Evy Kay Washburne grew up in Dallas, graduating cum laude from Hockaday School. She attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville where she completed a BA, cum laude, in Economics and Mathematics. She returned to Dallas in 1992 with an MBA from Belmont University and 20 years of leadership experience with a myriad of not-for-profit organizations in the Nashville area. One of her favorite collaborative efforts was spearheading a downtown revitalization program in Nashville modeled after the National Trust for Historic Preservation's “Main Street" program.
In Nashville and in Dallas, she has worked as charter three new charities and served as executive director for another three, from social services to historic preservation and community development; and she is a Certified Professional Facilitator. For four years, she served as Vice President for Operations at the Meadows Foundation. There, she was responsible for tenant programming, property management, and community relations for their 20-acre Wilson Historic District campus that houses 30+ non-profit organizations. Evy Kay continued her interest in urban community development by serving as program manager for the East Dallas Healthy Communities Initiative and as Executive Director of East Dallas Weed and Seed, a community-building partnership program for revitalization of one of the most culturally diverse areas of the city.
In 2002, she facilitated the regional collaborative that created the Transition Resource Action Center (TRAC) as North Texas’ one-stop center for youth aging out of the foster care system. It operates as a program of CitySquare (formerly Central Dallas Ministries), and she served as its director until her retirement in 2013. In 2023, she returned as TRAC’s Board Chair and is coordinating its transition to an independent 501(c)3 organization. TRAC has been recognized as a regional, state and national “best practice” agency serving foster youth.
A graduate of Leadership Nashville, Leadership Dallas, and Leadership Texas, Evy Kay has served on the Center for Nonprofit Management’s Nonprofit Loan Committee, and on the boards of Preservation Dallas, the Deep Ellum Foundation, Dallas CASA, and the Epilepsy Foundation (local and national). She has served as president of the Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club in Nashville and as Philanthropy Chair in Nashville and Dallas. She served on the board of the Meadows Foundation for 25 years and was active in Philanthropy Southwest and the Council on Foundations, serving as Chair of the National Conference for Family Philanthropy. She is a sustaining member of the Junior League, an active investor in Dallas Social Venture Partners, and a member of Highland Park United Methodist Church.
Evy Kay is a Standards for Excellence Licensed Consultant for the Nonprofit Impact Institute with Social Venture Partners Dallas (SVP Dallas). For more information on the Nonprofit Impact Institute, please contact dogoodbetter@svpdallas.org.