At its first Tribute to Philanthropy, the Denver Foundation presented awards to three women who have made a difference in their respective communities.
Phyllis Bigpond of the Denver Indian Family Resource Center was given the Swanee Hunt Individual Leadership Award; East High School senior Shonetta Henry received the Swanee Hunt Youth Leadership Award for her service to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver; and Anne Byrne accepted the Judith M. Kaufmann Civic Entrepreneurship Award that recognized her work with Summer Scholars.
The celebration was held at Cableland and was attended by foundation donors, board members and staff.
Chief executive officer David Miller shared that the foundation will award more than $40 million in grants this year, up from the record $37 million in 2006. The Denver Foundation is the region’s oldest community foundation; it was established in 1925.
The money it distributes, Miller explained, comes from individuals wishing to maximize their charitable giving options by taking advantage of expertise provided by foundation staffers.
“The vast majority of gifts to the Denver Foundation result from referrals by professional advisers,” says Leslie Karotkin, manager of adviser programs and senior philanthropic planner. “They play a very important role in helping their clients make important decisions about philanthropy.”
To say thank you, the foundation gave its 2007 Philanthropic Leadership Awards to Donald Burkhardt, whose law practice focuses on estate and trust planning and charitable gift planning; Jason Maples, co-founder of Strategic Financial Partners; and Elmer C. Jackson Jr., president of Jackson Ashby Goldstine.
“They exemplify our mission of inspiring people and mobilizing resources to strengthen the community,” adds Betsy Mangone, vice president of the Denver Foundation’s philanthropic services group.
All three are active in the community. Burkhardt is a trustee of the Colorado Historical Foundation and member of Denver Rotary; Maples is a gold-level member of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and participates in Leadership Denver. Jackson is treasurer of the Foundation for the Denver Performing Arts Complex and is a past president of Denver chapters of the National Association of Black Accountants and the Morehouse College Alumni Association.
Denver Debutante Ball The 2007 Denver Debutante Ball takes place Saturday night at the Brown Palace Hotel; 33 young ladies will be presented. Most are in their freshman year of college, although a couple are enjoying “gap years” that are taking them to the far corners of the world.
Sydney Marguerite Paez Duncan, for example, will be home from Spain, where she’s studying language and culture and working on a community service project in Barcelona. Emily Lord Mandelson, meanwhile, is using her year to perform community service in Thailand and India.
Society editor Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also,
