Philanthropist and social activist Laurie Burns McRobbie will be honored Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, at the 12th Annual Rotary Toast at Ivy Tech’s Shreve Hall.

Half of the proceeds from this year’s Toast will benefit Middle Way House where Laurie was a board member for 14 years. Half will benefit other local charitable groups championed by the three Bloomington Rotary clubs. In previous years, they included Exodus Refugee Immigration, Friends of Lake Monroe, Girls Inc. of Monroe County, and Leadership Bloomington.

Bryan Hane, chair of this year’s Toast, said Laurie lives Rotary’s motto of “service above self.”

In 2010, Laurie founded the Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council, helping guide women’s initiatives at Indiana University. Since the Council was founded, it has awarded more than $330,000 in grants to nearly 30 organizations and reaching all eight IU campuses. She also helped found the Center of Excellence for Women in Technology on the Bloomington campus, creating, fostering and improving academic and professional opportunities for female students, faculty and staff.

She is a former board member of the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County and has served on the boards of Middle Way House, addressing domestic violence, and WonderLab, a children’s science museum. She also has had leadership roles with Bloomington’s Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship and IU’s Society of Friends of Music.

Laurie is a founding member of the IU Foundation’s Black Philanthropy Circle and Queer Philanthropy Circle. She has strategically crafted engagement and giving opportunities for women and others to help guide initiatives for women at IU. In 2018, she was presented with the Women Excel Bloomington Award by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.

She served as IU’s 18 th First Lady from 2008-2021, and she has served as co-host on WFIU’s “Noon Edition” since 2022.