Diana Latow Blank (born September 13,
Sep 18, 2015 1942)
retrieved October 18, 2014 is an American philanthropist who founded the Kendeda Fund. She is the former wife of

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., often referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportat ...

co-founder,

Arthur Blank Arthur Morris Blank (born September 27, 1942) is an American Businessperson, businessman. He is best known for being a co-founder of the home improvement retailer Home Depot, The Home Depot. Blank owns three professional sports teams based in At ...

Biography

Blank was raised in a middle class, Catholic family. After raising three children, she went back to school to study cultural anthropology and religion, graduating from Mount Holyoke at age 57. Blank founded the Kendeda Fund in 1993, and through it initially donated anonymously to various Georgia-based causes. This included $4 million to the

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing the sam ...

in the mid-1990s; and $20 million to

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) is a not-for-profit children's healthcare system located in the Atlanta area. It is dedicated to caring for infants, children, teens, and young adults age 0–21 throughout Georgia. Children's formed in 1 ...

to enable the purchase of

Hughes Spalding Children's Hospital Hughes may refer to: People * Hughes (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Hughes (surname), including a list of people with the surname Places Antarctica * Hughes Range (Antarctica), Ross Dependency * Mount Hughes ...

, a historically-black hospital in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, in 2006. In 2015, Blank was revealed as the person who provided a $30 million grant to

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

for the construction of what became known as The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design. The Living Building Challenge 3.0. project has been called the "most environmentally-sound building ever constructed in the Southeast." From 1993 through 2023, the Kendeda Fund donated more than $1 billion to support the dignity of individuals and the sustainability of communities. Through Kendeda, Blank made grants to hundreds of organizations, focusing on the issues of climate change, community wealth building, racial and economic equity, resource conservation, girls' rights, gun violence prevention, and veterans. Though she supported nonprofit organizations across the country and around the world, Blank's giving was concentrated heavily in Montana and Georgia. The name "Kendeda" comes from the names of Blank's three children, Kenny, Dena, and Danielle. Her daughter Dena Blank Kimball served as the executive director of the Kendeda Fund during its final ten years. The Kendeda Fund closed at the end of 2023, documenting Blank's 30-year philanthropic journey with a legacy website and podcast.

Personal life

She has three children with

(born 1942): Kenny Blank, Dena Blank Kimball, and Danielle Blank Thomsen; they divorced in 1993. Her son, Kenny Blank and his wife Nancy; and her daughter Dena and her husband Josh Kimball, serve as directors of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation.The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation: "Josh Kimball, Director"
retrieved February 5, 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blank, Diana 1942 births Living people American philanthropists