Mission
The Lauren Nichelle Dobbs Wiggins M.D. Memorial Fund exists to help young women and girls reach their full potential by providing access to unique, fortifying experiences and opportunities outside of the classroom.
Pillars of Service
We aim to achieve our mission by investing in resources, scholarships and activities for young women and girls in four key pillars of service: Creative Confidence, Community Leadership, Music Education, and Resilience.
Creative Confidence
Objective: Young women and girls confidently express their ideas and imagination through art, writing, music, technology, entrepreneurship, performance, and other creative outlets without reservation and in all walks of life.
Community Leadership
Objective: Young women and girls pursue and excel in leadership roles and positions that enable them to positively influence, organize and impact the communities they participate in and the communities they care about.
Music Education
Objective: Music has impact beyond concert and dance halls. For young women and girls, music unlocks empathy, gives access and fosters connection to people, places, cultures and broader communities that otherwise would not be possible.
Resilience
Objective: Young women and girls are equipped with the methods, tools, and support systems they need to overcome the mental, physical, and social challenges of life, so that no barrier keeps them from reaching their full potential.
Values
Faith - Believing and trusting in someone or something strongly.
Family - Surrounding oneself with a group of people united by blood, love and/or friendship.
Wellness - Actively pursuing the state of being in good mental, emotional and physical health.
Equality - Achieving a state of being equal, especially in status, rights and opportunities.
Diversity - Including people from a range of different social, ethnic, economic and religious backgrounds.
Perseverance - Persistently doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.
Global Perspective - Viewing situations with a comprehensive lens through which you see the world.
Kindness - Being friendly, generous and considerate of other people and their feelings.
In Loving Memory of Lauren Nichelle Dobbs Wiggins M.D.
This Memorial Fund is an official Texas non-profit organization established in 2020 to honor the life and legacy of Lauren Nichelle Dobbs Wiggins, M.D.
Lauren Nichelle Dobbs Wiggins, M.D., an ophthalmologist at Baylor Scott and White in Dallas, died on October 14, 2020. Lauren was born on December 30, 1981, in Boston, MA. Her family moved to Dallas 8 months later.
She was a graduate of The Hockaday School, Harvard College and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She did her Residency in Ophthalmology at the University of Missouri. Before entering medical school, she taught fourth grade math and science for two years at the St. Philips School and Community Center in South Dallas.
Lauren was a gifted violinist. She began lessons prior to her 3rd birthday, was a member of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestras for 12 years, concertmistress of the Hockaday Orchestra, member of the Harvard College Baroque Chamber Orchestra, founder of the Kuumba Singers Orchestra and member of the UTHSCSA String Quartet. She also was a National Scholarship Recipient of the National Association of Negro Musicians. At Hockaday, Lauren was president of the Debate Club and Gospel Choir and the recipient of the Sudie Duncan Award for leadership and service to the school community.
Lauren was a life-long, active member of the St. Luke "Community" United Methodist Church. As a child, she was nurtured and confirmed in the faith by Rev. Zan Wesley Holmes, Jr. She was an active participant in all children, youth and music ministries. When she returned to Dallas to start her medical practice, she joined the Women's Chorus, Multigenerational Bible Study and the Adora Ministry. In addition she served on the Church Anniversary Committee and was Vice-President of the Church Council.
As impressive as her education and resume are, her most outstanding quality was the size of her heart. Lauren loved! Lauren's capacity to love was endless. She loved God, her family, her friends, her patients, her students, her Church family and her co-workers. Lauren loved everyone and welcomed them with a smile. Lauren had a unique capacity to sense the needs of others and a strong desire to be helpful.
She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Paul and Christine Dobbs of St. Louis, MO, and Wyman and Dolores Wiggins of Ft. Worth, TX. Those who will cherish her memory include: her parents, Dr. Paula Dobbs-Wiggins and Attorney Kevin B. Wiggins; brothers, Kyle Eliot Dobbs Wiggins (Megan), Paul Wesley Dobbs Wiggins and Kevin Jarrett Dobbs Wiggins; and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, other relatives, patients, coworkers and friends.
Donations
Contributions to the Lauren Nichelle Dobbs Wiggins M.D. Memorial Fund will help us keep Lauren’s legacy alive by helping young women and girls reach their full potential for generations to come!