In 1977,  Lida Orzeck co-founded Hanky Panky, the globally distributed Made-in-USA lingerie brand whose goals have always been quality, comfort and great looks provided by an ethically-focused business. 
Her circuitous path to the fashion industry began with a BA in Psychology from Barnard, a PhD in Social Psychology from Teachers College at Columbia University and research stints with the NYC Police Department and Health and Hospitals Corporation, studying the interview process of detectives in the Sex Crimes Unit and then the emergency medical services delivery system, and making recommendations for improvement in both. Lida’s philanthropic interests are various, including the arts, educational equity and social justice.  She is currently on the boards of Barnard College, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the International Organization for Women and Development (which provides obstetric fistula repair surgery in Rwanda) and is a past board member of Doug Varone & Dancers.
Lida served as co-executive producer of the award-winning webseries, Anyone But Me, and lead producer of the Off-Broadway play, 20th Century Blues.  In 2015 she endowed the rotating Distinguished  Artist-in-Residence chair at Barnard, whose inaugural recipient was the illustrious dancer, Wendy Whelan, and which is currently funding the globally-recognized visual artist, Toyin Ojih Odutola.