March 28, 2024

East Providence Woman Wins Rhode Island Foundation’s Highest Honor

Hundreds of community and business leaders look on as Elizabeth Manchester is honored

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East Providence, RI – As hundreds of business and community leaders watched, an East Providence woman has been honored for her work with one of the Rhode Island Foundation’s most prestigious awards.

Elizabeth Manchester received the Harold B. Soloveitzik Professional Leadership Award, which recognizes a member of the professional adviser community who has demonstrated an enduring commitment to philanthropy.

“I work with nonprofit organizations to help them achieve their mission strategically and with finesse. I also work with donors who want to help nonprofits achieve their missions as well. People achieve their philanthropic goals, thereby allowing the nonprofits to plan for the future,” said Manchester, who chairs the Foundation’s Professional Advisory Council.

The Foundation recognized Manchester for her emphasis on and expertise in charitable planning as a service to the community as well as to his clients.

“Living and working here in Rhode Island is great. I think it’s such an interesting opportunity to make an impact on a really close-knit community,” she said. “Most recently, we worked with a donor who made a large gift to the Foundation. I had the experience of serving on their professional advisory council, so I felt really confident in working with the donor and in expressing everything the Foundation could offer them and the Rhode Island community.”

A partner at Partridge, Snow & Hahn, she chairs the firm's Charitable & Nonprofit Organizations Practice Group and co-chairs the Trusts & Estates Group.

“I started my engagement with foundation work before joining the firm. I just found myself drawn to the nonprofit mission, how our work was assisting them,” she said.

Manchester earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Providence College and her law degree at Northeastern University. She is a graduate of Leadership Rhode Island, serves on the Taco/The White Family Foundation Board of Directors, the Board of Directors for Partnership for Philanthropic Planning of Rhode Island and Providence College President's Council; and co-chairs the Business Organizations Committee for the Rhode Island Bar.

“Elizabeth deeply believes in philanthropy and charitable impact in Rhode Island. She is a trusted advisor to numerous nonprofits across Rhode Island, who brings a unique perspective to her work, having both legal expertise as well as experience working in the nonprofit sector,” said Bridget Baratta, the Foundation’s vice president of development.

The Rhode Island Foundation is the largest and most comprehensive funder of nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island. Working with generous and visionary donors, the Foundation raised $98 million and awarded $76 million in grants to organizations addressing the state’s most pressing issues and needs of diverse communities in 2021. Through leadership, fundraising and grant-making activities, often in partnership with individuals and organizations, the Foundation is helping Rhode Island reach its true potential. For more information, visit www.rifoundation.org

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