The F. M. Kirby Foundation Board of Directors announced 103 grants totaling $10,669,250 were approved in the first half of 2024 to nonprofit organizations working to increase the strength and vitality of our communities.
In all, 58 grants included general operating support and 54 grants were made to organizations that have been partners of the Foundation for over 25 years, representing our grantmaking strategy of forming long-term, trusting relationships with grantees. Grantmaking from January through June included a combined $6.8 million to organizations working in New Jersey and North Carolina, the Foundation’s primary geographic areas of interest. Additional grants, totaling over $3.8 million, supported organizations in Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania, regions dear to Kirby family members, as well as national nonprofits largely based in Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Additionally, the 2024 F. M. Kirby Prize for Scaling Social Impact was awarded to Semilla Nueva, an organization dedicated to combating malnutrition through the development and distribution of biofortified maize. The prize, which includes $150,000 in unrestricted funds, is administered by the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in partnership with the F. M. Kirby Foundation. It recognizes enterprises that demonstrate significant impact and potential for scaling their solutions to social or environmental problems globally. This is the fourth year the Foundation and CASE have partnered for this award; the Kirby Prize is designed to help amplify and accelerate an enterprise’s impact on social or environmental problems around the world.
The F. M. Kirby Foundation is proud to extend our heartfelt congratulations to Newark Academy on celebrating its 250th anniversary. As one of the nation’s oldest educational institutions, Newark Academy has consistently exemplified excellence in education and community engagement. A partner for 50 years, with Kirby Family ties dating back to the mid-1970s, we are honored to support this revered institution through a multi-year commitment to Ad Lumen: The Campaign for Newark Academy, an initiative to strengthen the three pillars of a Newark Academy education. The Foundation’s support for this campaign underscores a shared vision of fostering academic excellence, innovation, and inclusivity. We look forward to continuing its partnership with Newark Academy as it lights the way for future generations of learners.
In the first half of 2024, the Foundation approved $3.9 million in grant funding in support of 19 educational institutions, which ranged from local educational support services to higher education institutions with deep ties to the Kirby Family. Notable among these are Lafayette College, which the Foundation has supported since the 1940s; Durham Children’s Initiative, which strives to create a pipeline of high-quality educational opportunities for children in Durham, N.C.; and the Emily K Center, Inc., dedicated to enriching the academic lives of students through comprehensive programs and mentorship. These partnerships exemplify the Foundation’s mission to empower educational institutions and foster environments where students can thrive and achieve their full potential.
More broadly, 2024 grantmaking spanned across all our major programmatic funding areas, which include arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services, and public affairs. Read more about the Foundation’s values within each of these funding areas here.
