Margery Tabankin, 1965
Director of VISTA and other major foundations and groups.
Margery Tabankin has had a 50-year career in Public Service. Her experiences span executive leadership roles in government, philanthropy, non-profit organizations, and public policy. Whether as advocate, activist, policy analyst, organizer or documentary film producer, social justice has been the consistent through line of her work.
Focus areas: Income Inequality, Democratic Values, Racial Justice, Civil Rights & Liberties, Environmental Quality, Peace and Co-existence, International Human Rights, Women's Rights and connecting Arts, Entertainment and Politics.
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:
MARGERY TABANKIN & ASSOCIATES: 1987 to 2014 Santa Monica, CA. President of Margery Tabankin & Associates - A boutique consulting firm advising high net worth clients on philanthropy, public policy and political participation. Clients included (among others) as follows:
THE STREISAND FOUNDATION and Ms. Streisand personally from 1987 to 2014: Grant making focus: Environmental Quality, Civic Engagement, Women's Rights, Income Inequality, Civil Rights and Peace and Co-existence.
THE RIGHTEOUS PERSON'S FOUNDATION. 1994 to 2014. (Named in honor of the non-Jews that saved Jews during the Holocaust). A new foundation created by Mr. Spielberg to disperse his profits from the film Schindler's List. Grant making focus: Contemporary Jewish Life, Holocaust Remembrance, and Civil and Human Rights.
THE ABRAMS-MCGRATH FAMILY FOUNDATION & Mr. Abrams and Ms. McGrath personally. A new foundation created by writer, director, producer JJ Abrams & wife and business partner Katie McGrath.
Program emphasis: Civic participation and voting rights, income inequality, children's rights, investigative journalism, civil rights and bridging the racial divide.
CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER (CSMC): 2014 to present
Strategic advisor to the hospital's Women's Heart Center and the Woman’s Heart Alliance. The Women’s Heart Center provides cutting edge healthcare to women with heart disease, develops innovative research leading to new treatments, trains Cardiology Fellows and runs citywide education programs.
Strategic advisor to the hospital's Women's Heart Center and the Woman’s Heart Alliance. The Women’s Heart Center provides cutting edge healthcare to women with heart disease, develops innovative research leading to new treatments, trains Cardiology Fellows and runs citywide education programs.
THE HOLLYWOOD WOMEN'S POLITICAL COMMITTEE: 1988 to 1994 - Los Angeles, CA. Executive Director of the Hollywood Women's Political Committee (HWPC) a Political Action Committee (PAC) and its sister nonprofit organization, the Hollywood Policy Center. Priority issues: Income Inequality, Human Rights, Reproductive Choice, Campaign Finance Reform, Environmental Quality, Civil Rights and International Human Rights.
THE ARCA FOUNDATION: 1981 to 1987 - Washington, DC.
Executive Director of the Arca Foundation, a private foundation.
Foundation grants focused on Democratic Values & Citizen Engagement, Environmental Quality, Civil Rights, International Human Rights and organizing at risk communities to empower poor and working Americans.
VOLUNTEERS IN SERVICE TO AMERICA (VISTA): 1977 to 1981 - Washington, DC. Appointed by President Carter, Director of VISTA & National Service Learning Programs. Led federal anti-poverty program with an annual budget of $60 million supporting 5,000 VISTA volunteers. Volunteers committed to a full year of service in underserved communities in all 50 states.
THE YOUTH PROJECT: 1972 to 1976 - Washington, DC. Executive Director, The Youth Project, an organization dedicated to funding young organizers in communities throughout the United States working to create social change.
NATIONAL STUDENT ASSOCIATION: 1971 to 1972 - Washington, DC.
First female elected President of the National Student Association, an organization composed of student government leaders from colleges and universities throughout the U.S. Primary focus: Ending the United States participation in the Vietnam War.
YOUTH CITIZENSHIP FUND: 1970 to 1971 - Washington, DC. Staff at the Youth Citizenship Fund (a project of Common Cause). Worked on successful national campaign to lower the legal voting age from 21 to 18 by passing the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution.
INDUSTRIAL AREAS FOUNDATION (IAF): 1969 to 1970 - Chicago, IL. Fellow at the Industrial Areas Foundation. Established by Saul Alinsky, America's most recognized community organizer. IAF was a full-time school with rigorous curriculum in the practice, methodology and sociology of organizing people to collectively leverage their power.
CURRENTLY:
Retirement with part-time consulting, 2015 to present, with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for both their local and national work on Women's Cardiovascular Disease.
HUMAN RIGHTS DELEGATIONS:
1982 to present. Participated in delegations to: Vietnam, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Cuba and Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
DOCUMENTARY PRODUCER:
"Village by Village," a 1972 documentary showing life in Vietnam during its War with America. "Heart Strings," Peter, Paul & Mary in Central America, the trio's journey to Central America. "We Are Wisconsin," illuminating a major statewide struggle between Republican state lawmakers and a growing discontented population.
CIVIC AWARDS:
Citizenship Award: Conference of Mayors 1978. Philanthropist of the Year: Midwest Academy 1984. Activist Award: Constitutional Rights Center CA 1989. Lifetime Achievement Award: American Civil Liberties Union Los Angeles, CA 1998. Citizen Activist Award: Consumer Rights Foundation 2010.
EDUCATION:
Weequahic High School, Newark, NJ - Class of 1965. University of Wisconsin, Bachelor's Degree Political Science 1969. Fellowship: Institute of Politics, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University 1990
Honorary Doctorate of Letters, Fairleigh Dickinson University.