News Release
March 10, 2003
Lumina Foundation names vice president for program development
INDIANAPOLIS — Lumina Foundation for Education announces the appointment of Leah Meyer Austin as vice president for program development. Austin will play a leadership role in planning and implementing grant programs for Lumina Foundation and in developing staff."Leah's experience and leadership in education and philanthropy bring significant capacity to the Foundation's grant-making program," said Martha D. Lamkin, Lumina Foundation's president and CEO. "We are particularly pleased to add Leah's deep experience in launching strategic grant initiatives to achieve specific objectives."
Noting that the Foundation's grant making will expand from $16 to $25 million in 2003, Lamkin said, "She will complement our program staff, including Executive Vice President Susan Conner and Program Director Sam Cargile, and expand the Foundation's ability to help more underserved students achieve their higher education goals."
Austin brings more than 25 years of youth-serving experience at philanthropic and educational organizations. Earlier this year, she retired after 10 years as program director at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's youth and education area. From 1989 to 1993, Austin lived in Indianapolis and worked for Marian College as director of its Family, School and Community Initiative and served as deputy director of the Indiana Youth Institute. For nine years, she was director and coordinator for the Center for Early Adolescence at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Austin has served on the steering committees of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grade Reform and the National Alliance on the American High School. She is a member of several education and philanthropic organizations, including Grantmakers for Education; Youth Development Funders Group; Youth Transition Funders Group; Grantmakers for Children, Youth, and Families; Michigan K-12 Funders; and the Council of Michigan Foundations.
Austin holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. She also has pursued advanced studies in adult education, evaluation, management and youth development.
Lumina Foundation for Education, a private, independent foundation, strives to help people achieve their potential by expanding access and success in education beyond high school. Through research, grants for innovative programs and communication initiatives, Lumina Foundation addresses issues surrounding access and success — particularly among underserved student groups, including adult learners. The Foundation bases its mission on the belief that postsecondary education remains one of the most beneficial investments that individuals can make in themselves and that society can make in its people.
For more information, contact Sara Murray-Plumer, director of communications at (317) 951-5493 or splumer@luminafoundation.org.
