Betancourt, who has served on the Council s board of directors and numerous committees, received the 1999 Robert W. Scrivner Award, which recognizes creativity in grantmaking. As president of the Puerto Rico Community Foundation since 1988, and previously as vice president of programs for three years after the foundation was established in 1985, Betancourt was cited by her nominators for leading the foundation in addressing previously untouched and risky programming areas such as community development and drug abuse. Betancourt, who spent more than 30 years in academia before coming to the foundation, is also viewed as a role model by emerging foundations around the world, and especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. According to Betancourt, traditional Latin American culture limits the development of organized philanthropy. Generosity is common but not the idea of organized philanthropy.
People here give to their families, and they have big families.
We found out the dictum is true that people give to people. Cole Wilbur, also a former Council board member and treasurer, was awarded the 1999 Distinguished Grantmaker Award that recognizes lifetime achievement in philanthropy. Be a partner. The Scrivner award was established in 1984 to honor the late Robert W. Scrivner, first executive director of the Rockefeller Family Fund, by his friends and colleagues. The Distinguished Grantmaker Award, which also comes with a crystal sculpture, has been awarded since 1984.