Remembering a giver who gave wisely

Las Vegans Barbara Mulholland and Elaine Wynn shared a commitment to wise giving, to philanthropy that showed results.

Their efforts stretched far beyond just writing checks.

“When our paths crossed, she and I would make a beeline to each other,” Wynn said. “It was like two magnets. … We were totally in sync.”

When Mulholland died in her sleep June 17, Wynn said she went through three days of deeply felt grief.

At the June 24 celebration of life, Wynn wept for the woman who shared her values, who cared deeply about hungry children and high school dropouts.

She and Mulholland were the same age, 74, and both were passionate about making Las Vegas a better place. They met because of their mutual desire to improve Nevada’s dismaying dropout rate.

“She was ferocious in her advocacy of what we were trying to do,” Wynn remembered, recalling the push back they faced while trying to establish Communities in Schools.

Wynn called Mulholland “a kindred spirit, working hard for solutions.”

When they met, Mulholland was in charge of directing where Citibank’s money went in Las Vegas. It was a job she held for 30 years starting in 1984.

For separate columns, I interviewed each woman, Wynn in 2006 and Mulholland in 2010, and found they had parallel philosophies about improving Las Vegas through philanthropy that included helping agencies operate smarter and better.

In 2010, Mulholland was directing about $1 million a year to nonprofits and she demanded transparency and accountability. One of her standards was that at least 85 percent of the funding went to programming. She required measurable results and consistent performance. As Citibank’s senior vice president of community relations, she said, “After we’ve given, I ask for reports from year to year. What did you do with that $15,000? How many people did you help? And I want it in writing.”

She had moved away from buying tables for fancy galas and toward backing specific programs.

“I think this job and what I do make a difference,” Mulholland said then. “How many people can say that?”

Four years earlier, Wynn had explained her criteria for giving. She advised people to give to organizations that support their particular passions and to give more to fewer instead of giving a little to a lot.

Speakers at Mulholland’s memorial told of her constant smile, her wit, her spirit and her enthusiasm for seeing a problem and doing something about it. They shared family stories that made the audience cry and laugh.

“Is anyone surprised Barbara was a cheerleader?” asked her older brother Robert Linden. He told the crowd of about 400 that his sister provided money, then “took the extra step to help them become a stronger organization. She took great joy in seeing organizations get better.”

One example was her support of Foundation for an Independent Tomorrow, started by Janet Blume to help train the unemployed to get jobs. Mulholland suggested the foundation’s efforts might include basic financial education, like how to write a check and how to reverse bad credit. Blumen listened and the bank provided computers so clients could do vocational plans online.

Mulholland followed her heart, supporting Nevada Ballet Theatre, Three Square Food Bank, After-School All-Stars and others. But only after checking them out.

MGM Resorts International Executive Vice President Alan Feldman explained that Mulholland had an impact on the entire philanthropic community because “Barbara was one of the first to bring a strategic and disciplined perspective to the work. She was unafraid to require that charities themselves think strategically.”

After retiring in 2014, she volunteered for WestCare’s Women and Children’s Campus, which offers substance abuse programs.

Her family — siblings, children, grandchildren and significant other Stan Hunterton — suggested memorial donations could go there. They thought Mulholland most likely would say, “The women and children need help more than I need flowers.”

You can almost hear her say it … and mean it.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column runs Thursdays. Leave messages for her at 702-383-0275 or email jmorrison@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @janeannmorrison.