By the Time She Retires This Year, Martha Richards Will Have Directed Almost $110 Million to More Than 500 Arts and Education Organizations

Martha Richards has embodied some of the most iconic characters in American theater, from Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible to Anna in The King and I.

Yet when she auditioned for an improvisational theater company, she remembers being told, “You’re just not a type. You know, you don’t look like an ingenue. Your voice isn’t quite right. You’ll probably grow into your role by the time you’re 50.”

Richards had no intention of waiting that long, and she didn’t become the “great actress” she dreamed of being. But serving as executive director of the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation turned out to be the role of a lifetime.

For 14 years, Richards has been one of Portland’s most influential philanthropists. At the Miller Foundation, she has directed almost $110 million to more than 500 organizations, most of them related to education or the arts. It’s a daunting legacy—and after she retires in December, a new executive director will have to live up to it.

“It just made sense,” Richards says of her retirement. “And coming out of a pandemic, coming out of the racial reckoning, coming out of the challenges that we face in this state, it’s time for younger leaders—who I think are fabulous—to have a shot at driving some of the things that will need to happen in the next few years.”

Looking back on her stewardship of the Miller Foundation, Richards notes how her background as an actor dovetailed with her responsibilities as a fundraiser.

“You know, ‘With your support, we’ll make our goal this year’—that kind of stuff,” she says. “You have to be able to say that without having your face crumble, or laughing, as a fundraiser. And also, for years, I have been sort of a quiet voice at the Miller Foundation. It’ll be interesting to see who I actually am when I’m no longer playing this role.”