Liautaud Family Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Liautaud Family Foundation gives to both local and national organizations that promote and support health and wellness, education, military families and the arts.
IP TAKE: The foundation lacks transparency, restricting information available on its grantmaking priorities and activities. This funder does not accept unsolicited grant applications. Leslie’s passion for the arts could drive significant arts grantmaking. The family also has ties to Lithuania, another site of potential future important philanthropy.
PROFILE: Established in 2016 and based in Champaign, the Liautaud Family Foundation’s primarily works to help others help themselves. It was founded by billionaire couple Jimmy John and Leslie Liautaud. Jimmy John is the founder of Jimmy John’s chain of sandwich shops. Jimmy John Liautaud graduated from Elgin Academy High School in 1982. He founded sandwich chain Jimmy John's in 1983 with a $25,000 loan from his father. Jimmy John's now has some 2,800 locations. Raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Leslie Liautaud is a playwright and novelist.
The Liautaud Family Foundation, which maintains a low profile, supports both local and national organizations that promote health and wellness, education, military families and the arts.
Grants for Health
The Liautauds support Crisis Nursery in Urbana, Illinois, giving six figure gifts towards its recent capital campaign. Other grantees have included Frances Nelson Smile Healthy Dental Clinic, the American Heart Association, Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and Pancreatic Cancer Network.
Grants for K-12 Education
Liautaud is a member of the Horatio Alger Association, and supports the organization. The family is particularly interested in access to education. The couple back Camp Southern Ground in Georgia, which deals with children with special needs, and recently gave the camp a $2.2 million donation. Liautaud himself struggled with undiagnosed dyslexia. Liautaud has supported his high school Elgin Academy, home to the Liautaud-Lyons Upper School.
The couple are Brewster Academy parents and made a $2 million gift for a residence hall. In 2011, the Liautauds donated $1 million towards the construction of the new YMCA location in Champaign.
The foundation made a recent 7-figure grant to Youth Guidance’s Becoming A Man program to “help young men navigate difficult circumstances that threaten their future.” It also gave $1.29 million to the Horatio Alger Association in 2019.
A component of grantmaking also appears to be interested in freedom and individual rights in education. Grantees have included Intercollegiate Studies Institute and Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
The Liautauds support the family intervention center Crisis Nursery in Urbana, Illinois, giving six figure gifts towards its recent capital campaign. Jimmy John is a member of the Horatio Alger Association, and the couple recently gave $2.2 million to Camp Southern Ground in Georgia, which deals with children with special needs. Jimmy In 2011, the Liautauds donated $1 million towards the construction of the new YMCA location in Champaign.
Grants for Veterans and Military
Liautaud comes from a military family. In 2014, Jimmy John’s donated $1 million to the Folds of Honor Foundation which provides educational scholarships to spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled service-members.
Grants for Arts and Culture
A philanthropic page describes the arts as an interest of the foundation, though grantmaking in this area has not been overwhelming as yet.
Important Grant Details:
Grants range from $5,000 to $492,361. In a recent fiscal year, the foundation gave away around $2.3 million. Past grantees have included Elgin Academy, Youth Guidance and the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission.
The foundation keeps a low profile and does not accept unsolicited proposals.
PEOPLE:
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CONTACT:
Liautaud Family Foundation
2212 Fox Drive
Champaign, Il 61820
