Barbara Lee Family Foundation
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Barbara Fish Lee (born July 3, 1945) is an American philanthropist. She founded and led the Barbara Lee Family Foundation and the Barbara Lee Political Office, both located in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, Massachusetts until winding down in 2024. Major targets of Lee's donations include Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art and
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
's
2016 presidential campaign This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...
. In May 2014, the magazine ''Boston'' listed Lee among
Boston's Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...
Most Powerful Thought Leaders.


Early life

Barbara Fish was born on July 3, 1945, to Sidney and Ruth Fish. She was raised in a middle-class
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family in
West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from t ...
. Her father was a dentist and her mother a homemaker. In high school, she was a cheerleader and basketball player. Lee became a
Girl Scout A Scout, Boy Scout, Girl Scout or, in some countries, a Pathfinder is a participant in the Scout Movement, usually aged 10–18 years, who engage in learning scoutcraft and outdoor and other special interest activities. Some Scout organization ...
and ran for student government with the encouragement of her grandmother, a
suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...
that instilled her early interest in politics.


Education

Lee graduated from the all-women
Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University Simmons University (previously Simmons College) is a private university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1899 by ...
in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in Education and
French Literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...
. She earned her master's degree in
Social Work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...
from
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
. Since 2014, she has funded the Barbara Lee Fellowship for Simmons College students to intern with female legislators. In 2017, Simmons College recognized Lee's work with a lifetime achievement award.


Career

Through Barbara Lee's marriage to Thomas H. Lee and her subsequent divorce, she acquired significant wealth that led her to transition from working as a middle school
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
teacher to philanthropic roles. In the early 1980s, Lee was invited to the board of the
Jewish Community Center A Jewish Community Center or a Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is a general recreational, social, and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities. JCCs promote Jewish culture and heritage through holiday celebrations, ...
of Greater Boston by its treasurer, Steven Grossman. Following similar appointments to the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was found ...
, Institute of Contemporary Art, and Brandeis University's board of
women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...
, Lee decided to engage in strategic philanthropy to expand women's political leadership.


Campaign support

Lee chooses to support current and potential political candidates as well as artists who are women. While Lee receives some criticism for supporting only woman candidates, she insists that it is not a gender issue. She has contributed upwards of $2.5 million to various campaigns. Lee co-founded
the White House Project The White House Project was an American non-profit organization, which worked to increase female representation in American institutions, businesses, and government. Its main programs focused on female leadership and campaign training and the po ...
with
Laura Liswood Laura Ann Liswood (born March 8, 1950) is a speaker, author, and advisor focused on leadership and diversity in the women's community. She is Secretary General of the Council of Women World Leaders, which is composed of 72 women presidents, prime m ...
and Marie Wilson in 1998, creating magazine advertisements that promoted potential female presidential candidates, such as
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
and
Christine Todd Whitman Christine Temple Whitman (; born September 26, 1946) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush ...
. The organization contributed to Jennifer Granholm's success in the
2002 Michigan gubernatorial election The 2002 Michigan gubernatorial election was one of the 36 United States Governor#United States, gubernatorial 2002 United States gubernatorial elections, elections held on November 5, 2002. Incumbent Republican Party (United States), Republi ...
. Lee also established the Barbara Lee Family Foundation. The Foundation published its findings on the lack of success for women gubernatorial candidates and ways they could improve their image on the campaign trail in ''Keys to the Governor’s Office: The Guide for Women Running for Governor''. It aims to resolve the tough/soft dilemma of voters paradoxically viewing women candidates as both too aggressive and too delicate.


Art collection

Lee became interested in modern art after her father took her to the Museum of Modern Art's 50th anniversary exhibit of the
Armory Show The 1913 Armory Show, also known as the International Exhibition of Modern Art, was organized by thAssociation of American Painters and Sculptors It was the first large exhibition of modern art in America, as well as one of the many exhibition ...
. Additionally, Lee's mother-in-law, Mildred Schiff Lee, was an early collector of
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
,
Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954â ...
, and
Jasper Johns Jasper Johns (born May 15, 1930) is an American painter, sculptor, draftsman, and printmaker. Considered a central figure in the development of American postwar art, he has been variously associated with abstract expressionism, Neo-Dada, and ...
. Inspired by the Guerrilla Girls' protests about the lack of women's art in museums, Lee began donating to the Institute of Contemporary Art in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
to amass The Barbara Lee Collection of Art by Women.


Barbara Lee Family Foundation

Barbara Lee founded the Barbara Lee Family Foundation in 1998 to support
gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...
in politics. The Foundation's goal is to produce non-partisan research for women candidates, as compared to
EMILY's List EMILYs List is a left-leaning American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "E ...
, which only supports pro-choice Democrats. The Foundation was led by Barbara Lee alongside the executive director, Amanda Hunter. The Barbara Lee Family Foundation promotes the possibility of successful female presidential candidates by supporting women in lower political positions, such as national and state congressional races. It argues that women increase their perceived
self-efficacy In psychology, self-efficacy is an individual's belief in their capacity to act in the ways necessary to reach specific goals. The concept was originally proposed by the psychologist Albert Bandura in 1977. Self-efficacy affects every area of hum ...
to run for office when they see other women occupying political positions like governorships. In the 2016 election cycle, the Foundation was the 67th biggest contributor to federal candidates, parties, and
political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...
s (PACs) with $3.4 million in donations entirely spent on Democratic candidates. In November 2023, Lee announced that she would wind down the foundation's and her political office's work by the end of 2024. When operating, the political office helped elect more than 200 women across 37 states and supported the
Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign On April 25, 2019, former vice president Joe Biden released a video announcing his candidacy in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. On November 3, 2020, Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, defeated incumbent Republican p ...
to elect
Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...
as the first women vice president. It directly contributed $2 million to over 400 women candidates and separately contributed over $2 million to PACs to support the
Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign In 2016, Hillary Clinton ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States. Clinton ran as the Democratic Party's candidate for president, in which she became the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political pa ...
.


Personal life

Barbara Lee was married to investor Thomas H. Lee from 1968 to 1995. Thomas Lee amassed a significant net worth through his
private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...
investment firm,
Thomas H. Lee Partners Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. is an American private equity firm headquartered in Boston. The firm focuses on investing in middle market growth companies across various sectors, including financial technology, services, healthcare, technology, ...
. The couple had two sons, Zach (born 1971) and Robbie Lee. Lee foreshadowed her own future activism when she gifted all the women at her son Zach's first birthday with copies of the first
Ms. magazine ''Ms.'' is an American feminist magazine co-founded in 1971 by journalist and social/political activist Gloria Steinem. It was the first national American feminist magazine. The original editors were Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, Pat Carbine ...
, founded by
Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...
and Dorothy Pitman Hughes. Barbara Lee originally filed for divorce from her husband in 1987 but ended the petition two years later. Following her husband's 1993 affair with Laura Goldman, Barbara divorced Thomas Lee in 1995, leaving her with half of their combined personal wealth (approximately $210 million).


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Barbara F. American women philanthropists 1945 births Living people 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American Jews Simmons University alumni People from West Orange, New Jersey Philanthropists from New Jersey 20th-century American philanthropists 21st-century American philanthropists