Foundations Annual Reports

HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE

4000 Jones Bridge Road
Chevy Chase, Md. 20815-6789
(301) 215-8500
http://www.hhmi.org

Period covered: Year ending August 31, 2000.

Purpose and areas of support: The industrialist and aviator Howard R. Hughes established the institute in 1953. It is not a private foundation but rather a medical-research organization as defined by Section 170(b) of the Internal Revenue Code.

The institute’s principal purpose is the conduct of biomedical research at its laboratories, which are located nationwide at medical centers, teaching hospitals, and university campuses through long-term agreements. It employs investigators to carry out research in six broad areas: cell biology, computational biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, and structural biology.

The institute also administers a complementary grants program that focuses on improving science education at all levels, strengthening biomedical research in the United States, developing new methods of combating or preventing infectious and parasitic diseases abroad, supporting biomedical scientists in foreign countries, and encouraging science-education programs in the public schools near the institute’s headquarters in metropolitan Washington, D.C.

Allocations totaling $92-million over four years were made to 41 medical schools in 23 states to establish or improve biomedical-research facilities, purchase equipment, and encourage collaborations among scientists and clinical researchers.

The institute’s Precollege Science Education Program supports the educational efforts of aquariums, biomedical-research institutions, botanical gardens, nature centers, science museums, and zoos. Through that program, the institute awarded $12.7-million to 35 medical schools, academic health centers, and other institutions, and it announced a new competition for museums and other community-based science organizations.

In January 2000 Thomas R. Cech became president of the institute, succeeding Purnell W. Choppin, who served in that capacity for 12 years.

Application procedure: The grants program is administered through the institute’s Office of Grants and Special Programs. The institute rarely makes grants in response to unsolicited proposals. Detailed information about the institute’s grant programs is available at its Web site.

Key officials: Thomas R. Cech, president; Peter J. Bruns, vice president for grants and special programs; David A. Clayton, vice president for science development; Stephen M. Cohen, vice president and chief financial officer; Joan S. Leonard, vice president and general counsel; Gerald M. Rubin, vice president for biomedical research; Nestor V. Santiago, vice president and chief investment officer; Hanna H. Gray, chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Senior grants program officers: Stephen A. Barkanic, Jill G. Conley, Barbara Filner, Dennis WC. Liu, and Louis Simchowitz.

JOHN S. AND JAMES L. KNIGHT FOUNDATION

1 Biscayne Tower
Suite 3800
2 South Biscayne Boulevard
Miami, Fla. 33131-1803
(305) 908-2600
http://www.knightfdn.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2000.

Purpose and areas of support: The brothers John S. and James L. Knight of the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain established the foundation in 1950.

In 2000 the foundation approved 356 new grants totaling $93,365,465. Of that, the journalism program allocated 42 grants totaling $30,440,010; arts and culture, 127 grants totaling $25,-471,500; community initiatives, 104 grants totaling $19,407,795; and education, 58 grants totaling $11,923,000. The foundation also allocated $5,883,160 for eight IDEAS Fund grants, which support cross-cutting programs, and $240,000 for 17 special grants.

Journalism awards included several grants to the American Society of Newspaper Editors Foundation, in Reston, Va., including $500,000 for a four-part, youth-oriented program focused on recruiting in the field of journalism, understanding the role of newspapers in society, and diversifying newsrooms.

Other journalism grants included a two-year, $200,000 award to the Society of Environmental Journalists, in Philadelphia, for a series of programs designed to improve the quality, accuracy, and visibility of reporting on environmental issues.

Arts and culture grants included $150,000 over two years to the National Park Foundation, in Washington, to increase awareness of and resources for national parks that illustrate the history of African Americans, and to provide professional museum and historic-preservation opportunities for minority college students.

Also in that category, the foundation allocated 27 grants totaling $4,544,500 through the second phase of its “Magic of Music” Symphony Orchestra Initiative.

The community-initiatives program emphasized children and families, citizenship, community development, community foundations, homelessness, welfare restructuring, and youth development.

For example, the foundation awarded $1.2-million over three years to the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, in New York, for a comprehensive study of welfare restructuring that focuses on four urban counties. Other grants included $150,000 over two years to Chrysalis House, in Lexington, Ky., to build a community center for a 40-unit housing development for women in substance-abuse recovery and for their children.

Grants for education focused on literacy programs, improving student achievement in kindergarten through the 12th grade and at the university level, and strengthening the capacity of nonprofit organizations to provide services.

For example, a $150,000 grant to the Rutgers University Foundation, in Camden, N.J., enabled the Center for Children and Childhood Studies to organize the Campaign for Children’s Literacy.

In 2001 the foundation discontinued its national programs in arts and culture and education and reorganized under the following program areas: journalism, which will promote journalistic excellence by supporting journalism education and understanding of the value of a free press worldwide; the Knight Community Partners Program, which will make grants in the 26 U.S. cities and towns where the Knight brothers owned newspapers; and the National Venture Fund, which will award grants for innovative national projects that relate directly or indirectly to the foundation’s work in those 26 communities. Local advisory committees will help craft customized strategies and desired outcomes for each locality, awarding most grants through the following program areas: arts and culture; civic engagement; children, youths, and families; economic development; education; and housing and community development.

Application procedure: The foundation recommends that potential journalism applicants request a copy of “How to Apply for a Grant” from its Web site. Groups located in areas eligible for Knight Community Partners Program grants and those interested in applying for grants from the National Venture Fund should write a one- to two-page letter of inquiry with the following: information about the organization and the project; an explanation of how the project fills a public need; contact information; the amount of money requested and the period of time over which it is needed; the organization’s total income and expenditures for its most recent year of operations; and evidence that the applicant is eligible for tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is not a private foundation as defined by Section 509(a) of the code. Additional information is available at the foundation’s Web site.

Key officials: Hodding Carter III, president and chief executive officer; Penelope McPhee, vice president and chief program officer; Linda L. Raybin, director of community initiative programs; John Bare, director of program development and evaluation; Gary Burger, co-director of the Knight Community Partners Program; Eric Newton, director of journalism initiatives; Timothy J. Crowe, vice president and chief investment officer; Belinda Turner Lawrence, vice president of administration and chief administrative officer; Larry Meyer, director of communications; W. Gerald Austen, chairman of the Board of Trustees.

NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST

2 Park Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10016
(212) 686-0010
http://www.nycommunitytrust.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2000.

Purpose and areas of support: This community foundation was established in 1924 to benefit New York City residents. It administers more than 1,500 charitable funds created by individuals, families, and businesses. It includes two suburban divisions, the Westchester Community Foundation and the Long Island Community Foundation, which administer the trust’s programs in those areas.

In 2000 the trust allocated grants in the following program areas: education, arts, and the humanities, which received 59 percent of grant dollars; community development and the environment, 16 percent; children, youth, and families, 12 percent; health and people with special needs, 12 percent; and special projects, 1 percent. Fifty-one percent of the foundation’s assets is classified as unrestricted; of that, 37 percent is held in donor-advised funds and 14 percent is held in nonadvised funds.

Education, arts, and the humanities grants included allocations for public education, the arts and culture, historic preservation, and legal services for low-income people. For example, a $40,000 grant to Aaron Davis Hall helped renovate this deteriorating landmark building in Harlem into a community performing-arts center.

Grants for community development and the environment emphasized civic affairs, the environment and public health, economic development, and technical assistance for nonprofit groups.

Awards included $47,680 to the Taft Institute for Government to simulate a presidential election in Queens high schools and $32,000 to the East Coast Greenway Alliance, in Wakefield, R.I., to create the New York City component of an East Coast “greenway” for walking and bicycling from Maine to Florida.

Children, youths, and families grants focused on girls and young women, hunger and homelessness, social services and welfare, substance abuse, and youth development.

For instance, a $45,500 grant to the Friends of Island Academy helped expand a program that provides services for youths after they have been released from prison on Rikers Island.

Grants in the health and people with special needs category emphasized H.I.V./AIDS, biomedical research, disabled children and youths, elderly people, health services, health systems and policies, mental health, and blindness and visual disabilities. Grants included $136,000 to the Public Health Research Institute of the City of New York to study antibiotic-resistant bacteria in order to improve infection-control methods in hospitals.

Application procedure: The trust makes grants primarily to nonprofit organizations in the five boroughs of New York City. Potential applicants may request a copy of the trust’s “Guidelines for Grant Applicants” and brochures about each of the trust’s program areas. Eligible applicants may send a cover letter and application form, included in the guidelines, with a proposal of no more than 10 pages, which should include a brief summary of the proposal, the amount requested, and the expected results. The trust does not accept proposals by fax or by e-mail.

Key officials: Lorie A. Slutsky, president and director; Joyce M. Bove, vice president for grants and special projects; Karen Metcalf, vice president for financial administration; Anne Backman, manager of publications; Robert V. Edgar, manager of donor services; Suzy D. Sonenberg, executive of the Long Island Community Foundation; Catherine Marsh, executive of the Westchester Community Foundation; Anne P. Sidamon-Eristoff, chairman of the Distribution Committee.

Program contacts: Patricia Jenny, director of the neighborhood strategies project; Patricia White, senior program officer for children, youth, and families; Anita R. Nager, senior program officer for community development and the environment; Jane R. Stern, program director for education, arts, and the humanities; Len McNally, program director for health and people with special needs.