Boston Foundation announces $20 million in grants
Arts advocacy, youth opportunities, workforce development among key investments in $2.2 million discretionary grant docket
Boston – The Boston Foundation announced its quarterly discretionary grants after a meeting of the Foundation Board of Directors today. The Board approved $2,230,000 in single and multi-year discretionary grants to be paid out beginning in the quarter beginning October 1. Of the 13 grantees for the quarter, twelve are receiving multi-year grant support.
In addition, the Board acknowledged nearly $14.5 million in grant payments disbursed since the June meeting of the Board through the Foundation’s Donor Advised Funds, and nearly $3.3 million in other grants released through various Boston Foundation-sponsored initiatives.
The meeting was the first for new Board members Jane Mendillo, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Harvard Management Company, and Paul C. Gannon, a Partner and the Chief Operating Officer for Baupost Group, LLC.
“Our latest round of grants continue the Foundation’s investment in the education, workforce development, economic competitiveness, health, safety and creative economy of Greater Boston,” said Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “We are excited to work with every one of these grantees.”
Advocacy and the Arts
The largest percentage of the Boston Foundation’s discretionary funds is targeted toward the arts in this quarter’s docket. The foundation is providing a $300,000, three-year grant to a new organization – MASSCreative, a new organization that will serve as a powerful, grassroots-driven voice for Massachusetts’ arts and cultural sector. MASSCreative was formally launched October 1 in an event at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester.
The Foundation’s largest grant of the docket was a $375,000, five-year commitment to the Actors’ Shakespeare Project. The Project uses the works of Shakespeare in productions and outreach programs designed to inspire civic dialogue, build relationships between people, strengthen communities, and touch on issues of modern-day humanity.
Mothers for Justice and Equality
The Boston Foundation is pleased to provide a $150,000, three-year grant of operating support to Mothers for Justice and Equality. The grassroots civic leadership organization seeks to end neighborhood violence by empowering its members to be community change-makers and raising the visibility of the human impact of violence.
Children, Education and Health
The Foundation continues its support of a broad range of organizations that provide critical support and benefits to the region’s children and youth.
A $130,000, two-year grant to the Bessie Tartt Wilson Initiative for Children will allow the organization to strengthen its focus on careers and career pathways for early childhood education workers.
Two grants target improving Boston students’ access to healthy activities. A $100,000, two-year grant to the Boston Schoolyard Funders Collaborative will support an organization seeking to transform Boston schoolyards into centers of recreation and learning. Meanwhile, a $150,000, three-year grant to Community Rowing, Inc., will support the expansion of the “Let’s Row” middle school indoor rowing program across Boston’s public middle schools.
Education to Career
The Foundation is also pleased to announce grants to a variety of organizations focused on opportunities for youth and young adults. A $250,000, two-year grant to the New England Center for Arts and Technology will provide operating support for the provider of adult job training and after school arts programas. The Boston Foundation was one of a core group of funders to provide early-stage funding for NECAT.
A two year, $160,000 grant to Massachusetts Advocates for Children will support its program offering transition to career services for young adults with disabilities.
And two grants target students making a transition to college. A $150,000, two-year grant to College Bound Dorchester will provide general operating support to an organization that seeks to equip Dorchester students with the attitude, skills and experience to enter and graduate from college. And a $50,000, one-year grant for Families United in Educational Leadership (FUEL) will help support the continued programming expansion for the family college savings program.
A full list of discretionary grant approved by the Board of Directors follows (listed by strategy):
Strategy: Accelerate structural reform and promote innovation in public schools in Boston.
Families United in Educational Leadership (FUEL) – A $50,000/one-year grant payable to Families United for Educational Leadership, Inc. to provide general operating support for this family college savings program’s continued expansion in Boston as well as its programming in Lynn and Chelsea. Grant Type: General Operating Support
Campaign for Catholic Schools – A $165,000/three-year grant to be paid in equal annual installments to Fund for Catholic Schools, Inc., to support the Campaign’s Increasing Student Enrollment through Outreach Targeting Growing Demographic Groups initiative, which will seek to increase enrollment among large and/or growing ethnic groups in Dorchester and Mattapan.
Strategy: Increase the college graduation rate for low-income, minority and first-generation college students from public schools in Boston.
College Bound Dorchester, Inc. – A $150,000/two-year grant to be paid in equal annual installments to provide general operating support for College Bound Dorchester, Inc., a place-based, comprehensive college access organization that seeks to equip Dorchester students with the attitude, skills and experience to graduate from college.
Strategy: Promote the career advancement and economic security of low-income individuals.
Bessie Tartt Wilson Initiative for Children – A $130,000/two-year grant to be paid in equal annual installments to the Bessie Tartt Wilson Children’s Foundation, Inc. for general operating support for this organization, which strengthens early education and care for children with the greatest need through research, policy development, communication, and advocacy, with a focus on the the Early Education Workforce Access and Advocacy Initiative, which aims to create and strengthen early education career pathways.
Massachusetts Advocates for Children, Inc. – A $160,000/two-year grant to Massachusetts Advocates for Children, which provides a voice for children who face significant barriers to equal educational and life opportunities, to support its program offering transition to career services for young adults with disabilities.
New England Center for Arts & Technology, Inc. – A $250,000/two-year grant to be paid in equal annual installments to provide general operating support for the New England Center for Arts & Technology, Inc., a provider of adult job training and after-school arts programs for high school students. Release of funds is conditional upon the organization developing a full and representative board of trustees and leadership executive team.
Strategy: Increase Greater Boston’s competitiveness, prosperity, and efficiency, and create vibrant urban neighborhoods with opportunities for all residents
ACCION USA, Inc. – A $150,000/two-year grant to be paid in equal annual installments for general operating support for ACCION USA, Inc., an agency that empowers low- to moderate-income entrepreneurs, primarily minorities and women, to invest in their businesses, families and communities through financial services and education in Greater Boston.
Strategy: Encourage healthy behaviors among Boston residents and increase access to healthy food and opportunities for physical activity.
Boston Schoolyard Funders Collaborative – A $100,000/two-year grant to be paid in equal annual installments to the Boston Schoolyards Fund at the Boston Foundation to provide general support for the final two years of operation for the Boston Schoolyard Funders Collaborative, an organization that seeks to transform Boston's schoolyards into dynamic centers for recreation, learning, and community life.
Community Rowing, Inc. – A $150,000/three-year grant to be paid in equal annual installments to support expansion of the Let’s Row Middle School Indoor Rowing League across the entire Boston public school system.
D.E.A.F., Inc. – A $100,000/two-year grant to be paid in equal annual installments to Developmental Evaluation and Adjustment Facilities, Inc., the only multi-service community-based agency in Massachusetts run by and for people who are hearing impaired, to support the expansion of Project HOPE, which develops and delivers health literacy and wellness education and support services to encourage behavioral changes that can improve health outcomes for Deaf, Deaf/Blind, Hard of Hearing, and Late-Deafened people affected by health disparities.
Reduce the incidence of violence in Boston neighborhoods, especially among youth.
Mothers for Justice and Equality – A $150,000/three-year grant to be paid in equal annual installments to Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston, Inc. to provide general support for Mothers for Justice and Equality, a grassroots civic leadership organization that seeks to end neighborhood violence by empowering its members to be effective change-makers and by raising awareness of neighborhood violence, humanizing homicide statistics, and changing the discourse around community violence through media outlets, meetings with government officials, and presentations to corporations and foundations.
Strengthen and celebrate the region’s diverse audiences, artists and nonprofit cultural organizations.
Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Inc. – A $375,000/five-year grant to be paid as follows: $25,000 in year one, $75,000 in year two, $100,000 in year three, $100,000 in year four, and $75,000 in year five to provide general support for the Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Inc., an organization that works as an ensemble of resident company members to encourage civic dialogue, build relationships between people, and strengthen communities through creative projects, productions and programs based on the works of Shakespeare.
MASSCreative – A $300,000/three-year grant to be paid in equal annual installments to Boston Center for the Arts for general support for MASSCreative, an organization that works to engage and unite Massachusetts’ arts and cultural sector to build the political strength necessary to advocate for increased support and investment for arts and cultural activities by federal, state and local leaders.
Ted McEnroe, Director of Public Relations
617-338-3890
ted.mcenroe@tbf.org
The Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the nation, with net assets of $850 million. In 2011, the Foundation and its donors made almost $78 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and received gifts of $81 million. The Foundation is made up of some 850 separate charitable funds established by donors either for the general benefit of the community or for special purposes. The Boston Foundation also serves as a major civic leader, provider of information, convener and sponsor of special initiatives designed to address the community’s and region’s most pressing challenges.
In 2012, the Boston Foundation and The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI) merged, with TPI operating as a distinct unit of the Boston Foundation. TPI pioneered the field of strategic philanthropic advising over 20 years ago and remains a national leader today. Through its consulting services and its work to advance the broader field of strategic philanthropy, TPI has influenced billions of dollars of giving worldwide. TPI’s Center for Global Philanthropy promotes international giving from the U.S. and indigenous philanthropy abroad.
For more information about the Boston Foundation and TPI, visit www.tbf.org or call 617-338-1700.
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