Giving with compassion and courage

College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Rustin Moore presenting Teckie with an Honorary Distinguished Alumni Award in 2017

Through time and change, the strength of Women & Philanthropy’s support for Ohio State has been constant. This steadiness can be credited to the program’s dedicated members, including those who were there from the start.

Along with her fellow founding members, Thekla “Teckie” Shackelford represents the heart of the program. Shackelford has always believed in the promise of higher education, and in helping others attain it. Before Women & Philanthropy, she was lifting up students through I Know I Can, a program she co-founded that has given scholarships and other college assistance to tens of thousands of Columbus City Schools’ graduates.

Twenty years ago, the newly formed Women & Philanthropy gave Shackelford another platform to launch success stories in higher ed. She looks back fondly on the group’s origins and turns to what’s ahead.

How did you get involved with Women & Philanthropy?

The idea for the program was sparked by a then-new staff member, Sheila Smith. She brought high hopes and ambition to the development department at Ohio State. Around that time, my father, Everett Reese, a founding member of the university’s President’s Club, recognized that fundraising efforts had gotten a bit sleepy. Sheila woke everyone up.

We were missing an opportunity by not engaging women in the work. Alongside some friends of the university, such as Barbara Trueman, I joined initial conversations. We were drawn in by the chance to design the program. It would formally add women to the list of financial partners. We are at least 50 percent of the formula, after all.

Floradelle Pfahl was vital to our beginnings, since she always brought a troop of women behind her. People often joked that she was expensive to know because she was regularly raising support for organizations she cared about. Altogether, from our first meeting, it was an obvious group of assertive, intelligent women who understood development in higher education and were interested in learning, and doing, more.

What were some of the group’s early funding decisions?

In several cases, we were able to fund research that was just getting started, or projects that weren’t getting support elsewhere. These grant seekers were doing impressive work that might have been overlooked, and they were able to highlight it for us, a receptive audience. Some of the early awards stand out for me, such as our support for pediatric and canine osteosarcoma research. Over the years, I have been inspired to give more to discovering a cure for cancers found in both dogs and people, and health care for pets at Ohio State’s Veterinary Medical Center. Women & Philanthropy also gave grants to the Center for Women’s Health and the evolving Early Childhood Development Center at Weinland Park, which was an investment in education and community development.

What do you hope Women & Philanthropy leaves for future generations?

I hope that it continues to be an example for women to recognize their role in making money, spending it wisely, and giving it away — the last becomes most important. Letting women take a role in philanthropy has opened countless doors. That will continue to happen for the next generation, and the ones to follow.

Overall, how do you see women driving progress?

When I was growing up, the positions available for women were mostly as teachers or nurses. Now, I see many more possibilities for women in leadership to be the decision-makers. They were not actively encouraged to be involved in the vision, as we were with Women & Philanthropy. But the world has changed in my lifetime, and I was able to help start this group, and I Know I Can, allowing more people to benefit from higher education.

While serving on different boards over the years, it became clear to me that women had been underrepresented and underused. But when they are actively involved, women show more optimism and hope, and take a chance on things that have a heart. Women are willing to fail and pick ourselves up again, too. We are less risk-adverse, and are tenacious and stick to it.