Our Founders
Barbara and Pitt Hyde, co-founders of Hyde Family Foundation.
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Barbara R. Hyde
Barbara R. Hyde is chair and CEO of Hyde Family Foundation, the Memphis-based philanthropy she established with her husband Pitt to invest in education, arts and culture, civic leadership, and neighborhoods and public spaces.
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Pitt Hyde
Pitt Hyde is an entrepreneur, a philanthropist, and one of Memphis' most consequential civic leaders. He is the founder of AutoZone and, together with his wife Barbara, co-founder of Hyde Family Foundation.
A family commitment, sharpened over generations.
In 1961, J.R. Hyde Sr. founded a family foundation in Memphis on a simple conviction: to whom much is given, much is required. His grandson, Pitt, joined the board as a teenager and absorbed that same guiding principle. That foundation operated in Memphis for more than 50 years.
In 1992, Barbara and Pitt Hyde created Hyde Family Foundation with a commitment to invest strategically and entrepreneurially in Memphis' long-term future, building on the city's distinctive strengths, its culture, its people, and its institutions, and to prove that a mid-size American city could compete and lead on a national stage.
Together, Barbara and Pitt have shaped that vision into a foundation known for hands-on partnership, long-term investment, and a belief that Memphis' future is worth building, sleeves rolled up.
For Barbara and Pitt, philanthropy has always been a family endeavor. All five of their children serve on Hyde Foundation's board, carrying that same commitment forward across generations.
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