Jerome L. Greene Foundation
/OVERVIEW: This funder supports well-established New York City organizations in the fields of arts, education, health, and social justice. Unsolicited proposals are not accepted.
IP TAKE: Although this is a social justice funder, don’t expect it to fund attempts to influence legislation or other types of advocacy. Grants often go to groups that the late attorney was affiliated with during his life.
PROFILE: The Jerome L. Greene Foundation was established in 1978 and focuses a great deal of its grantmaking on New York City. Greene was an attorney and philanthropist who was born in Brooklyn and attended Columbia College. He was a founding member of the Marshall, Bratter, Greene, Allison & Tucker law firm in Manhattan and received numerous honors. The areas of funding are the arts, education, health, and social justice.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Greene’s Arts grantmaking seeks to “fund programming that challenges and engages” and supports “some of New York City’s greatest organizations [whose] innovative methods […] expand audiences and broaden the impact and reach of the arts.” Jerome Greene was a member of Lincoln Center’s board of directors for many years and served as chairman of the board of the Hirshhorn Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He was also on the art advisory committee at the Jewish Museum in New York.
Support for the arts in New York City has gone to WNET New York Public Media, the Museum of the City of New York, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Morgan Library & Museum. The foundation is a longtime supporter of the Juilliard School in New York City, where Greene was on the board until his death, and in 2024, it partnered with the school for a scholarship challenge that generated $10 million in new endowed scholarships for Juilliard students.
Grants for Education
The foundation’s Education grantmaking supports K-12 and higher education, as well as arts and culture organizations with education programs. Education focus area grants in the past have gone to the Central Park Conservatory, New York Public Radio, and to establish the Jerome L. Greene Science Center at Columbia University’s Manhattan campus. The foundation gave $10 million to Howard University School of Law in 2021 to support the Greene Public Service Scholars Program.
Grants for Public Health and Access, Diseases, and Science Research
The foundation’s Medicine funding area supports “programs that create an impact on the communities they serve, whether it’s world-class scientific research, compassionate care for the ill, or crucial medical outreach to traditionally underserved communities.” Health grants have gone to the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge NYC, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, and the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
Grants for Racial Justice, Women and Girls, and Democracy and Civic Engagement
Greene’s Social Justice grantmaking seeks to reduce inequality and enact social change nationally, as well as locally. Social justice grants have gone to the Montefiore/Greene Foundation’s Teen Pregnancy Initiative, Democracy Alliance, The Center for Popular Democracy, Planned Parenthood of New York City, and ProPublica.
Important Grant Details
A list of grantees between 2000 and the present can be viewed here. The list really isn’t all that long: it is important to note that this funder sticks to pretty well-established organizations and continues to support them throughout the years. Over $500 million has been invested in grant partners in New York City and across the nation as well. The foundation had $645 million in net assets at the end of a recent year and disbursed 47 grants totaling $31 million.
Unfortunately for grantseekers, unsolicited proposals are not accepted. The foundation is run by a small staff, a board of directors, and a financial advisory committee. Christina McInerney, Jerome L. Greene’s step-daughter, took over as foundation president and CEO in 2010. General questions can be directed to the New York City-based staff at 212-688-1550 or via email at letters@JLGreene.org. Keep up with this funder's interests via its news page.
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