Diana Barrett
{{Short description|President and founder of the Fledgling Fund}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Diana Barrett
|image =
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|birth_name = Diana Herran
|birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|30|1975|9|7}}{{cite news |last1=Trausch |first1=Susan |title=Boss woman—with few rules |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/436564385 |work=Boston Globe |date=7 September 1975 |pages=67,69}}
|birth_place = Mexico
|nationality = American
|education = Harvard Business School
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|spouse = {{marriage|Bob Vila|1975}}
|website =
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Diana Barrett (born 1944 or 1945) is an American philanthropist and former business professor. She is married to television host Bob Vila.
Personal life
Barrett was born in 1944 or 1945 in Mexico, as Diana Herran. As an infant, she was infected with polio and therefore unable to walk until she was six; she continued to wear braces until she was a teenager. Her family is Hispanic and wealthy (her stepfather was an investment banker in New York).
Barrett attended Sweet Briar College in the 1960s, and Harvard in the 1970s.{{cite book |title=Alumnae Directory of Sweet Briar College |date=1985 |publisher=Sweet Briar College Alumnae Association |url=https://archive.org/stream/alumnaedirectory1985unse/alumnaedirectory1985unse_djvu.txt |access-date=29 May 2023}} After divorcing her first husband, she decided to choose a new surname, and picked Barrett from a New York City phone directory.
She met Bob Vila in the mid 1970s and the two became business partners, consulting on renovating old homes. The couple married in October 1975, and have a son and two daughters.{{cite news |last1=Gobb |first1=Nathan |title=Deconstructing Bob Vila |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/309537001 |work=The Times |agency=Boston Globe |date=17 October 1998 |location=Munster, Indiana |page=21}}{{cite book |title=Who's who in Entertainment |date=1989 |publisher=Marquis Who's Who |isbn=978-0-8379-1850-1 |page=660 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58BkAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}
Career
Barrett is the president and founder of the Fledgling Fund,{{cite magazine |title= Five Fascinating Philanthropists |last= Slatalla |first= Michelle |magazine= Barron's |volume= 91 |issue= 49 |date= December 5, 2011 |pages= 22–24, 26 |url=http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748704854004577052601132573024.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107061322/http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748704854004577052601132573024.html |archive-date=7 January 2012}} a philanthropic organization that supports documentary films that have a social impact.{{cite web |url= https://www.desktop-documentaries.com/fledgling-fund.html |title= A Funder's Perspective: The Fledgling Fund: The Path To Documentary Funding }} She founded the organization in 2005 with money from her father, investment banker Joseph King (1902–1980).{{cite web |last1=Cole |first1=Sean |title=The realities—and pitfalls—of giving away money |url=https://www.marketplace.org/2013/12/10/realities-and-pitfalls-giving-away-money/ |website=Marketplace (radio program){{!}}Marketplace |publisher=Minnesota Public Radio |access-date=29 May 2023 |date=10 December 2013}}{{cite news |last1=Sjostrom |first1=Jan |title=Fund aims 'to connect audiences to action' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/164142766 |work=Palm Beach Daily News |date=15 Feb 2014 |pages=A1,A6 |language=en}} Recipients of grants from the fund have won four Emmy Awards and four Academy Awards.
She is also a member of the Peabody Awards{{cite web|url=http://www.peabodyawards.com/about|title=Who We Are|accessdate=November 22, 2019|publisher=Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication}} board of directors, which is presented by the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. For her work supporting documentaries and educational campaigns on social issues, and her continued work as a senior citizen herself, Barrett was a 2009 encore.org Purpose Prize fellow.
Prior to moving into philanthropy, she had been a faculty-member at Harvard University for 25 years,{{cite web |url=https://encore.org/purpose-prize/diana-barrett/ |title=Diana Barrett |website=encore.org |access-date=29 May 2023}} teaching classes in the Business School and School of Public Health.{{cite web |url=http://www.thefledglingfund.org/who-we-are/ |title=Who We Are |publisher=The Fledgling Fund }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.thefledglingfund.org The Fledgling Fund]
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Category:American women philanthropists
Category:Hispanic and Latino American academics
Category:Harvard Business School alumni
Category:Harvard Business School faculty