About Us

The Foundation is an Illinois not-for profit corporation,  a private family foundation, and a 501(c)3 charitable organization.

The Foundation is dedicated to bringing about positive change in five major urban areas in which Foundation family trustees are affiliated – Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area and the states in which they are located — with a commitment to providing the educational and developmental opportunities that support equitable outcomes and enable all children and young people to fulfill their potential.The guiding principles that run throughout our grantmaking include:

• The Foundation seeks to effect policy/systems change in its 5 funded cities and the states where they are located.
• The Foundation seeks to leverage best practices in these funded locations so that they can inform change elsewhere.
• The Foundation seeks to foster strategies that position the people for whom change is intended as contributors to and/or leaders in effecting the intended change (e.g. youth, teachers, leaders, families).
• The Foundation seeks to extend its impact through collaboration with public and private sector partners, using its grantmaking as well as non-grantmaking practices to leverage lessons learned, foster a learning community, and support the wide dissemination of best practices in the field through activities such as grantee convenings and dissemination of reports.
• The Foundation seeks to invest in professional development and strategies that take into account non-cognitive factors that contribute to equitable outcomes such as race, home language, culture, social/emotional learning, and mental health.

See Education, Youth Development, Early Childhood Development, and Scholarships for program grantmaking detail.

The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals.