"We Have the Power to Make Middlebury Stronger and Better"

Sandhya Douglas ’93

Partner, Senior Managing Director, Head of Strategy, Wellington Management Company

What impact did Middlebury have on you?

Middlebury changed my life—the intellectual growth, the personal growth, the deep and lasting life-long connections and relationships that I built there with my fellow students—it is a place that completely changed the possibilities I thought my life held.

There are so many important causes to give to today, why give to Middlebury?

I could not have afforded Middlebury without the strength of the financial aid package that was given to me. And so now, I find it extremely important to give back.

I would encourage everyone to examine what Middlebury has done for them. Most of us understand why it was such a pivotal experience and that the only way we can repay it is to pay it forward. So we have to give.

Very early on after I graduated, I started to give. It’s important to develop the habit—start by donating $10 a month out of your bank account, increase that as your career grows, and your earnings grow. If you are successful enough to be able to give at much higher levels than do—because it was others who gave that allowed me to have a life-altering experience at Middlebury. I want to make sure that tradition continues. We have to keep that going. 

The number of women stepping into philanthropic leadership roles is growing. Why do you feel this is important? 

Today, there are more women college graduates than men. There are more women going into postgraduate education. Women are in every field, overcoming every barrier. And that gives us power. We have the power make Middlebury stronger and better. 

Giving allows me to open doorways and pathways to influence outcomes. And women are amassing power. We have collected power. I believe in women using that power for the greater good—to think laterally, to think about community, to think about fostering the networks that are around us. And so we can do that by lending our time, talent, and treasure. 

I call upon my fellow women graduates to shape this institution, to help it thrive, to help it grow, and let our voices and our dollars really impact and shape this place, because we can. And we should do that.

What do you think the impact will be of communities like the Middlebury Women’s Giving Circle on the future of women in philanthropy?

I would really love to see the Women’s Giving Circle step up financially, and then beyond that, to build a women-connected network for graduates, to help them, to guide them, to place them, to make connections for them.

There are enough of us, there is a gravitational center now that’s forming. And these women’s circles can be the power behind those efforts.