Mary Jalonick

2026 Sustainer of the Year

Following thirty years as President & CEO of The Dallas Foundation, Mary Jalonick retired from The Foundation December 31, 2017.

During her tenure at The Dallas Foundation, Mary was instrumental in the formation of Early Matters Dallas to raise awareness about the importance of high-quality early childhood education. She also established the Woman’s Philanthropy Institute to educate, inspire and empower women at every stage of their philanthropic journey.

Currently, Mary is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation, the Dallas College Foundation, Child Care Group and Social Venture Partners Dallas. Mary is also a member of the Advisory Council of the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, at the University of Texas in Austin and the Executive Board of Southern Methodist University’s SMU in Taos Program.

Mary has chaired the boards of The Hockaday School, Girl’s Adventure Trails, Educational Opportunities, Charter 100 and Philanthropy Advocates (previously known as Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium)

Honors include:
2012 – Award of Excellence for Outstanding Contributions in Philanthropy presented by the Dallas Historical Society
2013 – The Dallas Business Journal’s Women in Business Award
2016 – The establishment of the annual Mary Jalonick Changemaker Award by Early Matters Dallas
2017 – The United Way of Metropolitan Dallas’ Education Award
2018 – Texans Care for Children, Founder’s Award
In December of 2018, the Board of Governors of The Dallas Foundation announced the establishment of the Mary M. Jalonick Women’s Philanthropy Institute Endowment

While an active member of the Jr. League of Dallas, Mary served as Treasurer, Provisional Committee Chair, Research and Development Committee Chair, and Member at Large to the Board. As a Sustainer she has served as a Trustee of the Headquarters Endowment Fund and a member of the Community Advisory Board

Past community board memberships include the Dallas Women’s Foundation, American Red Cross (Dallas Chapter), Hope Cottage Children’s Bureau, the Foundation for Callier Center for Communication Disorders, the Tejas Girl Scout Endowment Foundation, the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas and Philanthropy Southwest (previously known as the Conference of Southwest Foundations)

Mary will be honored at The Milestones Luncheon on April 10, 2025, at the Fairmont Dallas Hotel.  CLICK HERE if you would like to celebrate Mary!