Ann Luskey: Donor Grants
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: InDesign
FUNDING AREAS: Conservation, Education & Youth
OVERVIEW: Ann Luskey conducts philanthropy through Charlotte’s Web, which focuses on ocean conservation, African wildlife conservation, experiential education for underserved children, and plastic pollution. Annual grantmaking has been in the five-figure range of late.
BACKGROUND: Ann K. Luskey graduated from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill with a degree in African Studies and psychology in 1990, and earned an interior design degree from Marymount University in 1995. She started her own design firm, now known as InDesign. Luskey is currently founder and owner of SeaTime Inc.
ISSUES:
CONSERVATION: Luskey comes from a long line of conservationists. Her mother Charlotte Ramsay was a conservationist who sat on the advisory council of the National Wildlife Foundation and founded the Jordan Conservation and Research Center. Luskey’s Charlotte’s Web environmental grantmaking focuses on ocean conservation, African wildlife conservation, and plastic pollution. She’s an emerita director of Mission Blue/Sylvia Earle Alliance, which aims to unite a “global coalition to inspire an upwelling of public awareness, access and support for a worldwide network of marine protected areas.” She’s also on the executive advisory board of Plastic Pollution Coalition.
Through the years, she’s supported ocean conservation efforts including at Nature Conservancy, National Geographic’s Pristine Seas project, Conservation International’s Ocean Health Index, the creation of marine protected areas with The Sylvia Earle Alliance, and the conservation of whales and dolphins with the Whaleman Coalition and The Baltimore Aquarium. She also supports Plastic Pollution Coalition and Environmental Working Group.
Other grantees have included Fund for Marine Islands, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, and the World Ocean Conservatory.
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Luskey has a strong interest in experiential education for underserved children. Her brother Randy is worth noting here. Randy struggled with traditional schools until his parents sent him to an outdoor leadership program out west. Driven by these experiences, he launched City Kids Wilderness Project, a “nonprofit founded on the belief that providing enriching life experiences for underserved and at-risk D.C. children can enhance their lives, the lives of their families and the greater community.” Luskey steadily supports the nonprofit and is an emerita board member. She’s also supported Washington Waldorf School and supports Transformer art gallery for emerging artists.
LOOKING FORWARD: Only in her 50s, Luskey should be watched for greater giving through her foundation. Her brother Randy, and his ties to the west, should also be watched.
CONTACT:
Charlotte’s Web does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch but below is an address:
Charlotte’s Web
53 State Street Floor 17
Boston, MA 02109
LINK: Ann Luskey Linkedin
