A conversation with Karen Lambert on legacy, leadership, and how Macon’s future is guided by the Peyton Anderson Foundation
Story by Jami Gaudet
The legacy of philanthropist Peyton Anderson extends beyond his self-named foundation and love of Macon. Since its establishment in 1988 the Peyton Anderson Foundation has provided strong, steadfast, seamless leadership that has propelled the revitalization of downtown, and plays a central role in transforming Macon-Bibb County to this day.
A newspaper titan and businessman, he devoted his life to improving the lives of the people in his hometown and foresaw a way to continue that benefaction beyond his lifetime. He created his foundation a year before his passing with a hand-picked executive director—his trusted assistant, Juanita Jordan—securely in place.
The Foundation began operating in 1989, and in 36 years, has been led by only two people. Jordan for 23 years, and since 2012, her daughter, Karen Lambert — both sharing unswerving devotion to fulfilling Peyton Anderson’s wishes, ensuring the Foundation’s financial solidity, and ardently safeguarding his legacy.
In a wide-ranging conversation with Macon Magazine, Karen Lambert, president and CEO of the Peyton Anderson Foundation, talks with Jami Gaudet about the influence of her powerhouse mother; the career path and life experiences that prepared her to pilot the Foundation; and how she carefully manages Peyton Anderson’s sizeable fortune, remaining laser focused on the vision he never lived to see.
When did you first meet Peyton Anderson?
I met him in the early 1970s. He’d invite our family to his lake house, and we’d attend his parties. I learned how to waterski on his boat. And sometimes, when my mom was in the office, I’d pop in.
I interviewed your mother years ago, and she shared the story of her ascension from Lizella school bus driver to president and CEO. It’s a remarkable story.
My mom was never afraid of work. She did drive a school bus, and it took Mr. Anderson forever to convince her to leave that job. When she gave it up, she got her real estate license and started Hamlin Jordan Realty with her friend, Betty Hamlin.
My mom and dad, a civil service employee at the base, were married 52 years, and when he retired, he and mom developed a subdivision at Lake Tobesofkee called North Lake Woods. Before that she had a small catering business for neighborhood parties and church functions and arranged flowers for weddings. I admired that she always had little businesses and enlisted the whole family when she needed us. That’s how we grew up.
Your mom began work for Peyton Anderson as his assistant. Given his wealth and connections, he could have chosen anyone, but he entrusted the foundation to her. What did that say about him, and her?
Peyton was an impeccable judge of character. He saw someone who was loyal, hardworking, eager to learn, and honest. My mother had good judgment, and after working with her for a long time he was confident that she would carry out his vision to improve Macon and the foundation would be in good hands with her leadership.
How hard was it for your mother nearly 40 years ago to be one of the most powerful women in a sea of powerful men?
She never spoke of it in those terms. She felt comfortable in the room and learned from Peyton that you don’t have to know how to do everything. You just have to surround yourself with smart and capable people, and she did.
She was an early member of a group that called themselves the CIC Group — Chicks in Charge, which included Emily Myers at Mercer; Joe Wilbanks at Georgia Power; Charlotte McMullen, a local accountant; and Carol Hudler, then publisher of The Macon Telegraph. They’d meet for wine and cheese and discuss business. I don’t believe they ever felt intimidated or discriminated against.
Was your mother’s vision a departure from Peyton Anderson’s, and how did she shape her role?
That’s a hard question because the Foundation was formed through Peyton’s estate after he died, so he never had an active role. But she knew him so well and understood what was important to him, so he trusted her to shape his vision.
I remember her telling me that he liked good doers, not do-gooders. Explain the difference.
Peyton Anderson loved this community, and his vision was to improve the lives of people here. He wasn’t detailed and didn’t specify the things he wanted to do. He gave the board the flexibility and freedom to respond to the changing needs of people and the community. A lot of people don’t realize how profound that is. In his later years when he revealed his plan to establish a Foundation upon his death, my mom asked him, “What kind of things do you want us to do? How do you think things should go?”
He said, “You know me better than anyone. Needs and times will change. Just make sure that you award the money to good doers — people who are in it for the right reason, who make an impact and have a plan — not the do-gooders, which in many cases, means people who do things to lift themselves up.”
…When I came to the foundation in 2012 I hired a consultant from the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, somebody from out-of-town to look at our local nonprofits. Macon has many nonprofits that do similar work in the area of human needs, like feeding people and youth development. For a community of our size there’s a lot of overlap which makes no sense.
There were a lot of do-gooders, but I wanted to know who was doing work that moved the community forward — the good-doers.
Tell me about your career path.
I started my career out of Mercer University and worked briefly in banking in Atlanta. When I returned to Macon I worked at the Telegraph and News in promotions, promoting events like the Labor Day Road Race, and did backup work in their national advertising department.
After I married, we moved to Alabama with my husband’s business, and I was a stay-at-home mom for 11 years. When he died in 1994, I remained home for another year. And then, for myriad reasons I decided it was time to return to the workforce.
I was fortunate to be hired at the Grand Opera House after Mercer took over its management. Initially, I was hired for rentals and ended up as the executive director.
How long were you there?
From 1996 to 2009 when I was appointed president and CEO of the Cherry Blossom Festival. I was there from 2009-2012. So, my two most recent positions were in arts and culture, both located downtown.
While climbing the professional ladder at the Grand Opera House and Cherry Blossom Festival did you aspire to lead the foundation, or think, I’m a natural heir to this role?
Absolutely not. Dr. Bill Cummings and Peyton were friends and Dr. Cummings approached me to apply. At the time, no one knew that my mother was preparing to retire. Maybe she told my dad — but not the staff, and not me or the rest of the family.
That said, when Dr. Cummings approached me, I was thrilled and extremely honored to be considered by the Foundation’s board. They wanted someone local because the Foundation is local. It was an exhaustive search, and they interviewed or considered roughly 40 people. Mom had no part in the hiring process.
Has your vision or priorities differed from your mother’s?
We have always been aligned on the big, most transformational community initiatives. I grew up understanding Peyton Anderson’s vision because I was at my mother’s table every Sunday, so none of this was foreign to me when I took the job. The main and most impactful work we’ve done and grants we’ve awarded deal with the revitalization of downtown and that will remain.
It’s amazing what’s been accomplished since NewTown Macon’s creation in 1996, which your mother spearheaded.
For years I remember my mother looking out her office window into downtown, saying, “downtown is dead, we’ve got to fix it.” But it wasn’t just her. There were other capable people too — like Kirby Godsey, Charlie Jones, Ben Porter, and Bob Hatcher. She was very proud to bring people together for a unified vision.
I would give anything for her to ride around the city with me now or look out the window of this office today and see downtown. She saw a lot of change before she died in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, but there have been dramatic changes since then.
Let’s talk about the foundation’s operation.
I’m a member of the board of trustees and also the chief executive. We’re committed to Peyton Anderson’s vision to promote Macon and propel the city forward. Donor intent is so important with private foundations. Peyton’s wisdom was giving the trustees the freedom and discretion to adapt to changing community needs.
We look for opportunities. We surround ourselves with smart people. We’re very involved in the work of NewTown Macon. We’re advocates for great things the city wants to do, and we find a way to add to those discussions and to the projects themselves…
Kirby Godsey is the chairman of the board. Other members are federal judge Mark Treadwell; Community Foundation president and CEO Kathryn Dennis; myself; and Peyton’s grandson, Reid Hanson, who lived in Macon during his early years and is a professor in Alabama.
What are your priorities?
A vibrant downtown will continue to be our utmost priority, largely through NewTown Macon and other partners. NewTown has been a game changer for the entire city. In addition to our financial support, we remain fully engaged in downtown. It’s Macon’s economic and entertainment hub and we’re developing a very strong residential element. Other partners also are very involved and that’s the beauty of it. We don’t consider it ours. It’s the community’s and there’s wide support.
Speaking of game changers, how about the Downtown Challenge grant program, which funded an array of significant projects?
Downtown Challenge was a result of the Macon Action Plan which we co-funded with the Knight Foundation and which was executed by the Community Foundation. People and businesses received funds to bring their dreams to fruition in downtown.It included projects like the downtown Christmas lights, which has been an economic boon for the holiday season.
What are the Foundation’s interests beyond downtown?
The trustees have always felt that supporting local institutions which are pillars of Macon is crucial — our four colleges and universities, healthcare systems, and cultural organizations, which includes our museums and entertainment venues. They are our most important economic drivers, and our goal is to ensure that Middle Georgia continues to flourish.
How about lesser-known projects and investments that are impactful, nonetheless?
Several years ago we began mission-related investing (MRI). ** We learned that we could extend our impact by investing some of our corpus (endowment) in projects that further our mission, and we’ve done that several times. We follow the IRS guidance and give grants amounting to 5% of our portfolio.
What’s an example?
In 2020 we invested gap financing in Hotel 45 in downtown Macon which enabled that project to move along in a timely manner and be successful. In 2018 we invested in the Bibb Theater and hope to finalize that project soon. We also made an equity investment in the Willingham Lofts, the building right beside the Bibb Theater and the Foundation is getting a return. And there’s an office building on Mulberry Street in which we hold several floors.
How about examples of the Foundation’s boldest projects?
We’ve purchased several tracts of land including the Lamar Mounds (2021) and Branson Tracts (2024) as part of ONPPI (Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative).
One of our earlier bold MRIs was our 2013 purchase of nearly 700 acres of beautiful riverfront property which includes land for hunting and fishing and some swamp land.
We bought it at auction for nearly one-million dollars to eventually be included in the National Park and Preserve. We expected that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department had an interest in it, but the wheels of government run very slowly. What we thought would take six months took six years and we sold it back to them for a nice return.
Where is it located?
Near the Mounds on Bondsview Road. I remember riding out there and some of the land had ruts at least four feet deep. It turned out to be a good thing; it just took longer than we anticipated.
That property is preserved and secured, but that was the most scared I’ve ever been in my life. It was a baptism by fire for me, a bold move that worked out well for us and obviously will be great for the park. We have confidence that the National Park designation will come.
In 2024 the Foundation made an historic investment in Macon and Mercer University.
In 2024 we committed to our largest award to date, $10 million for a beautiful Mercer University School of Medicine campus.
We worked with the city to assemble that riverfront property on Riverside Drive, and the board is unanimously committed to the project. We broke ground in early November. And with the new convention center at First and Walnut and the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park, Macon will experience historic change.
Tell me about the Foundation’s role with the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail.
We were early funders of the Trail to create a multi-use river trail system central to Macon’s revitalization strategies. We found the expertise and assembled a team led by Chris Sheridan, Mike Ford and Ben Porter. The Trail, which has been in progress for years has enlivened downtown and the entire city. It’s a premier asset for Macon providing a beautiful riverside greenway. Currently, the OHT is 12 or 13 acres of connected trails and attracts about a half-million people annually.
Chris Sheridan, who has done tremendous work on the Trail, and others, have told me that my mother is referred to as the “Mother of the Trail.”
Any other unexpected ventures?
When The Telegraph started pulling back years ago, and with so much happening with the Board of Education and other entities in Macon, we thought it important to have news coverage and a record of activity. So, we began funding an Accountability Reporter for The Melody (Macon newspaper) and the Civic Journalism Fellow for the Reg Murphy Center.**
We also fund a beat reporter at the state Capitol which is a program of the Georgia Press Association. All of these investments are crucial to ensure transparency in journalism. To be clear, we don’t fund a person, we fund the positions. These investments may seem unexpected but are very appropriate because the Foundation’s money originated from newspapers.
Another unexpected initiative was Teach to Inspire (2017), a grant program that provided $535,000 for 145 classroom projects for Bibb County public school teachers. We created a very simple process, and teachers submitted projects, a budget, and what they wanted to accomplish. And in 2019 we funded all of the requests Bibb County teachers had placed on the online Donors Choose platform, which was very impactful and completely unexpected.
**NOTE: The Reg Murphy Center for Collaborative Journalism is a partnership between Mercer University, The Telegraph, Georgia Public Broadcasting, and 13WMAZ. Jointly, they provide and publish news content for the community on its website and provide real world journalism experience for students.
How about sharing an important but little-known fact about the Peyton Anderson Foundation’s soaring impact on Macon?
Most people don’t know that the Peyton Anderson Foundation is the largest private foundation headquartered in Macon and our mission is solely focused on improving lives locally. We have tremendous partners like Knight Foundation, which is a huge national foundation that does incredible work, and the Community Foundation, which is so important to Macon and the surrounding area. But as far as private foundations, we’re the largest and our entire focus is Macon.
It all goes back to Peyton in his lifetime. He made a habit of giving quietly, with education a priority. He underwrote the education for Jim Wooton, former editor of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and Tom Johnson, who was an aide to President Lyndon Johnson, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, president of CNN, and who has written a new book, Driven. Tom Johnson calls Peyton Anderson his mentor and the most significant influence in his life.
And finally, over the years I’ve heard varying numbers about the size of the Foundation’scoffer. What’s the actual number?
I get numbers weekly. It’s roughly $140 million, which is our endowment now, and our grant total awarded to date is $142.4 million… In the spirit of Peyton Anderson, we don’t seek notoriety for the grants we provide but appreciate acknowledgement of them.
Predictably humble, both you and Peyton Anderson. Thank you, Karen.
QUOTABLE: KAREN LAMBERT’S LEADERSHIP
Reid Hanson, Peyton Anderson Foundation board member and grandson of Peyton Anderson
Karen has been an exceptional steward of the Peyton Anderson Foundation and a thoughtful guardian of my grandfather’s vision. She leads with both heart and discipline, consistently honoring donor intent while encouraging bold, strategic investment in Macon. Karen’s ability to collaborate with the Foundation trustees, community partners, and nonprofit leaders has strengthened the Foundation’s impact and ensured that my grandfather’s legacy of service and opportunity continues to thrive. I am deeply fortunate to have her leadership.
Federal Judge Marc Treadwell, Peyton Anderson Foundation board member
Giving away money is not that easy, not the way the Peyton Anderson Foundation does it. Karen Lambert is a master at fulfilling our mission. She, along with her lean and talented staff, finds sound investments that serve our community. Karen also works extremely well with other foundations, particularly the Knight Foundation and Community Foundation of Central Georgia, which is critical to exponentially increasing local philanthropic impact. That’s what has impressed me most in the ten years I’ve served on the board: just how much work and skill it takes to give away money effectively. Karen has that skill, and she works hard to ensure that our grants serve Mr. Anderson’s vision for the Foundation.
James Fritze, NewTown Macon President & CEO
Newtown Macon was started in 1996 by Juanita Jordan, the Peyton Anderson Foundation’s first president and CEO and Karen is carrying that torch with strong and compassionate leadership. We work closely with her and it’s not dramatic to say that Newtown’s transformative projects wouldn’t have been possible without the Peyton Anderson Foundation and Karen’s steadfast leadership. She is committed to the continued revitalization of Downtown Macon and has championed our work and pushed us forward over the course of many projects and many years.