Growing up in Evanston in the ‘60s and ‘70s, Laura Tucker found herself surrounded by adults and students that were advocating for social change: ending the war, passing the ERA, desegregating schools.
Of her own family, Tucker says, “It was expected that you know what’s going on in the world, and that you do what you can to make a difference, to have an impact. It wasn’t pushed down our throats, but it was all around us.”
Her parents led by example, teaching her to take a stand and make a difference. And make a difference she has, particularly in the realm of women’s rights issues. Not only have Laura and her husband, Peter Giangreco of The Strategy Group, been generous donors to many public policy-oriented nonprofits, but Tucker has been a powerful fundraising force for the greater good.
Laura began her career in campaign politics but moved into public policy in hopes of making more of an impact. A job as Public Affairs Director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) led to connections within the reproductive rights community, and after a stint on Clinton’s winning 1992 campaign, she ran the Illinois Attorney General’s Women’s Advocacy Division.
“That job introduced me to a much broader range of issues affecting women’s independence and well-being, from finances and domestic violence to access to family planning,” Tucker says. “I learned the cornerstone to women’s equality is the ability to control our own destiny.”
In 1996, when Tucker made the choice to stay home and raise her kids, she joined the boards of Planned Parenthood and the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network to stay connected to the causes that she believed in.
Since then, she’s played leadership roles and raised money for The Chicago Foundation for Women, the Women’s Media Center, the YWCA and more. She currently serves at both the national and state levels for Planned Parenthood.
Tucker favors a hand-on approach to board service, providing strategic direction and fiduciary oversight as well as working her fundraising magic.
Tucker believes that the best way to make a real impact as a board member is to know as much as possible about the work of an organization and utilize that knowledge to help convince others of their potential impact.
“Asking for money isn’t easy, but I try to think of it as giving them an opportunity to do good, to make a real impact in someone’s life,” Tucker says. “True philanthropy isn’t just about writing your own check, but getting others to do the same. It’s digging in and taking part—not sitting on the sidelines.”
Photo by John Reilly Photography
