OVERVIEW: The Iger Bay Foundation supports education, youth, the arts and other causes in the Los Angeles area.
IP TAKE: This funder prioritizes grantmaking in the Los Angeles area. The foundation does not have a website, and provides no clear guidelines for grant seekers. Grantseekers will have to have their work cut out for them here. This funder doesn’t accept unsolicited applications and prefers a proactive grantmaking approach, so getting on it’s radar will prove difficult unless you can directly network with the family or former grantees.
PROFILE: The Iger Bay Foundation is the charitable organization of former Walt Disney Company CEO Robert Iger and his wife, television journalist Willow Bay. Born in 1951, Robert A. Iger grew up in New York and attended Ithaca College. After college, he worked as a television weatherman. In the 1970s, Iger joined ABC and went on to work in such roles as VP of programming for ABC Sports. Iger officially joined the Disney senior management team in 1996, as chairman of the Disney-owned ABC Group. He was CEO of the Walt Disney Company from 2005 to 2020, and led key moves such as the acquisitions of Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm. Willow Bay is a veteran television journalist, digital news editor, and Dean of Annenberg School of Journalism at University of Southern California.
Grants for Los Angeles and SoCal
All of this foundation’s grant prioritize Los Angeles and Southern California.
Grants for Education and Youth
This funder makes broad education grants that stay local. Past grantees include Campbell Hall in North Hollywood, Center for Early Education, a private primary school located in West Hollywood (which received $525,000 in the most recent fiscal year), City Year Los Angeles, Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, UCLA Foundation, Communities in the Schools of Los Angeles, and Loyola Law School.
The foundation also supports programs for Los Angeles youth, families and adults. It supports Exceptional Children’s Foundation in Culver City whose mission is to “provide the highest quality services for children and adults who are challenged with developmental, learning and emotional disabilities,” and Baby2Baby, which “provides low-income children ages 0-12 with diapers, clothing and all the basic necessities that every child deserves,” and Young Eisner Scholars, a nonprofit “that levels the educational playing field for promising children in our under-served communities.”
Grants for Arts and Culture
The arts is another broad interest, but this area prioritizes established, large arts organizations rather than grassroots outfits. Willow is a vice chair of the board of LACMA, which received a $433,333 grant. Iger and Willow have supported Academy Foundation.
Grants for Health and Human Services
In health, the Igers have funded Women’s Guild Cedars-Sinai. Outside Los Angeles, the couple has steadily supported Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, an organization Willow has been involved with since the early 1990s.
Finally, the foundation supports human services. Past grantees include Homeboy Industries, “the largest and most successful gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world,” and the Rape Foundation, among others.
Important Grant Details:
In a past year, the foundation held over $15.8 million in assets and made grants of around $3.1 million. This funder prioritizes grantmaking in the Los Angeles area. The foundation does not have a website, and it provides no clear guidelines for grant seekers. It does not appear to accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding.
PEOPLE:
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CONTACT:
The Iger Bay Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the couple but below is an address:
Iger Bay Foundation
601 Delaware Ave., 2nd Fl.
Wilmington, DE 19801
