Foundation Annual Reports

FLINTRIDGE FOUNDATION

1040 Lincoln Avenue, Suite 100
Pasadena, Calif. 91103
(626) 449-0839
http://www.flintridgefoundation.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2000.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was created in 1985 through the estates of Francis Moseley, an inventor and industrialist who has numerous patents to his credit, and his wife, Louisa, a visual artist.

The foundation concentrates its grant making on four programs: community services, which received a total of $594,618 in 2000; conservation, which received $550,000; theater arts, which received $317,600; and visual artists, through which the foundation awards $300,000 biennially. Geographically, giving is limited to California, Oregon, and Washington State, as described in greater detail below.

The community-services program provides organizational-development services, and does not award cash grants. It gives preference to groups serving children and youths in northwest Pasadena and Altadena, Calif., providing them with training programs, fund-raising workshops, the Philanthropy Resource Library, and other resources.

The foundation worked with the Pasadena Foundation and Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard to finance a new leadership-development program designed to increase civic engagement in solving local problems. In 2000, 22 men and women graduated from the program, which included an intensive 10-week series conducted by Coro Southern California and a final team project.

The conservation program supports nonprofit groups working to benefit watersheds, forests, rivers, and fish stocks in Oregon, Washington State, and Northern California within the boundaries of the Klamath-Siskiyou Bioregion. The program gives grants ranging from $5,000 to $30,000 annually to approximately 25 organizations that propose “creative solutions to problems of natural resource use.” Awards included $40,000 over two years to Washington Trout, in Duvall, for the Wild Salmon Recovery Initiative.

Theater grants support small to mid-sized ensemble theater companies in California, Oregon, and Washington State. Allocations included $20,000 to House of Dames, in Seattle, to create and produce an original work based on the life of Mata Hari, the enigmatic Dutch dancer who was executed as a German spy during World War I.

The foundation operates the biennial Awards for Visual Artists program, which bestows $25,000 each on 12 artists — six from California and six from Oregon or Washington — whose careers have spanned at least 20 years and who may not have current national renown. Applications for the 2001-2002 awards cycle are no longer being accepted.

Application procedure: The foundation strongly advises that prospective applicants review its published guidelines, which are available on its Web site.

Key officials: Jaylene Moseley, managing director; Pam Wolkoff, director of programs for arts and conservation; La Shawn Smith, senior program officer for community services; Eric Jones, program officer for conservation; Angie Kim, program officer for the arts; Marta Segura, program officer for community services; Catherine Co, director of finance; Karen Gerst, communications officer; Armando Gonzalez, president of the Board of Directors.

JOHN D. AND CATHERINE T. MacARTHUR FOUNDATION

140 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, Ill. 60603
(312) 726-8000
http://www.macfound.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2000.

Purpose and areas of support: The foundation was endowed in 1978 by John D. MacArthur (1897-1978), the developer and owner of Bankers Life and Casualty Company, among other businesses. Mr. MacArthur also held large-scale real-estate holdings in Florida and New York. His wife, Catherine, held positions in many of the family-related companies and also served as a director of the foundation until her death in 1981.

Grant making encompasses four program areas: the Program on Global Security and Sustainability, which authorized grants totaling $72.8-million in 2000; the Program on Human and Community Development, which authorized grants totaling $67.7-million; the General Program, grants totaling $23.3-million; and the MacArthur Fellows Program, grants totaling $12.8-million. The foundation also made two program-related investments totaling $2.5-million.

In 2000 the foundation received 5,884 grant requests and made a total of 901 awards: 704 to organizations and 197 to individuals. The average size of a grant to an organization was $227,000. Sixty-three percent of grants went to U.S. organizations, and 37 percent to foreign organizations.

The Program on Global Security and Sustainability reflects three specific global issues: international peace and security, conservation and sustainable development, and population and reproductive health. A fourth new area, global challenges, focuses on human rights and the consequences of economic globalization. The program has offices in Brazil, Mexico, India, and Nigeria, where work focuses primarily on population and reproductive-health issues. There are also broader efforts in Russia, where the foundation maintains an office in Moscow, and elsewhere in Africa.

The Program on Human and Community Development’s grant making involves research, policy analysis, and “practical interventions.” Those three strategies are applied to five thematic areas: access to economic opportunity, building community capacity, child and youth development, regional policy, and mental-health policy and research. In addition, the foundation supports some direct projects in Chicago, where its headquarters are located, and in Palm Beach County, Fla.

The General Program makes a limited number of grants annually to projects that complement the foundation’s two major programs, described above. Those special areas of interest currently include public-interest media projects, communications policy, and gun-violence prevention.

The MacArthur Fellows Program — commonly called “the genius awards” — provide fellowships to exceptionally talented and creative individuals in diverse fields. Each fellow receives $500,000 over five years, as well as health insurance for the duration of the award, and no specific products or reports are expected by the foundation. While there are no quotas or limits, typically 20 to 25 fellows are selected each year. Nominators, evaluators, and selectors all serve anonymously, and the MacArthur Fellows Program does not accept letters of inquiry or unsolicited proposals.

In addition to its four major program areas, the foundation currently maintains a special interest in Russia and Nigeria, two countries experiencing transitions to democracy. In both countries, the foundation is working to strengthen universities, policy institutions, and scholarly research.

Application procedure: Grant seekers should send a one-page summary and a two- to three-page letter of inquiry, addressed to the Office of Grants Management or e-mailed to LOI@macfound.org. These materials should not be sent by fax. Grant-making guidelines are subject to revision, and applicants should consult the foundation’s Web site for the most-recent guidelines.

Key officials: Jonathan F. Fanton, president; Julia M. Stasch, vice president, Program on Human and Community Development; Mitchel B. Wallerstein, vice president, Program on Global Security and Sustainability; Woodward A. Wickham, vice president, Office of Public Affairs and the General Program, and senior program adviser; Lyn Hutton, vice president and chief financial officer; Richard J. Kaplan, assistant vice president for institutional research and grants management; William E. Lowry, vice president, human resources and administration; Joshua J. Mintz, vice president and general counsel; John E. Corbally, chairman of the Board of Directors.

Program directors: Carmen L. Barroso (population and reproductive health), Kennette M. Benedict (international peace and security, Initiative in the Russian Federation and Post-Soviet States), David A. Harris (regional policy and Florida philanthropy), Susan E. Lloyd (building community capacity), Mary R. Page (global challenges), Gregory A. Ratliff (access to economic opportunity), Elspeth A. Revere (General Program), and Daniel J. Socolow (MacArthur Fellows).

MEADOWS FOUNDATION

Wilson Historic District
3003 Swiss Avenue
Dallas, Tex. 75204-6090
(214) 826-9431
http://www.mfi.org

Period covered: Year ending December 31, 2000.

Purpose and areas of support: Algur H. Meadows, a Texas oil-company executive, and his wife, Virginia, created the foundation in 1948. It awards grants to groups throughout Texas, but generally allocates between one-third and one-half of its grant dollars to Dallas-area organizations.

In 2000, the foundation allocated approximately $27.4-million through five programs: human services, which received 28 percent of grant dollars; civic and public affairs, 24 percent; health, 18 percent; education, 15 percent; and the arts and culture, 15 percent.

Human-services grants included $100,000 to the Housing Crisis Center, in Dallas, for building renovations, and $198,100 to the High Plains Food Bank, in Amarillo, to expand its organizational capacity. The foundation also participated in the Texas Fragile Families Initiative, a statewide effort to help young, low-income, unmarried fathers meet the emotional, financial, and physical needs of their children.

Civic and public-affairs grants included $82,000 to the Business Assistance Center, in Dallas, to expand its services that promote business development among minorities. Grants in this program area also focus on efforts to ensure that economic expansion and burgeoning populations do not adversely affect natural resources in Texas. For example, a $105,000 award went to the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, in Lake Jackson, for a three-year project to protect migratory birds and their habitats along the Gulf of Mexico.

Health grants emphasized health education, mental health, advanced research, and improved access to health-care services for needy and underserved populations. Awards included $75,000 to the Mental Health Association of Greater Dallas for an exhibit of art works by children with mental illness and brain disorders.

Education grants concentrate on support for public education, particularly as it relates to the changing demographics of the state, in which 39 percent of students attending public schools are Hispanic. The foundation allocated grants totaling more than $1.8-million for programs to recruit, train, and certify high-quality teachers.

Arts grants included $175,000 to Ballet Austin for a three-year effort to help rural Texas communities strengthen and sustain local arts programs.

The Wilson Historic District, near downtown Dallas, is a nonprofit community owned and operated by the foundation. The idea behind the creation of the district in 1981 was twofold: to restore historic, yet dilapidated, Victorian structures and to create a place where local nonprofit groups could work collaboratively in rent-free office space. The district currently comprises 22 acres and provides space to almost 30 nonprofit organizations, including Dallas Reads, the Center for Housing Resources, and the Volunteer Center of Dallas County.

The foundation’s Small Grants Committee provides grants of less than $25,000; during 2000, 24 grants totaling more than $500,000 were recommended by the committee and approved by the board.

Application procedure: The foundation accepts grant applications throughout the year and there are no formal application forms. An organization may submit only one application within a 12-month period. Prospective applicants should review the foundation’s grant guidelines, which are available at its Web site, in print, and on audiocassette in both English and Spanish.

Key officials: Linda P. Evans, president and chief executive officer; Martha L. Benson, vice president, treasurer, and chief financial officer; Bruce H. Esterline, vice president for grants; Michael E. Patrick, vice president and chief investment officer; Bob Weiss, vice president for administration; Steve Davidson, Michael K. McCoy, D. Matteson Pascal, and Kathy Smith, senior program officers; Carol A. Stabler, director of communications; Robert A. Meadows, chairman of the Board of Trustees.