EduCap

History

From the 1980s, increasing college tuition costs created demand for more funding than could be provided by federal aid programs. In 1987, Father John Whalen, a Catholic priest, founded a non-profit loan program to provide private funding for college students in the District of Columbia who did not qualify for government financial aid. In 1988, Catherine B. Reynolds joined the foundation as comptroller, and renamed the foundation EduCap. Catherine Reynolds soon became President of the student loan company. EduCap was insolvent when Reynolds was hired, but, as reported by The Washington Post, she established a nationwide private education loan program and established a for-profit affiliate, Servus Financial. It became the first education loan company to securitize credit-based private loans on Wall Street, was the first to market private student loan programs directly to consumers, and was the first to provide access to education financing as an employee benefit for corporations. In March of 2000, Servus Financial was sold to Wells Fargo Bank. In seven years, the foundation’s initial investment of $60,000 became worth several hundred million dollars. Servus Financial had provided 350,000 private student loans.

Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation

The Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation is a United States-based non-profit organization that was established in 2001. The foundation was financed by the sale of Servus Financial Corporation, which was chaired by Catherine B. Reynolds, to Wells Fargo Bank. Since its creation, the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation has donated more than $100 million to beneficiaries in the performing arts, education, and community services.

Mission

The Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation strives to make a difference in its creative approach to philanthropy. The foundation has provided gifts to an array of causes, including: the D.C. College Access Program, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the National Gallery of Art, National Portrait Gallery (United States),Ford’s Theatre Society, Dance Theatre of Harlem, America’s Promise, the Blair House Restoration Fund, Children's National Medical Center, Inova Fairfax Hospital, the National Geographic Society, the National Symphony Orchestra, N Street Village, Green Door, Teach for America, Jill’s House, Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, the Sunlight Foundation, Capital Area Food Bank, Close Up Foundation, the Washington Metropolitan Scholars, the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society, the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the William J. Clinton Presidential Library, the MIT YouPitch Entrepreneurship Competition,Stanford Center on Longevity, the American Academy of Achievement, and the Reynolds Fellows for Social Entrepreneurship at NYU and Harvard University.

Catherine B. Reynolds

Catherine B. Reynolds was selected by Businessweek magazine as one of the 50 most philanthropic living Americans and was the first self-made woman to make their list. She is a current or former Trustee of New York University, Vanderbilt University, Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the D.C. College Access Program, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Inova Fairfax Hospital Foundation, National Geographic International Advisory Council, and the American Academy of Achievement. She served on the U.S. Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education during the administration of President George W. Bush. Catherine Reynolds has received honorary degrees from Georgetown University, Morehouse College and Willamette University, as well as the Gallatin Medal of New York University. In 2005, she received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In 2006, Catherine Reynolds was presented the National Italian American Foundation’s Achievement Award in Education and Cultural Affairs. In 2011, Washingtonian magazinenamed Catherine Reynolds one of its “Washingtonians of the Year” for her philanthropic work.

Criticism

In 2003, the CBS program “60 Minutes” reported that Catherine Reynolds withdrew a donation of $38 million from the Smithsonian Institution following criticism of a proposal for a Hall of Achievement exhibition. The Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation instead pledged $100 million to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 2007, The Washington Post criticized EduCap for interest rates charged to high-risk borrowers and the ownership of a corporate Gulfstream IV aircraft.