Arthur Blank Family Foundation

ATLANTA, May 12, 2005 — The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation today announced the appointment of Janine E. Lee as vice president, Fostering Opportunity. In her new role, Lee will oversee two of the Blank Foundation’s four impact areas, which fall under the Fostering Opportunity program: Better Beginnings, an initiative aimed at ensuring a healthy, nurturing environment for disadvantaged children from birth through age five, and Pathways to Success, which encourages educational opportunities for low-income youth beyond high school. She will report to Foundation President Penelope McPhee.

The Foundation today also announced that Megan McAllister has been named program officer, Better Beginnings. She will report to Lee.

"Better Beginnings is a new initiative for the foundation, so having Janine and Megan on board is a critically important step forward as we shape our strategy for supporting young children and their caregivers," McPhee said. "Our Pathways work, meanwhile, is already in high-gear and I’m confident Janine’s arrival will further accelerate the good progress we’re making as we reach out to high-school students and their communities."

Lee has a strong background in the areas of treatment, youth development, philanthropy, and non-profit effectiveness. Prior to joining the Foundation, Lee was Vice President of Kansas City Community and Philanthropic Initiatives at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation where she provided leadership in the creation of the youth development strategic plan and the Kauffman Scholars Program, a $70 million college access program for low-income youth from the inner city. She also managed Project STAR (Students Taught Awareness and Resistance), a nationally recognized alcohol and drug abuse program created and administered by the Foundation.

Before joining the Foundation, McAllister was a graduate student at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, where she earned an M.S. in urban policy studies with a specialty in nonprofit and civic leadership. Prior to moving to Georgia in 1999, she co-founded Shakespeare on the Sound, a nonprofit professional Shakespeare festival that serves southern Connecticut. She has also had a distinguished twelve-year career as a journalist and producer in commercial and public television, winning awards for her work covering social welfare issues at ABC News and collaborating on programs for the Discovery Channel, the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour and others.

Formed in 1995, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation is focused on enhancing education, preserving greenspace, sustaining the arts and sparking collaboration among its community partners. Arthur M. Blank is Owner and CEO of the Atlanta Falcons and Georgia Force football teams. He also owns Mountain Sky Guest Ranch in Montana. Mr. Blank co-founded The Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, in 1978 and retired from the company as co-chairman in 2001. Through his generosity, the foundation, along with Blank and his wife’s personal giving, has granted more than $220 million to various charitable organizations.