Willoughby Award Background

Colleen Willoughby challenged the status quo of traditional philanthropy 25 years ago when she found it deeply troubling that women did not have an organized vehicle for using their own money — and they controlled plenty of it — to invest in their communities in ways that reflected the issues they cared about, and in ways that also reflected their collaborative style of leadership. 

Colleen's idea of collective giving grantmaking changed the face of philanthropy forever, not just in Seattle where it began with Washington Women’s Foundation, but across the country and the world. She inspired and mentored groups in New York, Boise, Ketchum, San Diego, Roanoke, Jacksonville, St Louis, Minneapolis, Austin, and Charlotte, and as far away as Shanghai and Melbourne.  She expanded the movement in 2009 by establishing Women’s Collective Giving Grantmakers Network (WCGN), now Philanos. 

The Willoughby Award is sponsored by Colleen S. Willoughby, and Past Philanos Board Member Dale Clifford, in honor of her mother Laura Egerton Lothrop.