy lives on. You can find more information at www.barbarabushlegacy.org.
The Laura Bush Foundation for American Libraries
In 2001, Laura Bush helped continue and expand the family’s literacy legacy by establishing the Laura Bush Foundation for American Libraries at The Community Foundation. A former teacher and librarian, Mrs. Bush has long championed the importance of reading as the foundation of all learning.
The Foundation helps students in our nation’s neediest schools by awarding grants to school libraries in an effort to improve student achievement. Funds support these libraries in extending, updating, and diversifying their book and print collections.
The Laura Bush Foundation transitioned to Dallas, Texas in 2014, where it is now managed as a restricted fund of the George W. Bush Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.
In 2007, we celebrated Mrs. Bush as our Civic Spirit honoree, an award which recognizes a community member who embodies the spirit of philanthropy.