This Atlanta woman wants to give away $1.2 billion by 2024

2022-05-31

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Recently I wrote about the richest person in Atlanta, Bernie Marcus, who has promised to give most of his fortune away. But there is another person in Atlanta who is just as generous.

Diana Blank is one of Atlanta's biggest philanthropists. Let's take a quick look at her story.

The Atlanta philanthropist

Diana is the former wife of Arthur Blank. Arthur is the co-founder of Home Depot and also the owner of the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League and Atlanta United in Major League Soccer.

When they divorced in 1993, Diana decided to focus on philanthropy by creating the Kendeda Fund- named after her three children. Dian is the sole source of funds for Kendeda.

The Kendeda Fund offers grants focused on Atlanta and Montana that prioritize "issues of equity, livability and improved connections to the natural environment." They also have a gun violence prevention program and a veterans program.

Since 1993 the fund has awarded over $900 million in grants.

Some of the grants include:

  • $4 million to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
  • $20 million to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
  • $30 million grant to Georgia Tech for their Living Building Challenge 3.0

It is worth that Diana Blank made all her donations anonymously and was only revealed to be the generous donor after an interview in 2015 with the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Giving it all away

Many philanthropists make the promise to give away their fortune but fail to follow through on this promise.

But Diane Blank isn't like most other philanthropists. Instead, she is determined to give away as much as possible in her lifetime. To that end, the Kedenda Fund will distribute all its funds and assets by the end of 2023.

They anticipate donating another $300,000, which would take the total amount of grants distributed by the fund to more than $1.2 billion.

We give away between $40 million and $50 million a year. A billion dollars? That’s a lot of money. You just hope you are supporting initiatives that have value.” Diana Blank

Readers, what do you think of Diana Blank's charitable efforts? And what Atlanta organizations would you like to see her support as she donates the rest of her wealth by the end of 2023?

Please leave your comments below.

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