Hutchins Family Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Hutchins Family Foundation funds public policy research and advocacy efforts in the United States, especially related to economic opportunity. It also funds research into Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, as well as several projects at Harvard and New York City public schools.
IP TAKE: This private, family funder’s grants are often substantial, but it only pursues projects with personal meaning to the family. It is not an accessible funder nor does it accept unsolicited requests for funding. The foundation follows the family’s personal interests, which predominantly funds Harvard projects where the school’s endowment is in the billions.
PROFILE: The Hutchins Family Foundation was established in 2004 by investor and political consultant Glenn Hutchins and his wife Debbie. Glenn Hutchins is the co-founder of private equity firm Silver Lake Partners and also served as Special Advisor on economic and healthcare policy to the Clinton Administration. The foundation’s broad mission is to “support initiatives that have personal meaning to our family members,” with an emphasis on “helping the disadvantaged and fostering excellence.” The family prioritizes projects with “tangible, measurable and valuable” results. It currently has three focus areas: Education, Health and Public Policy.
Grants for Civic and Democracy
The Hutchins Foundation’s Public Policy efforts center around supporting “the creation, dissemination and debate of smart, rigorous and independent research” that will have “a material impact on important problems that government can realistically address.” The foundation supports economic policies that promote economic opportunity, fairness and prosperity. Hutchins’s current partners in this program are the Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy at Brookings Institution and the Center for American Progress.
Grants for K-12 and Higher Education
The Hutchins Foundation’s Education grantmaking aims to “revitalize undergraduate residential life and learning” and “promote excellence in high school math and science.” The foundation funds the Hutchins Scholars Program, a summer enrichment program at the Lawrenceville School, a preparatory school in New Jersey where Hutchins is a trustee emeritus. At Harvard, Hutchins has sponsored renovations of undergraduate housing facilities and launched the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard. The foundation has also supported CSNYC’s Computer Science for All initiative, an effort to integrate high-quality computer science education into the New York City public school system.
Grants for Science Research and Diseases
The Hutchins Foundation’s Health grantmaking supports “world-class basic research,” “translation of discovery into therapy and access to health-care,” and “services for patients in need.” Currently, its main focus seems to be on chronic fatigue syndrome. The foundation launched its own Chronic Fatigue Initiative to pioneer research on the disorder, and has also granted funding to New York Presbyterian Hospital, where Glenn Hutchins sits on the board.
Important Grant Details:
Grants generally range from $1 to $2 million dollars. While the foundation has no stated geographic restrictions, its grantmaking tends to center around New York City and Boston Massachusetts—namely, Harvard University.
The Hutchins Family Foundation pursues its grantmaking based on the personal interests of the Hutchins family and does not accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding, nor does it provide a direct way a getting in touch. An address and phone number are provided below.
PEOPLE:
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LINKS:
CONTACT:
Hutchins Family Foundation
667 Madison Ave., 15th Floor
New York, NY 10065
(929) 394-0002
