UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES

MICHAEL M0LLER

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Mildred RoLbins Leet MAR -2 2005 54 Riverside Drive , New York 10024-655;

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Women of the Hall

Mildred Robbins Leet (1922-) Mildred Robbins Leet was born and educated in , NY. She has made philanthropy the cornerstone of her life's work. Today, she is recognized worldwide as a distinguished public advocate and proponent of human rights. Her activism spans more than five decades and multiple arenas: health, education, international development, peace, women's issues, and most recently the alleviation of family poverty through .

Quick Facts In 1948, Millie Robbins was one of the founders of United Birth: Cerebral Palsy and became the first president of the women's 1922 division. From 1957 to 1964, she was the representative of the Death: National Council of Women of the U.S.A. to the . Year Inducted: From 1964 to!968, she served as President of the National 2003 Council of Women, and participated till 1974 in the development Achievement In: of the International Peace Academy. She chaired UN Day in New Philanthropy York State in 1975. In 1977, she was Chair for International Relations for New York State to the First United States Conference on Women at Houston. In 1978-1979, she organized an international task force to prepare for the UN Conference on Science and Technology for Development. In 1984, she helped found the U.S. Committee for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and became vice president of the that organization.

The recipient of countless awards and honors over the past 30 years, Mrs. Leet received the Governor's Distinguished Women of Connecticut Award in 1975, the Women of Conscience Award from the National Council of Women of the U.S.A. in 1986, the Temple Award for Creative Altruism, the Women of the World Award presented by Princess Diana in 1989, the 1996 International Entrepeneurship Award, the 1997 Distinguished Service Award of United Cerebral Palsy, and the Advancing the Status of Women Award of the Soroptimists in 1998. She has received six honorary doctoral degrees, most recently the Doctor of Humane Letters of Wilson College(2003).

Mrs. Leet is best known today for creating TrickleUp, Inc., with her late husband Glen Leet. TrickleUp, launched in 1979, with $1,000 of the couple's own money is now a leading international nonprofit organization that has assisted more than 500,000 of the world's poorest people build their own businesses, educate MAH - themselves and their children, and become contributors to their communities. One of the originators of micro-enterprise capitalization, the TrickleUp program has helped start over 100,000 businesses, aided the original entrepreneurs and their http://www.greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=205 03/03/2005 National Women's Hall of Fame - Women of the Hall Page 2 of 2

families through small start-up grants, training and technical assistance. TrickleUp entrepreneurs have a notably high success rate, with 70% of the start-up businesses still continuing after seven years. Millie Leet has traveled tirelessly to help those who were so poor that no other capital sources were available to them. She has creatively brought together people from widely different cultures to participate in the program and guide the organization. The professionalism, integrity, organization, and unsurpassed vision of TrickleUp have made its pioneering program one of the leaders of the micro-enterprise movement. Mrs. Leet's work has been described as outstanding and transformative.

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