Fearlessness Has Never Looked More Promising

Since opening its doors in 1881, Dana Hall School has celebrated many achievements and marked countless milestones. October 26, 2023 will now be added to the School’s remarkable timeline, as the date marks the launch of Fearless Futures: The Campaign for Dana Hall School. The most ambitious campaign in the School’s 142-year history, Fearless Futures will raise $75 million to support students and teachers, revitalize key classroom and co-curricular spaces, and ensure Dana Hall’s lasting financial sustainability.

More than 250 community members gathered at a kick-off event held in the Shipley Center, where Head of School Katherine Bradley announced that $54,394,552 has already been raised towards the $75 million goal. “This is an amazing milestone for our school, and already the largest and most significant fundraising effort in our history,” said Bradley. “We are here because of a remarkable community effort, and I am incredibly grateful to every single one of our donors.” A comprehensive, multi-year campaign like Fearless Futures counts all donations, including all gifts to the Upper School Classroom Building and the Dana Fund. 

“There aren’t many places like Dana Hall, and I am grateful and proud to be a beneficiary of this institution,” Chair of the Dana Hall Board of Trustees Courtney Caruso ’05 shared in her welcoming remarks. “I am motivated now more than ever to secure the future that Dana Hall deserves, a future that includes opportunity, access, and bold thinking and innovation.”

The priorities of the campaign are guided by the Vision 2025: Enriching and Extending The Dana Difference strategic plan, which the Board of Trustees approved in 2018. In 2021, Dana Hall received a $15 million leadership gift from The Manton Foundation that enabled the School to actively pursue its plan to renovate the Upper School Classroom Building and support other initiatives outlined in the strategic plan. Sandy Niles P17, 19, who is Vice Chair of the Dana Hall Board of Trustees and a Manton Foundation trustee, shared why Dana Hall is still so important to her family. “Our girls are our heroes; they are smart, curious and fearless, and what they learned at Dana Hall set them up incredibly well for the success they had in college and for life after.” Niles is co-chairing the Fearless Futures Campaign with Marcia Teng Ishizuka ’77.

The $75 million goal will support Endowment, the Dana Fund, the Upper School Classroom Building, Community Impact and Acceleration, and Sisters Field, which is already fully funded. Full details about the campaign’s priorities and opportunities can be found on a new micro website, campaign.danahall.org.

Former trustee Bill Taylor P15, 18, who played an instrumental role in planning and writing the Vision 2025 strategic plan, closed the kick-off event’s speaking program with a call to action. “We are launching this campaign with powerful strategic thinking to guide us, a track record of savvy execution to support us, and a deep belief in the future of Dana Hall—and our past, current, and future students,” he said. “And that, really, is the most important thing. Dana Hall needs your support for this campaign, because the world needs what our daughters are going to do after they graduate—when they become the doctors and scientists who will confront the next pandemic, the diplomats working to prevent the next war, the innovators, entrepreneurs, and activists who will help solve the many problems our generation has left them. It all starts here.”