The F. M. Kirby Foundation is proud to support Hill Learning Center, a Durham, N.C.-based nonprofit dedicated to transforming students with learning differences into confident, independent learners. Founded in 1977 and named in honor of founder George Watts Hill, Hill Learning Center began as a program of Durham Academy before becoming an independent nonprofit in 1998. Hill supports students, educators,…
By Dave Cucchiara Communications & Program Associate On July 4, 2026, the United States will mark an extraordinary democratic milestone. Two hundred and fifty years since a group of young delegates, bound by their collective and unwavering conviction, signed their names to a piece of parchment that would ultimately change the world. The ideals of freedom, liberty, and equality were…
The F. M. Kirby Foundation is proud to support the Morristown Festival of Books, a beloved community institution that has brought the power of the written word to the heart of historic downtown Morristown since its inception in 2014. Launched to celebrate literature and foster a love of reading across all ages and backgrounds, the Festival has grown into one…
The F. M. Kirby Foundation is proud to celebrate nearly 50 years supporting the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a public policy think tank dedicated to defending human dignity, expanding human potential, and building a freer and safer world. Founded in 1938 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., AEI brings together leading scholars and researchers whose work advances ideas rooted in democracy,…
By Dave Cucchiara Communications & Program Associate New Jersey’s housing landscape can often be a jigsaw puzzle of complicated policy, municipal regulations, and competing environmental priorities. Demand for new housing continues to rise, production continues to lag, and the cost of both renting and owning has climbed sharply over the last five years. To meet this moment, New Jersey, unquestionably, needs not…
By Justin Kiczek President What if I dripped paint onto a canvas on the floor? What if I tried to write the way people actually think? What if we played this song, but electric? These are not idle questions. They are the questions that gave us Jackson Pollock, stream-of-consciousness literature, and rock and roll. “What if” is the question artists have always asked…
By Dave Cucchiara Communications & Program Associate In one of New Jersey’s wealthiest counties, where the median household income tops $134,000, a troubling reality persists: homelessness increased by 34% between 2022 and 2023, with 351 individuals identified as homeless by year’s end. Morris County Prevention is Key (PIK) has been awarded a $300,000 Innovation Engine grant from the F. M.…
By Dave Cucchiara Communications & Program Associate On Friday, March 13, the F. M. Kirby Foundation and the Mimi Washington Starrett Foundation welcomed nonprofit leaders and practitioners from Morris County to Drew University’s Dorothy Young Center for the Arts for Common Grounds~Common Goals: Executive Board & Leadership Lab — a daylong convening dedicated to equipping nonprofit boards and leadership teams with the tools, knowledge,…
The F. M. Kirby Foundation is proud to support the Garden State Initiative, a Morristown-based independent research and educational think tank dedicated to making New Jersey a place where families and businesses can thrive. Since its founding in 2017, GSI has provided rigorous, fact-based policy analysis and practical solutions to some of New Jersey’s most pressing fiscal and economic challenges,…
By Dave Cucchiara Communications & Program Associate In an era of unprecedented political polarization, where Americans increasingly view those across the ideological divide not as fellow citizens, but as adversaries, Braver Angels has emerged as one of the nation’s largest grassroots organizations dedicated to bridging our political divides. Since its founding in 2016, following the contentious Trump-Clinton election, the organization has grown to a community of…