In an effort to pay it forward and leave a legacy for community involvement, Edie founded the Edie Hand Foundation after the loss of her three young brothers and her own battles with cancer.

Today Edie has increased her legacy to help women through entrepreneurship networks in colleges throughout North America and leveraging philanthropy community outreach programs to help women improve their personal and financial lives.  Corporate sponsorships have been an instrumental component in the success of these programs.

A primary focus of the foundation is to enhance educational opportunities for women and minorities and leverage the STEM programs which align with the goals of the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE program to increase the representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers, thereby contributing to the development of a more diverse science and engineering workforce.

The foundation-supported Women of True Grit program works to increase opportunities for diversity within entrepreneurship endeavors in all segments of the workforce. This program and its information have been previously held at Bevill Community College in Sumiton, AL, Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, FL, and the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario (Canada). These programs will be extended to more colleges throughout the year to create more of an educational impact.

Edie is also active in promoting the HealUnited program in Alabama schools to promote healthy eating and exercise so children develop good habits for the rest of their lives. In addition to the educational focus of the foundation, support is ongoing for a number of other organizations.  View some of those charities here.