Cecilia Boone

Boone Family Foundation Founder

The creation of the Boone Family Foundation by Cecilia Guthrie Boone, her husband Garrett, and their three children in 2007 came in stark contrast to Cecilia’s humble beginnings in rural Kentucky.

“I grew up in a very modest household,” Cecilia said. “My mother was a single mother and worked very hard as the circuit court clerk. She noticed the difference between how the attorneys were treated and how she was treated. It just rankled her. Gender equity became the cause that most motivated me.”

In her early corporate days, Cecilia worked for IBM and moved frequently. It was a dream of hers to live in Dallas.

“It was the biggest, fanciest, snazziest place I had ever lived,” she said.

She eventually met her husband Garrett at a local furniture store. They fell in love and got married, and that’s how she stayed in Dallas.

Cecilia wanted to be a stay-at-home mom but kept busy with school volunteering and chairing the PTA. As her children grew, she searched for new opportunities, attended a Planned Parenthood luncheon, and considered joining the board.

“The skill I had learned at all my volunteer work at schools was raising money, and there is no nonprofit out there that doesn’t want members who can raise money,” Cecilia said.

This led her to join the Planned Parenthood board then go onto the national board.

“I think without inexpensive to free contraception, there is no hope of gender equity,” Cecilia said. “I also firmly believe it’s a woman’s right to choose an abortion.” 

Cecilia led the Boone Family Foundation’s efforts to partner with the Harold Simmons Foundation to provide $2 million for long-acting reversible contraception for low-income women who are clients at local Planned Parenthood health centers.

She also is the past chair of Annie’s List, a political action committee that recruits, trains, and funds progressive female candidates running for statewide offices in Texas. Another remarkable experience was when she chaired the $30 million fundraising campaign for the then-Dallas Women’s Foundation (now Texas Women’s Foundation).

Cecilia also served on the Harvard-Kennedy School Women’s Leadership Board, the international Women’s Funding Network board, and the board of Girls, Inc. Locally, she’s been involved on the advisory boards for Children At Risk and Human Rights Initiative.

Although she’s retired, Cecilia still serves on the Family Foundation’s board. She sums up her lifetime of passionate activism and societal involvement: “It’s always been about gender equity for me, only superseded by family.”