Endowments were established by donors or donor groups who could honor someone by naming the endowment to honor a person or significant event (i.e., anniversary of a branch establishment). Four of our current branch members have been so honored.

LPD Branch/Dawn Gordner Grant. Our branch established the Dawn Gordner grant in 1988 to honor Dawn for her many years of service to the branch and to the Pleasanton community. She was branch President in 1974-1975. She has served on various City of Pleasanton boards and commissions and on AAUW of California committees. In the 1970s, she was the force behind a publication the branch produced: “How to Elect a Woman to Office” which was used locally and nationally for the next 20 years by both people seeking public office. This predates the national AAUW Elect Her program of recent years.

Joan Kavanaugh Zehnder International Fellowship. In 1993 the branch completed funding (with the help of other branches in California) for the Joan Kavanaugh Zehnder Inrternational Endowment. Zehnder served as branch President in 1980-81. She followed with participation in AAUW-CA business, and served as state Program Vice President and later the Local Arrangement Chair for the 1992 International Federation of University Women conference at Stanford University. Zehnder was also involved with her family business and is a past-President of the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce.

LPD Branch/Patricia Ann Mann Grant. In 1999 the branch completed funding of the Pat Mann Research and Projects Endowment. Mann served as branch President in 1992-1993. In later years she served on AAUW of California’s Public Policy Committee. Mann was an active member of the League of Women Voters and has been a great supporter of the arts in her hometown of Livermore. She had a career as a family counselor.

Anne Les American Fellowship. Anne has been a member of Lompoc-Vandenburg, Atascadero, South Lake Tahoe, and the Livermore-Pleasanton-Dublin branch. Before she moved to our area, she had been honored with an endowment in her name. Anne had a career teaching math, but she was a driving force in AAUW, twice leading California state efforts supporting what is now the AAUW Fund.

AAUW now has over 3700 endowments that support fellowships, research, and projects and is currently encouraging establishment of shorter term honorary and memorial gifts that support various programs.