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The Hearst Foundations award grants in culture, education, health and social services, identifying outstanding nonprofits around the country to help ensure that people of all backgrounds can build healthy, productive and satisfying lives. Since their inception, the Foundations have made nearly 23,000 grants, totaling over $1.5 billion.
Funding Priorities
Signature Programs
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U.S. Senate Youth Program
“The program's mission shall continue as long as there are young people in America with a dedication to academic excellence and a desire to serve their country and their communities.”
Learn more about the U.S. Senate Youth Program:
In 1962, Senate Resolution 324 was introduced by Senate leadership to create a program that would encourage exceptionally talented high school students to consider careers in public service by experiencing government in person and appreciating the vital importance of democratic government. The Hearst Foundations pledged to support the funding and administration of such a program. Since then, two high school students from each state and the District of Columbia participate in the annual Senate Youth Program, managed by the Foundations. The group travels to and spends a week in Washington, D.C., where they meet with government leaders and learn about our democracy. Each student also receives $10,000 in scholarship funds.
Journalism Awards Program
The Hearst Journalism Awards Program was founded in 1960 to provide support, encouragement and assistance to journalism education at the college and university level. Each year, up to $700,000 is distributed to students through ongoing competitions and the annual championship week, as well as grants to the participating universities, stipends and intercollegiate awards.
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COVID-19 Response
In April 2020, the Hearst Foundations board of directors approved 125 grants totaling $55.5 million to provide emergency assistance to health and social services organizations that were instrumental in the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to cultural organizations that were forced to halt their operations due to the pandemic.
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Spotlight on Key Partnerships
Learn more about Hearst Foundations’ partnership with Lincoln Center:
The Hearst Foundations began their longstanding partnership with Lincoln Center in 1967 and have since made 136 grants to the affiliates that comprise Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, totaling over $56 million in support. Hearst President and CEO Steven R. Swartz, a director of the Hearst Foundations, and Executive Vice Chairman and former Hearst CEO Frank A. Bennack Jr., chairman of the Hearst Foundations, have both served Lincoln Center, most recently with Swartz as chair of the board of directors and Bennack as former chair.
Both have long prioritized the role of the performing arts in society. Their leadership has been instrumental in helping Lincoln Center remain one of the world’s most prestigious performing arts centers. Lincoln Center’s affiliates include the Chamber Music Society, Film at Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center Theater, Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center and the School of American Ballet.
Learn more about Hearst Foundations’ partnership with the University of California, San Francisco:
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is one of the earliest partners of the Hearst Foundations. Since 1946, UCSF has been awarded over $12 million in Hearst Foundations’ support to pursue endeavors in education, healthcare and medical training. Transformative capital grants have supported the construction of the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals and the launch of the Child, Teen and Family Center and Department of Psychiatry building to provide pediatric and adolescent mental healthcare. The Hearst Foundations’ most recent grant to UCSF was a significant contribution to its new outpatient psychiatry building at the Mission Bay campus.
Lincoln Center
The Hearst Foundations began their long-standing partnership with Lincoln Center in 1967 and have since made 136 grants to the affiliates that comprise Lincoln Center, totaling over $56 million in support.
Hearst President & CEO Steven R. Swartz, a director of The Hearst Foundations, and former Hearst CEO Frank Bennack, Jr., chairman of The Hearst Foundations, both have served Lincoln Center, most recently Swartz as chair of the Board of Directors and Bennack as former chair.
Both have long prioritized the role of the performing arts in society. Their leadership has been instrumental in helping Lincoln Center remain one of the world’s most prestigious performing arts centers.
Lincoln Center’s affiliates include the Chamber Music Society, Film at Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center Theater, Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center and the School of American Ballet.
The University of California
San Francisco
San Francisco
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The University of California San Francisco is one of the earliest partners of the Hearst Foundations. Since 1946, UCSF has been awarded over $12 million in Hearst Foundations’ support to pursue endeavors in education, health care and medical training.
Transformative capital grants have supported the construction of the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals and the launch of the Child, Teen and Family Center and Department of Psychiatry building to provide pediatric and adolescent mental health care.
The Hearst Foundations’ most recent grant to UCSF was a significant contribution to its new outpatient psychiatry building at the Mission Bay campus.
Recent Grants by the Hearst Foundations
The Hearst Foundations support myriad nonprofit organizations around the country doing important work in their communities, including:
Culture
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Grant funds supported Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s environmental education programs, including on-site K-12 science education programs, horticultural workshops, environmental leadership programs, apprenticeships and teacher professional development, serving 130,000 students and 1,000 teachers each year.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Grant funds supported the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, to enable curators and conservators from the MFA to conduct research for exhibitions and acquisitions and further scholarship by presenting their findings and attending conferences and symposia. Opened to the public on July 4, 1876, the MFA is one of the most comprehensive art museums in the world, with 500,000 works from ancient Egyptian masterpieces to works by today’s leading artists.
DreamYard
Grant funds supported DreamYard’s expansion of its work-based learning and internship programs, dedicated to launching the creative careers of New York City high school students. Since 1994, DreamYard has worked with 125 public schools in New York City and over 200,000 students.
Ballet Hispánico
Grant funds supported Ballet Hispánico, the nation’s largest Hispanic cultural institution, to expand the national reach of the School of Dance and the Community Arts Partnerships. Founded in 1970 by National Medal of Arts recipient Tina Ramirez, Ballet Hispánico serves as a leading artistic, cultural and social justice organization for Hispanic youths and families.
Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
Grant funds supported the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Orlando to provide programs in the AdventHealth School of the Arts. Arts programming engages 140,000 people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities across 150 performance-based education programs in music, dance, acting and musical theater each year.
Opera Carolina
Grant funds supported Opera Carolina’s civic engagement, performances and educational initiatives for the new Martin Luther King Jr. musical drama, “I Dream.” Opera Carolina was founded in 1948 by the Charlotte Music Club and today is the largest opera company in the Carolinas.
Houston Symphony
Grant funds supported the Houston Symphony’s education and community engagement activities for audiences of all ages and backgrounds, nurturing a lifelong love of music. School-based offerings for Title I schools include artist residencies, instrument instruction, recitals, summer camps, pre- and post-concert classroom visits and family concerts.
Education
Tufts University
Grant funds supported The Fletcher Graduate School of Global Affairs at Tufts University to assist students from underrepresented backgrounds and low-income students to engage in unpaid internships within the United States to prepare for global affairs careers. Internship sites include the United Nations, the World Bank and governmental agencies, such as Homeland Security and USAID.
Aquarium of the Pacific
Grant funds supported the Aquarium of the Pacific’s Ocean Science Education Programs for students in pre-K to 12th grade in greater Los Angeles. Students from Title I schools learn about STEM-related careers and engage in immersive STEM experiences, specifically in aquatic sciences.
National Judicial College
Grant funds supported the National Judicial College to provide scholarships for the William Randolph Hearst Institute for Excellence in Judicial Leadership to increase the diversity of the bench and to provide educational opportunities to increase the expertise of the judiciary. Founded in 1963, the nonpartisan college is the only institution in the nation that exists to strengthen and enhance the competency and integrity of the judiciary. Each year, 10,000 judges enroll.
Lake George Association
Grant funds supported the Lake George Association’s Jefferson Project, a partnership with IBM and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to study the science of Lake George and the environmental threats it faces, such as invasive species, road salt, harmful algal blooms, stormwater runoff and pollutants from aging septic systems. Learnings will inform further research and lead to solutions that can be utilized elsewhere.
AVANCE
Grant funds supported AVANCE’s expansion of its evidence-based Parent-Child Education Program for early childhood development for low-income Latino families in the Rio Grande Valley. Founded in 1973, AVANCE is a national organization serving 15,000 parents and children annually.
Health
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Grant funds supported the Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s expansion of the Cleveland Clinic Children's School-Based Healthcare program to help provide medical and behavioral healthcare in Title I schools in Cleveland. Providers conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat acute and chronic illnesses, provide immunizations and mental health consultations and offer vision and hearing screenings. Since its launch in 2014, it has completed nearly 14,000 visits and is credited with improving school attendance and academic performance.
Direct Relief
Grant funds supported Direct Relief to enhance emergency preparedness in the United States through the distribution of medical supplies. Founded in 1948, Direct Relief is one of the world’s largest channels for humanitarian medical assistance to underserved communities and victims of disasters. Direct Relief is the only nonprofit licensed to distribute prescription medications in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Johns Hopkins University
Grant funds supported Johns Hopkins University to provide scholarships for nursing students from underrepresented backgrounds in the accelerated MSN Entry program. To meet the national shortage of nurses, this top-rated program enrolls students with a previous undergraduate degree through a five-semester accelerated program.
Morehouse College
Grant funds supported Morehouse Medical School’s Undergraduate Health Sciences Academy for students at historically black colleges and universities who seek careers in healthcare, with the goal of increasing the number of African American healthcare professionals in underserved urban and rural communities across the Southeast.
Sheppard Pratt Health System
Grant funds supported Sheppard Pratt Health Systems in redesigning and renovating the Psychiatric Urgent Care Clinic to meet the rising need for mental health services in greater Baltimore. Sheppard Pratt provides critical services for walk-in patients of all ages, including those experiencing anxiety, depression, substance use disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal ideation.
Social Services
Teal Street Center
Grant funds supported Southeast Alaska Independent Living’s Teal Street Center, a new facility providing homeless services, housing programs, adult education, legal services, employment and training services, as well as mental health services and youth development.
Team Rubicon
Grant funds supported Team Rubicon’s capacity to provide teams of military veterans to respond to natural disasters across the United States. Leveraging skills cultivated through active duty, veterans participate in medical triage, reconnaissance, risk assessment, risk mitigation, incident management, search and rescue, debris clearing, shelter construction, supply disbursement and database management.
Healthcare for the Homeless — Houston
Grant funds supported Healthcare for the Homeless – Houston to provide comprehensive healthcare and social support for individuals experiencing homelessness. Services include on-site medical care, dental care, behavioral health services, mental healthcare and comprehensive social services.
Tahirih Justice Center
Grant funds supported the Tahirih Justice Center’s programs for immigrant victims of gender-based violence across the United States. Tahirih provides legal assistance and connects clients to housing, food, clothing, financial assistance, medical care, mental healthcare and other critical resources. Services are provided by in-house lawyers, social workers and a pro bono network of 2,800 attorneys.
Cincinnati COOKS!
Grant funds supported the Freestore Foodbank to support the expansion of the Cincinnati COOKS! culinary training program. Graduates are matched with hiring partners, including restaurants, schools and catering businesses. Founded in 1971, Freestore Foodbank is a founding member of Feeding America and distributes nutritious food to over 600 community partners across 20 counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.