A Giving Day Q+A with Dr. Kate Tracy

This post was curated by our Women’s Center Director, Jess Myers (she/her).

In honor of Giving Day, I reached out to Dr. Kate Tracy M.A. ’01, Ph.D. ’03 to ask her a few questions about the importance of giving and what the experience of giving has meant for her.

You may be familiar with Dr. Tracy’s name because for the past several years, Dr. Tracy has supported the Women’s Center on Giving Day by offering match challenges to our community. She also created the Maxine Tracy Endowment which provides the Women’s Center funding to support our Returning Women Students/Adult Learners Scholars + Affiliates program. It is also the namesake of our Wellness Room! Just recently she began the quest to fund a new endowment, the Kate Tracy Endowment, which will help provide scholarships to UMBC students in the future.

I’ve had the pleasure to get to know Dr. Tracy over the past several years and wanted to share a little bit more about this person who cares so much about the Women’s Center with our community. I had the chance to connect with her and ask her a few questions about the importance of giving and what’s she’s learned from the experience. I hope that learning a little bit more about Dr. Tracy will inspire you to find your “why” this Giving Day!

Jess: You’ve been supporting the Women’s Center for several years now – first to create the Maxine Tracy Endowment and now the Kate Tracy Endowment. What is your motivation behind your giving? And, what have you learned about yourself from the experience of giving? 

Dr. Tracy: My original motivation for giving to the Women’s Center at UMBC was to honor my grandmother, Maxine Tracy. She was my hero and a lifelong supporter of women’s professional development. Giving to the Women’s Center was a tangible way for me to honor her influence on my life and continue her legacy of supporting women’s professional development.

I’ve continued my giving to the Center out of gratitude. I feel very grateful for the many ways UMBC is woven into my own professional story. I want to continue to support the Center and be a champion for the work it does.

Jess: In some of our earlier conversations, it was clear to me that you found it important to carve out space for other women to see the possibilities in themselves being philanthropists. Can you share more about why this matters to you?

Dr. Tracy: Women’s philanthropy is often less visible. And I’d like to see that change. One way to foster that change is to share our stories of giving…what motivates us to give…how and what we give—whether it’s our time, talents, or our resources. Every gift—no matter the amount—will make a difference!

Jess: This is the third year you’ve offered a match challenge on behalf of the Women’s Center for Giving Day. What encouragement can you give to our potential donors to help us meet your challenge?

Dr. Tracy: One of the reasons I continue to offer the match challenge on behalf of the Women’s Center for Giving Day is to encourage others to join me in supporting the Center. The programming, support services, and advocacy the Center offers are so important to the UMBC community. I’m proud to be a supporter and want to do whatever I can to encourage others to support the Center and its mission.

You can learn more about Dr. Tracy and her grandmother, Maxine, by reading this UMBC Magazine article entailed Living Her Values that was published last fall (and is featured in the most recent hardcopy version of the UMBC Magazine).

We’re grateful for Dr. Tracy’s support… and for all of our generous donors who give of their talent, treasure, and time. Thank you for you!

And…

We’re especially excited to share that any gift to the Women’s Center on Giving Day will help us unlock 2-part $5,000 Giving Day challenge set by Dr. Tracy!

Dr. Tracy will donate $2,500 to the Women’s Center once we reach 130 donors
AND an additional $2,500 once we achieve $5,000 raised for the Women’s Center!

Giving Day 2022 runs from February 16th at 9am until February 17th at 9pm!

• More Information about A Giving Day Q+A with Dr. Kate Tracy