Sylvia Fields led Eden Hall Foundation since 1996. She oversaw the foundation with $300 million in total assets—and was responsible for allocating approximately $15 million annually. More than just a veteran grantmaker and administrator, Sylvia is an exemplary leader.
She began her grantmaking career at the Duquesne Light Company, where she was best known for establishing a Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy. Throughout her career, Sylvia worked to build a better community by focusing on opportunities for women, girls and underserved youth. She initiated the Women in Philanthropy program with Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania, and she’s a founding member of the African American Funders Group of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Sylvia is a past director of Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania, Seton Hill University, the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum and Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation. She is the past board president of the YWCA USA.
Sylvia has received numerous awards, including Pittsburgh’s 50 Most Influential African American Women by the New Pittsburgh Courier, the Governor’s Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania Award and Pittsburgh’s ATHENA Award.
Sylvia holds a bachelor’s degree from Seton Hill College and a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University.