May 1, 1952 – January 22, 2007

Lisa Goldberg was president of the Charles H. Revson Foundation from 2003 until her death in 2007. She joined the Foundation as a program officer in 1982, was named vice president in 1984, and executive vice president in 1994.

Born in Brookline, Massachusetts, she graduated with honors from Radcliffe College and Harvard Law School. Before her career at Revson, she served as a senior staff member and legal counsel to the President’s Commission for a National Agenda for the Eighties, established by President Jimmy Carter; as consultant to Judges Harold Leventhal and David Bazelon, of the Federal Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia; and as director of a Boston family court program funded by the federal Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA).

Lisa’s exceptional leadership and enlightened grant making were owed to her boundless intellectual curiosity, her prescient recognition of groundbreaking ideas, her delight in helping young people flourish, her ardent commitment to women, her dedication to Jewish history and culture, and her belief in the power of law to redress injustice.

She was remarkable in her gift for friendship, her capacity to find humor in adversity, her adept problem solving, her immutable loyalty, her instinctive compassion, and her panache. Lisa released the generosity in every person who knew her.

We honor her legacy in her own words:

“I hope that what we have done builds on our hallmark commitments: 

’Betting on people,’ especially talented young people; using technology and media to educate and to build new forms of community; ensuring equal access to high-quality information for all citizens; and protecting the rights while expanding the opportunities of the poor and disadvantaged, women, ethnic, and racial minorities. 

Above all, our goal is to be where others aren’t, where we can bring our unique expertise and our passion to bear, where we can find partners to join us and leverage our own investment. Our hope, always, is that what we do will matter, will make a difference.”