News

Jim Canales talks with Barr Foundation colleagues during a gathering of climate grantees.

Executive Leadership

Jim Canales Made the Barr Foundation an Institutional Powerhouse

By Alex Daniels January 13, 2025

The leader of the Boston-based foundation is stepping down after 11 years, having transformed it from a mom-and-pop philanthropy to one of the 25 largest private foundations in the United States.

David Husman, at center, founder and chairman of Heartland Real Estate Partners, with NSU President and CEO Dr. Harry Moon, right, and neurologist Dr. Eduardo Locatelli, endowed chair of NSU Health’s David and Cathy Husman Neuroscience Institute.

Gifts Roundup

ALS Research Gets $20 Million Windfall From Businessman Who Lost Wife to the Disease

By Maria Di Mento January 13, 2025

Plus, Project Healthy Minds, the Trevor Project, and the University of Montana received big gifts to support mental health services, advocacy, and youth in crisis.

Finances

Many ‘Impact Investors’ Don’t Track Whether Their Investments Are Good for Society or the Environment

By Lauren Kaufmann and Helet Botha January 10, 2025

Many just assume that certain businesses, such as solar energy companies, are inherently good for society rather than seeking information that might point to shortcomings in social performance.

Grantees of The Legal Aid Society and Immigrant Justice Corps, both recipients of grants among the $5.6 million distributed by The Funds for the Newest New Yorkers, during a Constitution Day naturalization citizen event on Ellis Island.

Grants Roundup

Funds for the Newest New Yorkers Award First Grants to Aid Immigrants

By M.J. Prest January 8, 2025

Also, the Lilly Endowment granted $95 million to strengthen the leadership of Christian churches in rural areas and small towns, and the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation gave $8.1 million for historic sites on Long Island.

Demonstrators, calling for a ceasefire in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, chant and hold banners during a protest at the rotunda in the Cannon House Office Building at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 18, 2023.

Young Philanthropists

Next-Gen Philanthropists Who Defy Giving Traditions — and Their Families

By Sara Herschander January 7, 2025

Progressive young donors — and heirs to mining, oil, and other fortunes — are reshaping their family’s philanthropy through organizations like Resource Generation and Solidaire.

A Habitat for Humanity hard hat is among the items left in tribute to former President Jimmy Carter at the entrance to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in Atlanta. Carter died Sunday at he age of 100. (AP Photo/John Bazemore )

Appreciation

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Left Behind Enduring Nonprofits as Part of Their Legacy of Giving Back

By Thalia Beaty, Associated Press January 7, 2025

The couple established the Carter Center in 1982 and nurtured a relationship with Habitat for Humanity.

A $50 million gift from Barbara and Andrew Taylor, at center, was made in appreciation of the medical care Andrew Taylor recently received from WashU Medicine neurosurgeons. The Taylors celebrated the renaming of the Taylor Family Department of Neurosurgery with, from left, David H. Perlmutter MD, dean of WashU Medicine; Zachary Ray, MD, the Henry G. and Edith R. Schwartz Professor of Neurosurgery; Gregory Zipfel, MD, head of the department; and Chancellor Andrew D. Martin.

Gifts Roundup

Washington U. Gets $50 Million Boost for Neurosurgery

By M.J. Prest January 6, 2025

Plus, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center received two major gifts in recent weeks, and Stillman College landed an endowment gift from its namesake’s great-grandson.