[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 162 (Monday, September 20, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6549-S6550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MARIAM C. NOLAND

 Mr. PETERS. Mr. President, I rise today to honor an 
accomplished and highly regarded leader of Michigan's philanthropic 
community, Mariam C. Noland, president of the Community Foundation for 
Southeast Michigan.
  Ms. Noland, a resident of Grosse Pointe Farms, MI, has made an 
immeasurable impact on southeast Michigan, our State, and the entire 
country during the past 36 years. It is my privilege to recognize her 
here today and celebrate her upcoming retirement.
  Mariam Noland earned her bachelor of science from Case Western 
Reserve University in 1969, followed by her master of education from 
Harvard University. During her time at Harvard, Ms. Noland worked on a 
research project through the Pittsburgh Foundation, another community 
foundation. This was her first experience in the foundation field, a 
field in which she would spend almost her entire distinguished career.
  In 1975, Ms. Noland began working as an education policy fellow, 
secretary, and treasurer at the Cleveland Foundation. It was there, she 
states, that she truly learned the power of community foundations and 
the power of change. Six years later, she became vice president of the 
Saint Paul Foundation of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
  In 1984, Joseph L. Hudson, Jr., and other civic leaders started the 
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan with a mission to enhance 
the quality of life for residents of Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, 
Washtenaw, St. Clair, and Livingston Counties. This group of 
visionaries hired Mariam Noland in 1985 as the foundation's first 
president, a role in which she has remained to this day.
  As a result of Ms. Noland's steadfast leadership and tireless 
devotion, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has grown 
over the last four decades into one of the 30 largest community 
foundations in the country. The organization has awarded more than $1.2 
billion in grants, benefiting countless nonprofits and the individuals 
and families they serve. This past year alone, during the challenging 
COVID-19 pandemic, the Community Foundation provided over $101 million 
in grants, its largest annual grant total to date.
  Ms. Noland has personally raised hundreds of millions of dollars and 
has initiated many new and innovative programs. Some of the highlights 
from her career include the GreenWays Initiative that has built 
interconnected trails throughout southeast Michigan, as well the New 
Economy Initiative, the Nation's largest multi-foundation funded 
collaborative addressing economic development and opportunity. 
Additionally, Ms. Noland was also essential to the creation and 
development of the HOPE Fund, which is one of the largest and most 
effective funds in the Nation at a community foundation addressing 
needs of the LGBTQ+ community.
  Ms. Noland, a creative and effective problem-solver, is also known 
for the historic role she played during Detroit's bankruptcy. She 
influenced 14 foundations to collectively donate more than $366 
million, which, when combined with $350 million in State funds and $100 
million raised by the Detroit Institute of Arts, provided $816 million 
to help protect pensions for city workers while at the same time 
safeguarding the cultural pieces of the art museum.
  Ms. Noland's contributions go well beyond her impressive work at the 
Community Foundation. She generously gives her time and expertise as a 
member of the boards of trustees for the Detroit Riverfront 
Conservancy, the Downtown Detroit Partnership, and the Bipartisan 
Policy Center in Washington, DC. She also previously served as vice 
chair of the Henry Ford Health System Board of Directors, as well as 
chair of the Council of Michigan Foundations Board of Trustees.
  Ms. Noland's incredible work has been recognized with numerous 
prestigious awards and honors. In 2009, she received the Eleanor 
Josaitis Unsung Hero Award. That same year, the Community Foundation 
established its own Mariam C. Noland Award in her honor to recognize a 
local nonprofit leader who exemplifies leadership in his or her 
organization and the broader nonprofit community.
  I cannot understate the impact Mariam C. Noland has had on the people 
of Michigan. She has created influential philanthropic initiatives, 
promoted positive changes in our communities, and enhanced the lives of 
countless Michiganders. She leaves a community foundation that now 
holds more than $1.1 billion in ``community capital'' that will benefit 
future southeast Michigan residents for decades to come. Moreover, she 
has created a model for charitable giving and foundation management 
that is unmatched.
  Though her leadership at the Community Foundation for Southeast 
Michigan will be sorely missed upon her retirement, her legacy will 
most certainly endure.

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  For these reasons, I am grateful for this opportunity to recognize 
her accomplishments and to extend our collective gratitude on behalf of 
all who have--and who will--benefit from her efforts.

                          ____________________