- Named Endowment Funds
It’s not just because she’s something of an “investment nerd” that Barbara Otto was inspired to set up her own endowment fund with Jewish Family and Children’s Services two years ago. The international banking veteran wanted to make sure support for a cause she felt passionately about would carry on. That cause is helping young women gain access to higher education in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Barbara didn’t start out in finance; she double-majored in Spanish and Latin American Studies and Art History at Hunter College in New York City. She says, “I was the first in my family to go to college. Access to an excellent public education, for just $50 a semester, made a huge difference in my life.” However, she continues,“I would have gone into so-called hard science had I been encouraged to do so.”
In spite of what women in her day were expected to do, she found her way into the world of finance while taking a break from graduate school. She approached a Citibank recruiter on her college campus and landed a job, thus launching her into a career that sent her around the world.
Barbara first became involved with JFCS in 2008 when Paul Crane Dorfman, her colleague at Bank of America and a valued JFCS supporter, recruited her onto the JFCS Finance Committee. Having spent decades analyzing risk portfolios for banks, she was a natural fit for numbers work.
Once engaged with JFCS, she became a generous donor known for her commitment to service and expertise. Her oversight of the JFCS finance team’s work was very helpful to the agency.
Next Barbara joined the JFCS Loans and Grants Committee, which provides financial aid to students. The work complements her desire to have more women in STEM fields and helps address the daunting financial challenges students face today.
“For me the cause is critical,” she says of her decision to set up the Barbara Z. Otto Family Endowment Fund for scholarship assistance. The fund makes it possible for young women to get a college education in one of the deserving candidates will continue to receive help down the road.”