INDIANAPOLIS—Philanthropist and activist Barbara Dobkin of New York, N.Y., will receive the Shaw-Hardy Taylor Achievement Award from the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
Dobkin’s selection honors her 30 years as a national leader in advancing women’s philanthropy. The award will be presented during the Center on Philanthropy’s 2011 symposium, Women World Wide Leading through Philanthropy, on Friday, March 11 in Chicago. The Shaw-Hardy Taylor Achievement Award recognizes philanthropists, nonprofit leaders, volunteers, change agents, fundraisers and researchers who have moved women's philanthropy forward and have demonstrated significant impact on the field.
A pioneering advocate for and funder of women’s advancement and leadership, Dobkin helped initiate the Women Moving Millions campaign and has been instrumental in its success. The campaign has raised more than $180 million in gifts of $1 million or more for women’s foundations and women’s funds around the world. She has served on the boards of and supported many of the leading women’s philanthropy organizations in the United States, including the Women Donors Network, the Women’s Funding Network, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Women’s Sports Foundation and the White House Project. She is a frequent national speaker on women’s philanthropy and leadership.
“The Women’s Philanthropy Institute is pleased to honor Barbara Dobkin for her visionary leadership,” said Debra Mesch, director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute. “She challenges the status quo, focuses on systemic change and provides the resources to enable organizations to turn dreams into reality. Barbara is a teacher, mentor and role model for other women who wish to lead through philanthropy in communities across the globe.”
Dobkin’s philanthropic leadership encompasses a wide range of Jewish, women’s, gay and lesbian, political, international and other causes. She served as the founding chair of the Jewish Women’s Archive and Ma’yan, the Jewish Women’s Project of the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. Dobkin helped establish the nonprofit organization Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community. Currently, she serves as chair of American Jewish World Service, an international humanitarian aid agency.
The Shaw-Hardy Taylor Achievement Award is named for Sondra Shaw-Hardy and Martha Taylor, who saw the power and potential of women’s involvement in philanthropy long before it became a recognized trend. They founded an organization to advance women’s philanthropy, which evolved into the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, now a part of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University. Shaw-Hardy and Taylor were the first recipients of the award in 2008.
About the Women’s Philanthropy Institute
The Women’s Philanthropy Institute furthers the understanding of women’s philanthropy through research, education and knowledge dissemination. By addressing significant and groundbreaking research questions and translating that research into increased understanding and improvements in practice, WPI helps to leverage new and expanded resources for the common good.
About the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University
The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University is a leading academic center dedicated to increasing the understanding of philanthropy and improving its practice worldwide through research, teaching, training and public affairs programs in philanthropy, fundraising, and management of nonprofit organizations. A part of the Indiana University School of Liberal Arts at IU Indianapolis, the Center operates programs on the IU Indianapolis and IU Bloomington campuses.