Helen LaKelly Hunt saw a major unmet need – the absence of funding programs and opportunities to help women – and chose to use her personal resources and energy to create positive change.
Hunt has made her primary work the establishment of women’s rights as human rights as a principal of grantmaking. In 1981 she became president of the Hunt Alternatives Fund and in 1984 co-founded the National Network of Women’s Funds, an organization created to unify the women’s giving and funding communities.
In 1985 she founded the New York Women’s Foundation and in 1987 she helped found the Dallas Women’s Foundation. In 1992, Hunt became president of The Sister Fund, dedicated to the social, political, economic, and spiritual empowerment of women and girls.
Hunt’s belief that women know best how to launch programs and meet needs in their own communities has been ratified by the success of many programs. She is a powerful example to a woman pioneering new ways to lead and transform society for women’s growth and success.
