FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 16, 2005
Contact: Poonam Prasad
(212) 755-1309
PrasadC@aol.com

FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART HONORED AT LUNCHEON

Women in Development, New York Kicks Off Year-Long 25th Anniversary Celebration
With Woman of Achievement Award to Emily Kernan Rafferty

(NEW YORK) -- Citing women’s increasing rise to leadership positions in nonprofit organizations by advancement through the Development Department, the professional association Women in Development, New York (WID) will present its annual Woman of Achievement Award to Emily Kernan Rafferty, President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, at a luncheon today, Monday, May 16.

Women who have served as Directors of Development are now leading major cultural organizations as Executive Directors and Presidents. Notable examples include Jane Gullong, Executive Director, The New York City Opera; Katherine E. Brown, Executive Director, Jazz at Lincoln Center; Karen Hopkins, President, The Brooklyn Academy of Music; Marilyn Hoyt, President and Chief Operating Officer, New York Hall of Science and Jennifer Herring, President and Chief Executive Officer, Maritime Museum at Norwalk, Connecticut, all named to their positions in recent years. A similar trend is anticipated in other nonprofit sectors as well.

“Women in Development is particularly pleased to recognize Emily Kernan Rafferty’s commitment to Development and the cultural community,” said Brenna Sheenan Mayer, President of WID and Vice President for College Advancement, The College of New Rochelle. “She is a long-standing member of WID, from the days when it was still known as Women in Financial Development and by example and reputation is a positive role model for our members. Her appointment to this leadership position as President of one of the world’s preeminent museums is a breakthrough achievement for all women in development.”

WID will honor Ms. Rafferty at an award ceremony that will also launch WID’s year-long 25th Anniversary celebration. The event will be held at the Princeton Club on Monday, May 16th, 2005 at Noon and is sponsored by Raybin Associates, Inc.

Ms. Rafferty will be introduced by Shelby White, distinguished philanthropist and a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among other organizations. Ms. White, author of What Every Woman Should Know About Her Husband’s Money, will cite Ms. Rafferty’s achievements at the Museum. She noted, “Because several of WID’s past honorees are my good friends, I am thrilled that the President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be included among them. There are indeed few women more outstanding than Emily Kernan Rafferty.”

The Woman of Achievement Luncheon and the year-long celebration of WID’s 25th Anniversary recognize the past, present and future of this professional organization, as well as the central role of Development in the nonprofit sector. The next event will honor the founding members of WID and several women in the original founding group are expected at a commemorative celebration to be held on July 13, 2005 at New York University’s Kimmel Center. Three women who have broken through the glass ceiling and currently lead prominent nonprofit organizations will be recognized in February 2006 (names to be announced). Yet another remarkable woman who has worked in the Development field for the last three decades will be cited at a fourth and culminating event to be held in May 2006 (name to be announced).

About Women in Development, New York

Women in Development, New York (WID, www.widny.org) has a membership of about 650 professionals engaged in all aspects of fundraising, including: Grantwriting, Major Gifts, Planned Giving, Special Events, Membership and Communications. WID hosts monthly luncheons featuring speakers who are leaders in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. The association also sponsors periodic professional development workshops for its members, who are primarily from the tri-state area. Founded in 1980, WID’s five-pronged mission was formalized in 1985:
 
• To foster the professional growth of women in Development
• To provide a forum for peer support and informal information exchange;
• To encourage minority women, and women changing professions to enter our field of work;
• To educate/inform members about relevant issues; and
• To foster professional behavior in the total Development field.

WID was founded as Women in Financial Development (WIFD) in the fall of 1980 by Elizabeth “Betty” Becker, who, at the time served as the Development Director for the National YWCA. When Ms. Becker attended a meeting of a national council of fund raisers, she was dismayed to find that she was one of only two women attendees. As a result, Ms. Becker set in motion the movement that is now WID with seven founding members: Libby O’Connor, then Major Gifts Director at the YWCA, now at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Ruth Logan and Jeanette Kahlenberg, from the staff of the YWCA; Rae Tattenbaum, of American Women’s ORT; the late Sanky Perlowin, Vice President, Oram Associates (who later founded a direct mail consulting firm, Sanky Perlowin & Associates, still in operation); Kay Dayton, Foundation Director, at Boys’ Club; and Marguerite Gilpatric, Director of Resources, Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The enthusiasm at these informal get-togethers affirmed Betty Becker’s belief that women needed a forum to network and also to improve their status in Development.

WID’s Previous Women of Achievement

The first recipient of Women in Development’s Woman of Achievement Award was Elizabeth “Betty” Becker, then Development Director for the National YWCA, in 1987. At that time, the award was named the Sanky Perlowin Award, in honor of the late Founding Member of WID; the award was renamed in 1995. Past recipients are: Marguerite Gilpatric, Director of Resources, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (1988); Elizabeth “Liz” Hicks, then at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (1989); Penny Stoil, President of consulting firm  Projects Plus (1990); Betsy Gotbaum, then Commissioner of the City of New York’s Department of Parks and Recreation (1991); Lenore Parker, Executive Director of the New York City YWCA (1992); Jane Blumenfeld, then Development Director at Beth Israel Medical Center (1993); Marie Wilson, then President of the Ms. Foundation (1994); Sara Fagin, then Vice President of Development at Phoenix House (1995); Susan Webber Soros, Founder and Director of the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts (1996); Nicki Newman Tanner, UJA Federation of Jewish Philanthropies (1997); Eleanor Guggenheim, Founder of New York Women’s Agenda (1998); Naomi Levine, Senior Vice President for External Affairs at New York University (1999); Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell, Dean of the Tisch School of the Arts (2000); Elaine R. Jones, President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (2001); Madeline Lee, Chief Executive Officer, New York Foundation (2002); Dr. Sara E. Melendez, Independent Sector (2003); and Virginia P. Louloudes, Executive Director of the Alliance of Resident Theatres(A.R.T.)/New York (2004).

About Emily Kernan Rafferty
 
Emily Kernan Rafferty is President of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, a post she assumed in February 2005 after serving for six years as its Senior Vice President for External Affairs. As chief administrative officer for the nation’s largest and most comprehensive art museum, she is responsible for supervising more than 2,500 museum employees in such areas as development, membership, technology and information services, human resources, merchandising, communications, legal affairs, government relations, finance, security, and construction. She also serves as an ex officio member of the Museum’s Board of Trustees.
In her previous executive role in the area of External Affairs, she held responsibility for the strategic planning for and implementation of all of the institution’s development, membership, and fundraising activities, along with special events, admissions, and visitor services. She served also as a key member of the Museum’s executive management team, and liaison to the Board of Trustees External Affairs Committee. She led the effort to create and manage the Metropolitan’s web site, and to create and implement its multi-cultural audience and membership initiative.

Ms. Rafferty has served on the staff of The Metropolitan Museum since 1976. She began her twenty-eight-year career at the Met as an Administrator for Corporate, Foundation and Individual Fundraising, and then served as Manager of Development from 1981 through 1984. From 1984 through 1996 she was Vice President for Development and Membership. She was promoted to Senior Vice President for Development and Membership in 1996, then to Senior Vice President for External Affairs in 1999.

Born and raised in New York City, Ms. Rafferty earned her B. A. degree cum laude from Boston University.

A frequent speaker on topics related to non-profit management and fundraising, Ms. Rafferty has long been actively affiliated with a number of arts and inter-museum organizations. She has been a member since 1990 of ArtTable (board of directors 1991- 1994); a member of both the Association of Fundraising Professionals and Women in Development; and for ten years served on the development committee of the American Association of Museums. She currently serves also as the Metropolitan Museum representative (and member of the membership committee) of the group Independent Sector.

For more information, please contact Poonam Prasad, Chairperson, WID’s 25th Anniversary Celebration Committee, at 212-755-1309 or at Prasadc@aol.com. The WID Web site is www.widny.org.

Note to Editor: Photo available

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