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October 19, 2022
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SUMMARY
When awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, Lynn and Stacy Schusterman reflected on the origins of their family’s giving, their commitment to Jewish values, and the urgency to ensure all people can access the full opportunity to realize their full potential.
On October 13, Lynn Schusterman, Co-founder and Chair Emerita of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, and Stacy Schusterman, Chair, were honored alongside Dolly Parton, Lyda Hill and Manu Chandaria with the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. The award seeks to inspire a culture of giving by elevating the importance and relevance of philanthropy in our society.
For the Schustermans, this honor marks 35 years and over $2 billion of giving. Today, Schusterman Family Philanthropies works to advance racial, gender and economic equity in the U.S. through investments in education, gender and reproductive equity, democracy and voting rights, criminal justice, and our hometown of Tulsa, OK. We are also deepening the work we have done for more than three decades to shape joyful, diverse Jewish communities and to strengthen Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people, a thriving democracy and an inclusive society.
Below are the remarks Lynn and Stacy shared at the award ceremony.
Lynn and Stacy speaking at the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy award ceremony
Lynn's Remarks
It is an honor for me to be here tonight. I never imagined at the age of 83 and three-fourths (those three-fourths birthdays are very important in my family!), 35 years after my late husband, Charles, and I began our family foundation, I would be standing here tonight, with my daughter, Stacy, receiving the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.
Our family’s philanthropy has always been informed by our Jewish values. The word “charity” is loosely translated to Hebrew as tzedakah. But the root of the word is really tzedek—justice, justice, justice. And that is what philanthropy means to me.
I learned about the importance of giving back from my father. He would always tell us, “Each of us is worth only what we are willing to give to others.”
Charlie and I brought these same values into our home that we built together.
Our family foundation was started in 1987. Not long after, Charlie was given a terminal diagnosis of cancer. So, it was very important to us to give back while he was still living.
Thirteen years later, after Charlie passed away, I was called on to lead our family foundation forward. It was not easy. People publicly criticized. A newspaper article was written about me. People questioned whether I—as a woman—could break into the very male-dominated world of philanthropy.
Despite the challenges, my heart and mind led the way. I had incredible role models, I hired talented professionals—some of whom are here with me tonight—and I found that I could, indeed, lead.
I am so fortunate to see this legacy continue. To see more women leading the way like many of the honorees tonight—including the one standing here next to me! And I’m very fortunate two of my five granddaughters are here tonight.
We each have a capacity to make a difference. We can and we must do our part to repair this world.
As my father taught me so long ago, we each have a capacity to make a difference. We can and we must do our part to repair this world. And it will take each and every one of us to do our part to build this world that we want to leave for our children and grandchildren.
I’m very honored. Thank you for this special honor.
Stacy's Remarks
I am grateful to be here tonight with my mother as the first mother-daughter recipient of this award.
And I feel my father’s presence with us. Without his brilliance and hard work and passion for everything in life, we would not be standing here today.
I stand here feeling inspired and also with a great sense of urgency.
I am inspired because the people honored tonight embody the critical role philanthropy can play in addressing societal challenges. The honorees also reflect the significant and growing impact women philanthropists are modeling in more collaborative ways and growing what we want to see value-wise in the world.
But I feel a sense of urgency as well. The U.S. was founded with ideals, the expression of which we have yet to realize.
When we say, “all men are created equal,” it is clear “men” does not yet mean all Americans, including women, gender expansive people, and all ethnicities, races and religions.
And when we say, “we all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” we do not yet agree on to how access to those should be available to all.
The past few years have exposed the magnitude and the gap between our different visions for the future. The urgency before us, for the sake of our democracy, is to define a shared vision of how we will live up to our ideals.
Our philanthropy subscribes to the vision articulated by Heather McGhee In her book, The Sum of Us, which recognizes we all do better when we help not just ourselves, but each other access the full opportunity to realize our full potential.
To achieve this, we need to ensure that all children have access to a quality education. We need all people—especially women—to have freedom and control over their bodies as well as fair wages and benefits. We need to keep communities safe instead of relying almost entirely on incarceration. And we need free and fair elections to ensure everyone’s voice and vote counts.
Only when we work toward securing these rights for everyone will individuals, communities and economies thrive.
The urgency before us, for the sake of our democracy, is to define a shared vision of how we will live up to our ideals.
Philanthropy alone cannot solve these problems. But we do have a huge responsibility to be a partner at the table. To work in partnership with the people and communities most impacted. To take risks. To help find solutions. If we choose to act boldly with respect for all humankind, we can be better together.
Thank you, Carnegie for this award and thank you all for being here tonight.
GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT: Each honoree selected a grantee to appear in a video profile that reflects a facet of the work they fund. The Schustermans chose to highlight the Collaborative for Gender and Reproductive Equity, which funds game-changing investments that protect and advance gender and reproductive equity in the U.S.
