Welcome to Progressive Pockets! I go by GG, that’s short for Genet Gimja. This is a show about a feeling that I just can’t shake, that we’re leaving some of our power on the table. Yes, we vote, maybe you protest, maybe you write letters to your senator, you’re an ally at your job in your community, you’re recycling. This show is about our wallets and what we do with our money on a daily basis. For a long time I felt that the two were almost unrelated. My values for the world I want and what I do with my wallet. But this show is really about exploring that disconnect and seeing if there aren’t practical things we can do to bridge the gap.
Welcome if you’re new, episodes come out once a week. They’re always concise and to the point. Usually in August I like to do a Celebrity Giving Series just to sort of take a lighter touch while we’re hopefully unwinding and enjoying our summers.
Celebrities covered have included Serena Williams, Taylor Swift, Chrissy Teigan and John Legend. Oh, there was an episode about former President Barack Obama. I think he might have been the very first celebrity covered in the Celebrity Giving Series.
Well today the celebrity is Dolly Parton. Let’s talk about where she donates her money. I really enjoyed researching this and learning more about the community work she has done since the 1980s.
Let’s start with her giving around Education and Literacy.
The Dollywood Foundation
Let’s talk about the scholarships that Dolly Parton has set up.
Disaster Relief is another area, where I was already more familiar with Dolly Parton’s giving.
She has the My People Fund
Ok so that was her giving to survivors of the wildfires in her home town. She has also supported people dealing with floods
Let’s move on to Healthcare
First, the LeConte Medical Center
COVID-19 Vaccine Research
Pediatric infectious disease research
Parton made yet another $1 million donation to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville in June 2022, this time aimed at helping pediatric infectious disease research.
When it comes to Environmental Conservation, Dolly Parton has created something called the Eagle Mountain Sanctuary.
Being the prolific businesswoman that Dolly Parton is, she obviously employs a lot of people at The Dollywood Company. Well her company announced in February 2022 that it will cover 100% of tuition, fees and books for any employee who is furthering their education.
The program is available to all seasonal, part-time and full-time employees at Dollywood Parks & Resorts. Employees can enroll in the program on their first day of employment.
Her employees have free access to over 100 fully-funded diploma, degree, and certificate programs across 30 learning partners. Fields include business administration, leadership, culinary arts, finance, technology, and marketing. Additionally, partial funding of up to $5,250 per year is available for 150 additional programs in areas such as hospitality, engineering, human resources, and art design
This reminds me of the old school type of employee programs that used to exist when I first finished school and I was going to say entered the workforce, but I mean, I started working when I was 14, so I guess I’ll say it reminds me of the old school type of employee benefit programs that existed when I finished school and then went right back to working. LOL.
I found some information about other one off projects she’s done too, like
The time she used royalties from Whitney Houston's cover of "I Will Always Love You" to invest in a Black neighborhood in Nashville, purchasing an office complex. I believe it was a strip mall. She called it “the house that Whitney built,” may she rest in peace.Michael Harriot, journalist and writer, revealed in 2022 that Parton has been sponsoring the uniforms in several Black high schools for years. And I do mean years, the receipts go back at least 30 years.There are other stories of her doing things like when she found out the middle school kids were having to share lockers she called the Bureau of Education and asked them to build enough lockers for all the kids and send her the bill.So, for all of this, her public giving, her quiet giving, maybe it’s not a surprise that she won the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2022.
That same year, in November of 2022, Dolly Parton Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ third annual Courage and Civility Award, which came with a $100 million donation from Bezos to her Dollywood Foundation. For my gen Z listeners who are keeping score, yes this is the part of the simulation where billionaires are making charitable donations to millionaires.
So to recap, today we talked about Dolly Parton’s philanthropy, thank you to the listener that submitted this episode topic, I learned so much about her giving and in some ways it reminded me of the episode about Rihanna’s giving, that was episode 88. The parallel that I see is that you look at the person and you understand their background and what they care about and then you look at their giving and you can totally see how their identity is rooted in their giving. I just love that.
Dolly Parton’s giving spans education, disaster relief, medical research, and what am I forgetting? Environmental conservation.Her giving stands out in that she gives people the cash they need rather than inserting middle men.Her giving also stands out because so much of it is focused on her community, the people of Tennessee, all around the Smokey Mountains and throughout the state. Those are her roots and it shows up very clearly in her giving.If you have more time today, here’s another episode to check out, episode 128 this is an episode about whether or not people who donate a lot, consistently actually identify as philanthropists. The episode is interesting. In short, it turns out that your identities can predict if you will identify as a philanthropist more than whether you actually donate or not.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s episode, even if you’re really busy working 9 to 5, would you please take a moment to hit 5 starts on your podcast player. I see the downloads, I see you coming back week after week, please hit 5 stars to register your support for this show.
Let’s end with a quote…
Wealth is used to divide us and control us and exploit us, but it doesn't have to be. Edgar Villanueva
Let’s talk again soon!