Georgia Wall, Co-Chair
Jennifer Mackesy, Co-Chair
Garrard Beeney
Kenneth Bryant
John Cecil
Sally Durdan
André Koester
Barbara Marcus
Richard Rothman
September 30, 2021
Dear Friends,
There is so much to celebrate during Graham’s 215th anniversary—the enduring values of our founding mothers including Eliza Hamilton, the continued evolution of New York City’s child welfare practices, and the generosity and comradery of the whole Graham family who makes our mission thrive.
Today we are delighted to share the wonderful news—that the Eliza Hamilton Legacy Campaign has exceeded its goal of raising $15M+ to ensure that Graham children, youth, and families succeed. We are thankful to everyone who made a gift to our Campaign.
We begin by acknowledging our visionary leader Jess Dannhauser, whose brilliant and compassionate tenure as Graham’s CEO comes to a bittersweet end on October 8th. We wish Jess well on his next endeavor and thank him profoundly for his boundless energy and relentless dedication to achieving the goals of this Campaign and of so many other ambitious projects that he led to fruition during his nearly 12 years of service to Graham. As he passes the torch to our new President & CEO, Kym Watson, he leaves Graham in a stronger, bolder position.
Funds from the Eliza Hamilton Legacy Campaign will help to scale signature practices such as the Graham SLAM mentorship program and fuel other breakthrough solutions to come under Kym’s leadership and with her dedicated team. The Campaign will also provide for safe, healing spaces, emergency support for basic needs, and long-range planning stability. On behalf of the 4,000 fellow New Yorkers whom Graham serves day in, day out, thank you all for your generous Campaign gift.
We’re also deeply grateful to Graham’s Board, staff, patrons, and volunteers who gave so generously of their time and support. We’d like to make special mention of those who shared their gifts of talent as well, such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, Phillipa Soo, and the cast of Hamilton who helped us launch the public phase of the Campaign just last spring with a special literary tribute to Eliza Hamilton whose legacy lives on in Graham.
As the season of autumn harvest begins, we think of Gwendolyn Brooks who reminds us all
that we are each other’s
harvest:
we are each other’s
business:
we are each other’s
magnitude and bond.
We are deeply grateful to all of you for being an integral part of this “magnitude and bond” that is Graham Windham.
Sincerely,
Georgia Wall
Chairman of the Board and
Co-Chair of the Eliza Hamilton Campaign Committee
Jennifer Mackesy
Vice-Chair of the Board and
Co-Chair of the Eliza Hamilton Campaign Committee
