Stoneleigh Foundation: Philadelphia Grants
/OVERVIEW: The Stoneleigh Foundation awards fellowship grants to individuals working to improve outcomes for at-risk children and youth, especially in the Philadelphia area. Fellowship budgets fall between $80,000-$130,000 per year and terms range from one to five years. Most fellowships are for full-time salary support for fellows based in academic institutions, but the foundation also partners with City of Philadelphia agencies and leaders.
IP TAKE: Although Stoneleigh only supports individuals, each individual must be affiliated with a 501(c)3 nonprofit and prove that his/her work will benefit that nonprofit. Stoneleigh’s roots are in Philadelphia, and the foundation is most interested in supporting work on the local level.
PROFILE: The Stoneleigh Foundation only supports individuals. By contrast, a vast majority of philanthropic foundations in the Philadelphia area only fund 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations and exclude individuals from grantmaking. It seeks to “improve the life outcomes of Philadelphia's most vulnerable youth.” The foundation addresses issues that involve vulnerable children and youth through fellowship awards that support individuals involved in research, policy change, and practice improvement.
As a continuation of lifelong philanthropy, John and Chara Haas established the Stoneleigh Foundation in 2006. After earning a degree in chemical engineering in 1942, John Haas spent his professional career with the Rohm and Haas Company in Philadelphia. In 1960, after the death of his father, John was named chairman of the charitable foundation established by his parents (Otto Haas and Phoebe Waterman Haas), which is now known as the William Penn Foundation. After the sale of the Rohm and Haas Company to Dow Chemical in 2009, John directed a significant portion of the family’s charitable assets from that sale to the William Penn Foundation. John passed away in 2011 and Chara in 2012.
The Stoneleigh Foundation currently prioritizes four program areas: child welfare, juvenile justice, education, and health. Stoneleigh looks for fellows working to prevent children from landing in out-of-home care when possible and bridge gaps between child welfare, education, and healthy improvement systems.
The Stoneleigh Foundation also seeks fellows working to prevent and reduce youth involvement with the criminal justice system. To reduce violent crime involving children and youths, Stoneleigh funds individuals working with young black males and Iraq war veterans in Philadelphia.
Each of these program areas is Philadelphia-centered and targeted at individuals who are well established in their fields. Fellowship budgets range between $80,000 to $130,000 per year and terms range from one to five years. This money can be used for salary, fringe benefits and taxes, speaking conference-related travel, and administrative fees to partner organizations. However, the funds cannot be used for staff fees, rental costs, equipment or supplies, or other travel costs. Stoneleigh supports individuals working at the seeding, tipping, and dissemination stages of problem solving. Candidates for a Stoneleigh Fellowship must identify a 501(c)3 partner organization, a contact person at the organization, and the ways in which the organization will support the fellow and the project.
The foundation periodically issues requests for proposals to highlight specific issues it is interested in tackling through the work of a new fellow. Previous RFPs have focused on children of incarcerated parents and well-being in the juvenile justice system. View recently selected Stoneleigh Fellows and Fellowship Projects. include Theodore Corbin, MD, MPP, a doctor and a violence prevention practitioner, Jody Greenblatt, JD, a consultant for the Southeast Regional Office of Children, and Richard Greenwald, an expert about workforce development and prisoner reentry in the mayor’s office.
To be informed about new RFPs, sign up for the foundation newsletter and contact the staff at info@stoneleighfoundation.org with general questions. There is also a foundation blog.
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