Jane Fonda

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Actor

FUNDING AREAS: Youth & Education, Adolescent Reproductive Health, Environment, Human Services, Arts

OVERVIEW: Jane Fonda moves her philanthropy through the Fonda Family Foundation and the Jane Fonda Foundation. Her family foundation is the more robust of the two charities. Fonda is strongly interested in reproductive health and founded an organization in the 1990s to address an adolescent pregnancy crisis in Georgia. She has also given millions to Emory University related to this crisis. Sites of philanthropy include Georgia, New York, Los Angeles and New Mexico, where she has owned a ranch.

BACKGROUND: The daughter of actor Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda was born in 1937 in New York City. She attended Vassar and also went to Paris to study art. Fonda followed in her father's professional footsteps, starring in acclaimed films like Klute and Coming Home, winning Oscars for both.  Fonda's recent projects include The Newsroom and Grace and Frankie.

ISSUES:

YOUTH AND EDUCATION: In the mid-1990s, Jane Fonda founded the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential (GCAPP). At the time, she was married to Ted Turner and had strong ties to Georgia, which led the nation with the highest rate of adolescent pregnancy. The organization's mission is to "improve the overall health and well-being of young people in Georgia to ensure a more powerful future for us all." GCAPP's programs include Teen Pregnancy Prevention, Physical Activity & Nutrition, and Healthy Relationships. Fonda continues to support GCAPP via her Fonda Family Foundation and Jane Fonda Foundation. Other grantees include New Mexico State University, The Grammar School, City Charter Elementary School, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and Young Storytellers Foundation, a nonprofit in Los Angeles that teaches youth screenwriting. 

Emory University is also an important site of philanthropy, and home to the Jane Fonda Center, whose mission is to "advance scientific knowledge about adolescence with an emphasis on adolescent reproductive health." Fonda has given Emory millions. She has also supported Harvard University—though a $12.5 million gift set to establish a research center on gender in education was ultimately shelved and a good portion of the funds returned to Fonda. 

ENVIRONMENT: Fonda, through her foundations, supports Cal-Earth, Captain Planet Foundation, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Environmental Working Group, Earth Policy Institute and Black Mesa Trust, which protects the "sacred waters of the west."

HUMAN SERVICES: Fonda has funded Esperanza Shelter for Battered Families, Homies Unidos, which works in gang violence prevention, Pico Youth & Family Center, Putney Family Services and Atlanta Community Food Bank.

OTHER: Given Fonda's long career in Hollywood, it is no surprise that the arts are a component of her philanthropy. Grantees include Los Angeles Drama Club, Rosie’s Theatre Kids, and Next Stage Art Project. Fonda also supports outfits that work for women, such as Women's Media Center and V-Day.

LOOKING FORWARD: Fonda is in her 80s, but still active in Hollywood. Expect her steady philanthropy to continue, tracking with her established interest areas.

CONTACT:

Fonda Family Foundation
1718 Peachtree St., N.W., Ste. 465
Atlanta, GA 30309
Telephone: (404) 475-6026

Jane Fonda Foundation
1718 Peachtree St., N.W., Ste. 465
Atlanta, GA 30309

LINK:

Jane Fonda Website

Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential