Getting Organized

It was the summer of 1984 when philanthropist and scholar Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt, community leader Maura McNeil, and the Honorable Harryette Ehrhardt, then serving on the Dallas City Council, gathered a group of women in Harryette’s home on Swiss Avenue.

Harryette remembers with a laugh,
“It was all Helen’s idea, really. The idea of starting a women’s foundation was just a foreign concept to the rest of us. You might as well have told us we were meeting to launch a rocket to the moon!”

Helen shares how the idea first took root:
“After learning that I’d be receiving funding from Hunt Oil Company and recognizing the responsibility I was inheriting to improve the lives of others, I attended a conference hosted by the Council on Foundations. It was there that I learned what the San Francisco Women’s Foundation was doing. I decided to invite the Founder and Executive Director, Tracy Gary, to Dallas to meet with us.”

And what a meeting it was!

The women who gathered that day were intentionally diverse—invited one-by-one by Helen and Harryette. Some held influence and resources; others brought a deep understanding of the gaps within their communities. What they shared was clear: disappointment in the historic underinvestment in women and girls, and a belief that collective philanthropy could change it.

“It was remarkable, really,” recalls Harryette. “In many ways, we had no idea what we were embarking on, but we kept meeting and talking – gradually putting the pieces together for what would become the Dallas Women’s Foundation and today, Texas Women’s Foundation. It was an honor to be in the room where it happened.”

From Vision to Foundation

By the fall of 1985, that vision had become reality. The Dallas Women’s Foundation was officially established and began operating under its first Executive Director, Pat Sabin.

Pat remembers those early days vividly:
“It was September 1, 1985, and following little more than a year of discussion and planning, I went to work to help improve the lives of women and girls.”

One of her first acts was to document how it all began. She titled the record simply:

“History – Dallas Women’s Foundation,” and it reads as follows:

In August of 1984, Helen Hunt Hendrix, Harryette Ehrhardt and Maura McNeil called together a group of about 20 women from a variety of areas of activity to discuss the idea of starting a women’s foundation in Dallas. Also present was Tracy Gary, founder of the successful San Francisco Women’s Foundation. The interest and enthusiasm generated at that first meeting led 18 of the women present to agree to meet on a monthly basis to explore the needs and the idea further.

From September of 1984 until March of 1985, the 11 Convening Committee met regularly, sometimes with various experts, to discuss the possibilities of starting a foundation. A brief needs assessment survey conducted in the fall of 1984 among women’s organizations showed a solid belief that another source of funds for projects for women and girls would be very helpful. Child care, pay equity, domestic violence, and housing were most often mentioned as unmet needs on the survey. Work was begun on a statement of purpose and goals, also.

In March of 1985, the Convening Committee decided that a larger group of people should be assembled to hear about the idea of a women’s foundation and to share information. A luncheon was held in late April of 1985 at D’ ART. Sixty-five women attended and generally expressed overwhelming support for the idea. Subsequent to that meeting, committees were formed to continue the work of organizing the foundation. The Convening Committee and the committee chairs served as an interim Board during the summer of 1985.

The summer of 1985 saw great progress on many fronts:

1. a board was put together which represented a wide variety of community interests;
2. an executive director was hired;
3. the foundation was legally incorporated and 50l(c)(3) status was filed for;
4. the grants committee began work on funding policies and criteria;
5. the P.R. committee developed a logo/letterhead and began strategies for raising community awareness;
6. the development committee raised over $60;000 (in a 2-month period) toward a goal of $100,000 in start-up funds;
7. a search was begun for office space and equipment; and
8. plans were begun for a January 1986 “event”.

As of September 1985, the Dallas Women’s Foundation has come a very long way in 12 short months. We have had a good beginning and look forward to accomplishing a great deal more in the months and years ahead.

Building a Legacy

The original Convening Committee included trailblazers such as Susan S. Bagwell, Gerry Beer, Oeita Bottorf, Vivian Castleberry, Harryette Ehrhardt, Dr. Catalina Hope Garcia, Frances Griffin-Brown, Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt (Hendrix), Madeline Mandell, Joy Mankoff, Maura McNeil, Patricia Meadows, Carmen Michael, Gwendolyn Oliver, Louise Raggio, CoYoTe PhoeNix (Alice Reynolds-Tatum), Becky Russell Sykes, and Virgina “Ginny” Whitehill.

Fueled by purpose and conviction, this group laid the foundation for what would become one of the most influential women’s funds in the nation.

Today, their work endures in the Texas Women’s Foundation—which has invested nearly $115 million in support of the 14.7 million women and girls who call Texas home.

Pat reflects on that legacy:
“It’s really amazing as I look back on those early days. We knew what we were doing was necessary and important, but I’m not sure we understood its full impact. By empowering women’s philanthropy, we were putting a new face on feminism. And by focusing on financial literacy, we were ensuring women’s economic security and independence. I’m so proud of the work we accomplished and honored to have been a part of it.”