A $60,000 grant to provide financial support to photojournalists at The Daily Texan at the University of Texas at Austin has been established by the Tejemos Foundation, founded by Austin residents Lynne Dobson and Greg Wooldridge.
The funding will establish a $50,000 endowment to provide an annual grant to a photojournalist working at The Daily Texan, and an additional $10,000 for immediate needs.
Dobson, who moved to Austin in the 1970s, worked as a photographer at The Daily Texan. A graduate of UT-Austin in 1979, she had a 25-year career as an award-winning photojournalist for newspapers in Ohio, California and Texas, including the Austin American-Statesman. She met her husband, Greg Wooldridge, a sportswriter, at a small newspaper in the San Francisco East Bay area and they began a collaboration that continues to this day.
Lynne Dobson and Greg Wooldridge
Dobson and Wooldridge have more than 50 years of journalism experience between them in newsrooms across the country, including the “Austin American-Statesman” in the late 80s through 2002, where Lynne was a staff photographer and Greg was a sports and features editor. They also worked in the Dobson family business, Whataburger Restaurants, for many years in community and non-profit outreach, communications and public relations. Lynne is a 1979 honors graduate of the School of Journalism at the University of Texas College of Communication and worked as a “Daily Texan” staff photographer. She was inducted into the 2023 Daily Texan Hall of Fame.
Lynne and Greg believe in hands-on philanthropy and collaborating with organizations’ leaders and recipients. This led to the creation of Tejemos Foundation in early 2020, which first provided COVID and hunger relief, crisis healthcare and educational support.
Education and health equity is a main priority with their commitment to UT Dell Medical Global Health, Communities in Schools, Breakthrough, Lifeworks and The Ann Richards School. They are fierce advocates of civil rights and reproductive, maternal healthcare. They feel public radio and journalism non-profits, like KUT-KUTX, and publications like the 19th and Texas Observer are crucial to support.
They are devoted to revitalizing and protecting parks and the environment with The Trail Conservancy, Pease Park and Waterloo Greenway. Equitable educational outreach is a priority in their commitment to Communities In Schools, Lifeworks, Breakthrough Austin and The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders. In 2022, they created, co-edited and co-produced a photo, quote book about Governor Ann Richards, “The One Ann Only,” as part of the Ann Richards Legacy Project.
Their focus on racial and social justice, equality and history preservation led to involvement with Charleston’s new International African American Museum and to their support of the Austin Community Foundation’s The Black Fund and Hispanic Impact Fund. Their global work in Africa and India funds organizations working to improve lives in the sectors of reproductive, maternal healthcare, education, disability and clean water.
Lynne joined the board of Terrewode Women’s Fund in 2016, which partnered in the construction of Terrewode Women’s Community Hospital. It opened in 2019 and is the first hospital in Uganda dedicated to treating impoverished women and girls suffering from the traumatic birth injury of obstetric fistula.
Lynne and Greg have been married since 1990 and have two adult children, Luke and Claire, and a grandson. She loves her Methodist church and enjoys traveling, museums, music, nature, gardening, hiking, running, yoga and snow-skiing.