Loss Provides Opportunities for Tomorrow’s Leaders
Betsy Martin '77 Leadership Fund
As many of you know, Betsy Martin died on June 4, 2013 peacefully in the loving care of her family at her home in Toronto, following a courageous battle with cancer. Her sister Nancy Martin Ross (SJA ’80) received many letters from friends of Betsy and her fellow high school classmates almost all commented on remembering Betsy’s big smile as she walked the halls of St. Joe. The idea of a scholarship fund in honor of Betsy came from Celeste and Matt Padberg. Betsy and Matt’s friendship go back to a road trip they took together in high school. SJA is so very grateful to also acknowledge the generosity of Nancy and John Ross who with their support helped make the Betsy Martin Leadership Fund for tuition support and assistance possible for this school year.
Betsy’s family is honored by this fund and knows that Betsy would love the idea of helping to fund a young woman’s education. Betsy’s daughter Emma is excited to be able to be part of her mom’s legacy by hearing about the St. Joe student.
Betsy was the beloved wife of Corey Copeland and mother of Emma and much loved sister of Maurice (and Rosemary), sister Michele Hovey (and Scott), Joan (and Perry), Anne (and Marty), and Nancy (and John) and is missed by 17 nieces and nephews. Born in 1959 in Washington D.C. she attended Boston College and later the Harvard Kennedy School, where she earned an MPA and was honored as a Littauer Fellow for academic excellence and community service. Betsy credited Sister Sandra for some of her own drive and ambition from both encouragement and challenges.
After graduating from Harvard, where she met Corey, she began an accomplished career as an advisor to Community Foundations of Canada. She led several ground-breaking initiatives including Our Millennium, a nationwide program that mobilized 4.6 million Canadians in local community-building projects and won the Peter F. Drucker Award for non-profit innovation. An active writer on philanthropic policy, she was also a director of the Social Investment Organization, the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers Network and the Small Change Fund. She co-founded Jackson/Martin, a social impact investment consultancy. She was truly on the forefront of the social impact concept.
Beyond her clear vocational calling and deep commitment to helping others, Betsy was a devoted mother, wife, sister and friend. She was kind, gracious, faithful, and had a wonderful sense of humor and generous heart. She is deeply missed.