Fund Partner Spotlight: Phyllis Dicker
Traub-Dicker Rainbow Scholarship founder Phyllis Dicker (right) pictured with her late partner, Peggy Traub (left)
A little over twenty years ago, Stonewall Fund Partner Phyllis Dicker and her partner Peggy Traub were looking for a new way to give back to their community. Having met in the 1980’s while attending Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, New York’s LGBTQ+ synagogue, they were at a comfortable point in their lives, and wanted to help young gay and lesbian students as they started or continued their own educational journeys.
“We knew about Stonewall Community Foundation,” Phyllis said in a recent interview, “and it just made a lot of sense to approach them about managing a scholarship fund. In the beginning, we used printed applications and sent them to colleges, universities. I was hand delivering them to the [New York LGBT Community] Center myself!” In the earliest days of the scholarship, both gay men and lesbians could apply, but after several years and more than a thousand applications, the duo decided to narrow the focus to lesbians. “At first, Peggy was the businesswoman, and she would always look for grades and academic performance. She looked at numbers and data. I’m a social worker: it was the stories that caught my attention. Then we would bring both perspectives together to make the final selections. After a few years, we were both looking at the entire picture from the start.”
From the beginning, Phyllis and Peggy designed an application process that would not only address an applicant’s need, but also their connection to the community and their attitudes toward engagement and leadership. “What’s been amazing over time is how much more students are engaging in activities and the world around them.” Phyllis also reflected on how many applications they receive from outside New York and other large metropolitan areas. In the early days, Phyllis and Peggy would invite friends over on Memorial Day and before they’d celebrate, they’d sit down and read the top ten applications: getting outside input was important from the beginning. After more than 20 years together, they married in 2008 and set a long-range plan to build the impact of their scholarship fund at Stonewall.
Peggy passed away in 2014 at the age of 55, but Phyllis continues their legacy, and in fact today oversees three separate funds at Stonewall: a general donor-advised fund, an endowed fund, and the Traub-Dicker Rainbow Scholarship Fund.
Today, the Traub-Dicker Rainbow Scholarship receives hundreds of applications each year – more than 300 in 2020. Every application is read and vetted by staff, and all qualified packets are reviewed by Phyllis. “I read every one. I feel a responsibility to know these women and their stories. I owe them that,” she said. A committee comes together to review the strongest cases and make a final decision for the year, resulting in 3-5 awards. “There’s always a high school student. Sometimes more than one, and then a college and grad student award.”
We asked Phyllis – who in addition to having been an active member of the Stonewall Community Foundation family, spent seven years on the board of The Center – about what she’s seen over 20 years at Stonewall. “Stonewall has tried to do a lot in difficult times. I’ve seen it keep growing and going with the flow, responding as it’s needed by the community around it.”
Finally, we asked her what advice she had for young people interested in philanthropy today. “Find your niche,” she said. “Look at what you’re giving: how is it being used? What is it achieving? Find something important to you and give.”