Rice Family Foundation

OVERVIEW:  The Rice Family Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to education, health, the environment, and the arts.

IP TAKE: The foundation is not transparent and keeps a low public profile, which limits information available on its grantmaking priorities and activities. Grantseekers will need to reach out via the contact information below, or, more likely, work at networking to get on this inaccessible funder’s radar.

PROFILE: The Rice Family Foundation was established in 1989. It is currently steered by stockbroker and financier Edward Hart Rice of Virginia and his sister, Eve Hart Rice, an author and psychiatrist based in Westchester County, New York. Their father, Henry Hart Rice, was a prominent real estate broker. Edward keeps a rather low profile, but is a major Democratic donor. The foundation does not maintain a website, which makes it difficult to locate further information on its priority areas and grantmaking strategies. Tax filings suggest that the Rice Family Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to education, health, the environment, and the arts.

Grants for Higher Education, Public Health and Access, Environment, and Arts and Culture

Eve Rice graduated with her B.A. from Yale and is a trustee of her alma mater. The Rice family's support of Yale includes helping build an urban studies program, fostering public service careers for women, supporting collections at the Yale University Art Gallery and libraries, and promoting international research experiences for students. Though Eve has a mental health background, the foundation's health philanthropy appears to focus on reproductive health.

Past grantees include Westchester Community College; NYU, home to the Henry Hart Rice Urban Policy Forum; Northern Westchester Hospital; Planned Parenthood; Center for Reproductive Rights; Westchester Land Trust; The Met; New York Botanical Gardens; and WNET. 

Important Grant Details

Grants range from $1,000 to $1 million. In a recent fiscal year, the foundation gave away around $4.6 million. The Rice Family Foundation keeps a low profile and does not accept unsolicited proposals. 

PEOPLE:

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CONTACT:

Rice Family Foundation
256 Bedford Banksville Rd.
Bedford, NY 10506