MEMBER NEWS-Trickle Up co-founder Mildred Robbins Leet dies
Mildred Robbins Leet, the co-founder of poverty alleviation organization Trickle Up, died today. She was 88. Aside from a long list of honors in the humanitarian world, Leet carved a place in America’s history and stood on the speaker’s platform for Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963. She was also chosen along with Mother Teresa and Kenyan activist Wangari Maathai to receive the Women of the World Award from Princess Diana in 1989.
Leet devoted her life to helping the world’s most poor and vulnerable people and was chief executive of Trickle Up for over 20 years and board chair until 2006. She was Board Chair Emerita until her death.
A natural entrepreneur, she devoted her enormous energy and optimism to a wide range of organizations she helped found or lead, including InterAction, the U.S. Committee for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), United Cerebral Palsy and the Metropolitan College of New York.
With her husband Glen Leet, she started Trickle Up in 1979 on the belief that “nothing empowers an individual to achieve their dreams more than the trust and encouragement of another human being.” Run from the Leets’ basement for many years, the organization provided seed capital grants and training to help women start small enterprises as a way to increase their income and assets, gain skills and build confidence.
Trickle Up’s name was a sly riposte to the notion of “trickle down economics” – that the best way to help the poor was to provide tax breaks to the rich. Now in its fourth decade, Trickle Up has helped more than 200,000 people in dozens of countries to build sustainable livelihoods, improving the lives of over 1 million people.
In 1995, InterAction created the Mildred Robbins Leet Award to recognize her dedication to raising awareness on gender issues. Leet, who was born in 1922, was married to Louis J. Robbins from 1940 until his death in 1970 and to Glen Leet from 1974 until his death in 1998. She is survived by her daughters Jane Marla Robbins and Aileen Robbins; granddaughter Ariel Fantasia and a great-granddaughter, Sage Price Fantasia.
A memorial service will be held on Friday, May 6, at 11:45 am at Riverside Memorial Chapel, 76th St. and Amsterdam Avenue in New York. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Trickle Up and Metropolitan College of New York. Memories and condolences can be posted at www.mildredrobbinsleet.org, which also has additional information and photos from her remarkable life.
**Obituary information provided by Trickle Up.
