Helen LaKelly Hunt Biography

Helen LaKelly Hunt has been active within the women's movement for the past eighteen years. She is founder and president of The Sister Fund, a private women's fund dedicated to the social, political, economic, and spiritual empowerment of women and girls. Helen has helped to fund a number of other women's funding institutions, including the Dallas Women's Foundation, the New York Women's Foundation and the national Network of Women's Funds (now The Women's Funding Network). Helen has served on the Board of Directors of the Ms. Foundation for Women, Women and Foundations, and the New York City Women's Agenda. Among Helen's major civic activities have been her active memberships on the Childcare Commission for the Mayor of the City of New York and the New York City Commission on the Status of Women.

Committed to building a society that invites the full participation of all, Helen has long recognized the need to strengthen women's rights and leadership. She sees the unearthing of women's contributions throughout the ages, within both the social and religious spheres, as being a crucial aspect of the work of achieving justice in society. Helen has chosen to pursue a Doctorate at Union Theological Seminary in New York City to further ground her understanding of how theology or a spiritual perspective can strengthen the work of women's activism. Her dissertation will focus on, "The Religious Roots of American Feminism," as she feels that the work of our foremothers-Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Sojourner Truth (to name a few) exemplifies the balance of compassion and fire that is so necessary to redefine and enhance the women's movement. Her doctoral studies build upon her past academic studies, which include three degrees from Southern Methodist University: a B.A. in Secondary Education, an M.L.A. in Liberal Arts, and an M.A. in Counseling and an honorary PhD. from the Chicago Theological Seminary. She holds a PhD from Union Theological Seminary.

Helen has been recognized for her roles of leadership in building the women's funding movement, including the following awards: the National Creative Philanthropy Award from the National Network of Women's Funds, Gloria Steinem's Women of Vision Award through the Ms. Foundation for Women. The Equity Leadership Award from Nontraditional Employment of Women (NOW), the Laura Parsons Pratt award for Outstanding Achievement on Behalf of Women and Children from the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, and as an Honoree at the Center of the Elimination of Violence in the Family. Helen is an honored inductee in the National Women's Hall of Fame, in Seneca Falls, New York.

A few years ago, Helen established a ranch in Abiquiu, New Mexico that seeks to strengthen the local community of ranchers. She is also working there with Hispanic women to create an economic development project that focuses on honoring traditional crafts of the area, and reflects her concern to preserve the culture of northern New Mexico. She sees her work in the women's movement as being profoundly connected with the impulses she has discovered within the Native American and Hispanic cultures, which continue to honor the sacredness of our connection with each other and our earth, a perspective that has much to offer our society at large.

Along with her studies and activities on behalf of women and girls, Helen has co-authored three books with her husband, Harville Hendrix, and has been instrumental in the development of Imago Relationship Therapy, which he founded. Feeling strongly that our ability to function with integrity and wholeness within our communities and larger lives begins with our family connections. Helen also focuses a great deal of her time and energies on sustaining connections with her husband and their six children, one of whom still lives in their home in New Jersey.