Children & Youth
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This Family Foundation Wants to Teach Tween Girls About Philanthropy Through Travel
The Marks Family Foundation’s Amy Dornbusch wants to use global travel and project visits to teach philanthropy to the next generation.
How a Foundation Is Stepping Up for Military Kids Facing Mental Health Challenges
A growing array of grantmakers are backing mental health these days, often with a focus on youth. The Bob Woodruff Foundation is paying particular attention to the children of service members and veterans.
Inside the Bainum Family Foundation’s Deepening Support for Early Ed
The longstanding youth funder recently doubled down on its support for very young children with a five-year, $100 million funding commitment. We explore Bainum’s early childhood work and where it’s heading.
“Truly a Crisis.” Backing Abortion Access and Support Two Years After Dobbs
The Brigid Alliance, a leading U.S. abortion support provider, has staunch backers in its camp, like the Bergstrom Foundation. But rising need dwarfs incoming resources, and philanthropy has yet to go all-in.
Housing Former Foster Youth in LA: Checking in with Daniel Heimpel
The foster youth activist is working to get philanthropies to invest endowment dollars in affordable housing. We checked in on how that’s going and got his take on aligned strategies to fight homelessness.
Get Down On It: The Family Behind This Legendary Funk Band Focuses on Music Education
This father-and-sons team is channeling the funk legacy of Kool & The Gang into a mission to keep music alive in schools through their Kool Kids Foundation.
From Breadth to Depth: The Blank Family Foundation Tackles Mental Health
The Arthur M. Blank Foundation launched its mental health and wellbeing grantmaking initiative two years ago. We explore its wide-lens approach — and what it’s learned along the way.
“We Have a Responsibility.” Six Funders Supporting Immigrant and Refugee Children and Families
With numbers of unaccompanied migrant children at record highs in recent years, and many immigrant families in the U.S. struggling, there’s a vast well of need. Here are some funders who’ve been writing those checks.
Schools Are “the Heartbeat of Rural Places” — and They Could Use More Philanthropic Support
Philanthropy underfunds rural America, including rural schools, which play a pivotal role in their communities. In the first of a two-part series, we explore how funders can approach the challenges facing rural education.
Bainum: How a Youth-Focused Family Philanthropy Has Evolved Over Five Decades
The Bainum Family Foundation, built on a hospitality fortune, has been singularly focused on young people since it got off the ground in 1968. But it’s also changed quite a bit through the generations. Here’s a close look.
Pivotal Ventures Makes the Case for Why “Care Can’t Wait”
Melinda French Gates’ rapidly expanding philanthropy signaled its intention to continue strengthening U.S. infrastructure for care, “the work that makes all other work possible.”
How a New Funder Is Taking on the Thorny Issue of Youth Mental Health
Officially launched in 2022, The Goodness Web has given away over $7 million so far, channeling resources mostly raised from individual donors. As it grows, it aspires to be a coordinating force for youth mental health philanthropy.
On the Eve of the Paris Olympics, a Global Sports Philanthropy Reflects on Its Past and Future
Inspired by Nelson Mandela’s conviction that “sport has the power to change the world,” Laureus has a global funding footprint. Olympic athletes like gold medalists Edwin Moses and Nadia Comaneci help lead its work.
A Philanthropy-Backed Competition Taps Winning Cohort to Promote Youth Mental Health
Young people’s digital wellbeing is the focus for Young Futures’ Lonely Hearts Club Funding Challenge, which just announced its 10 inaugural winners. Behind the challenge are funders like Melinda French Gates and Susan Crown.
What’s Next for the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation?
The Microsoft cofounder may have passed away in 2018, but his philanthropic legacy is still very much evolving. Here’s the latest from his family foundation, one of many organizations under the Allen umbrella.
This New Global Funder Is All About Proximate, On-the-Ground Giving in Africa
Masana wa Afrika, now fully independent from its parent organizations, is based in Africa and is led and run by Africans. It’s backing critical care services for children, those with special needs in particular.
Melinda French Gates Charts a Course for a “New Chapter.” Here Are Some Takeaways
As she departs from the Gates Foundation, Melinda French Gates is quickly ramping things up with a multifaceted, $1 billion commitment focused on women’s rights. What does this all tell us about how her giving might evolve?
Seven Funders Working to Improve Child Welfare and Foster Care
Good intentions aside, the nation’s child welfare system isn’t working. But a wide variety of grantmakers are backing efforts to change that. Here are some important ones to note.
This Pooled Fund Is Driving Progress for Early Care — and Confronting a Possible Setback in D.C.
Against the backdrop of a nationwide child care crisis, the Raising Child Care Fund is getting behind efforts to support early educators across the country. But in the nation’s capital, one such initiative is on the chopping block.
A Skoll Award Winner Finds a Proximate Solution for School-Based Nutrition in Africa
Every year at the Skoll World Forum, the foundation recognizes a handful of social innovators, who each receive $2 million in unrestricted funding. We take a closer look at the awards and one of this year’s winners.
Many Mental Health Issues Start in Early Childhood. This Funder Aims to Help the Youngest Patients
Morgan Stanley has made childhood mental health a signature focus of its charitable giving. A new $20 million commitment, along with a new category of partnerships, aims to expand care through early childhood.
The Doris Duke Foundation Stands Up an Initiative to Transform the Child Welfare System
Aiming for big changes to a child welfare system that isn’t always child- or family-friendly, the foundation’s new OPT-In for Families initiative is backing prevention-oriented approaches at four sites across the country.
In Her Latest Round, MacKenzie Scott Zeroed in on the Criminal Legal System and its Human Fallout
Yield Giving’s first open call provided broad support for at-risk youth, those leaving prison, and the families of those in carceral system. We take a look at the grantees, including a group supporting children of incarcerated parents.
Why This Major Funder Wants to Send More Kids to Summer Camp
Summer camps don’t get a lot of attention from big foundations, but Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies believes they can improve mental health, ease loneliness and isolation, and foster healthy development.
This Coalition of Funders Aims to Cool the Culture War Flames and Protect Public Schools
A coalition of seven funders has been working to support grassroots resistance to organized attacks on public schools. Are they having an impact?
An Innovative Storytelling Platform Is Bridging Divides — and Landing Big Name Funders
Narrative 4 offers a unique storytelling program that teaches compassion and empathy in schools around the world. The program has drawn funding from MacKenzie Scott, the Bezos family and more.
How a Family Foundation Backs a Multifaceted Approach to Lifting Families Out of Poverty
For over a decade, the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation has backed LIFT, which works to combat generational poverty by providing funds, coaching and support — and its model is showing results.
Bill Drayton on Ashoka’s Work to Make “Everyone a Changemaker”
Ideas like “social entrepreneurship” and “changemaking” show up everywhere today, and that has a lot to do with Drayton and the global organization he founded. Here’s a look at Ashoka’s work and backing, and what’s next.
Melinda French Gates Backs a Funding Challenge to Help Teens Navigate a Tech-Driven World
Pivotal Ventures has teamed up with the Susan Crown Exchange and The Goodness Web to support Young Futures, a new nonprofit hosting funding challenges focused on digital wellbeing for youth. The first is already in progress.
Five Questions for Jared Armstrong, a Hoops Player in Israel Working to Bridge Understanding
Growing up in Maryland and now playing for an Israeli basketball team, Jared Armstrong has a foot in two worlds. He’s bringing his unique background to bear as he seeks to forge ties between Black and Jewish youth.
