In a life dedicated to the service of others, you have led the Hattie M. Strong Foundation to take risks, funding projects that do not qualify for much, if any, other support. At the same time, you have provided effective leadership to so many educational and cultural organizations that, as the publication Foundation News has pointed out, you have now “long been known as a quiet force in Washington civic affairs.” Under your leadership, the foundation, established by your grandmother, lends half a million dollars interest-free each year to students across the country in their final year of college or graduate school. It also grants a quarter of a million dollars each year to educational programs in the D.C. area. These recently have included projects to improve cross-racial communication, to provide mentors and tutors for at-risk students, and to upgrade the teaching of math and science in public schools. Your exceptional leadership in education and the arts includes service on the boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the National Symphony, the D.C. Commission on Public Education and the Council on American Public Education. No wonder that the National Conference of Christians and Jews has honored your “outstanding contributions in improving human relations.” And no surprise that Foundation News has lauded the extraordinary degree to which your foundation is “deeply committed to personal contact and service,” maintaining close relationships with the people you have supported long after that help has launched them into lives as useful and caring citizens.
Megamenu Social