Dodee Crockett

“To me, giving is accepting my part in the human story, “ said financial advisor Dodee Crockett, who opened a donor advised fund at The Dallas Foundation in 1999. “We are all connected and responsible for sharing our personal gifts. When I did not have money, I gave time – from teaching to building houses to stocking food at a food pantry.”

Now ranked as one of the top 100 women financial advisors in the country, Ms. Crockett has the joy of being able to share both expertise and funding with the agencies she values most. She and her husband, professional musician and producer Billy Crockett, invest in groups that build community and help people express themselves through the arts.

“My husband and I have long supported agencies like Shared Housing, Ronald McDonald House and CitySquare (formerly Central Dallas Ministries). These organizations not only assist those in distress, but in the process, foster long-term solutions and demonstrate effective use of community resources.

“I earned a master’s degree from the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, and support the seminary for its work in developing leaders in the church, business and the community. We also want to help bring the visual and performing arts to children. Arts are not a luxury – they’re essential to the development of creative, whole persons.”

The Dallas Foundation has served as a resource and a catalyst, Ms. Crockett said, helping the couple grow as philanthropists.

“The Dallas Foundation has been creative and responsive as we have developed our own priorities of giving,” she said. “Because we have no children, we have included The Foundation as the beneficiary of the bulk of our estates and trust that they will continue to manage our philanthropic vision after we are gone.”