Lalor Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Lalor Foundation awards research fellowships for postdoctoral work in mammalian biology and grants that support reproductive and sexual health education programs.
IP TAKE: The Lalor Foundation is an accessible funder for those working in its highly specific areas of grantmaking interest. Its postdoctoral fellowships support research in mammalian reproductive biology “as related to the regulation of fertility,” and its Anna Lalor Burdick grants support reproductive and sexual education programs, prioritizing women who lack access to information about contraceptives and pregnancy termination.
The Lalor Foundation runs open application systems for both of its programs. Fellowships are open to Ph.D. and M.D. degree holders working at universities and research institutes and are awarded in the amount of $55,000 per year. Grants range from $10 to $35,000 and are limited to organizations based in the U.S. but may support programs or projects in other countries. Fellowship applications are due mid-January, and grant applications are due on the first of May and November each year.
This funder is also responsive and approachable, so contact them if needed.
PROFILE: Currently based in Boston, the Lalor Foundation was established in 1935 with bequests from Anna Lalor Burdick and members of her family. Lalor Burdick was a teacher who rose through the ranks and eventually served as a superintendent of public schools in Des Moines, Iowa. From 1917 to 1939 she served as Special Agent for Trade and Industrial Education for Girls and Women in the U.S. Department of Education. The Lalor Foundation runs two grantmaking programs with very specific goals: The Lalor Foundation Fellowship Program funds “basic postdoctoral research in mammalian reproductive biology” and the Anna Lalor Burdick Program supports programs that provide reproductive and sexual education to women and girls “in order to broaden and enhance their options in life.”
Grants for Science Research
The Lalor Foundation’s Fellowship Program supports postdoctoral research on mammalian reproductive biology “as related to the regulation of fertility.” Fellowships are awarded in the amount of $55,000 for one year, with the option of renewal for one additional year. Fellowships support the research of Ph.D. and M.D. degree-holding researchers and professors at universities, medical schools and research institutes. Most recent fellowships have supported research at U.S. and Canadian institutions, but funding is not strictly limited to these countries. About half of the awardees are U.S. citizens. Recent fellowships have been awarded to scientists affiliated with the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, New York University School of Medicine, L’Université de Montréal, the Oregon National Primate Research Center and the University of California at Berkeley, among others.
Grants for Women, Global and Public Health
Lalor supports global health via its Anna Lalor Burdick Program, which “seeks to educate young women about human reproduction in order to broaden and enhance their options in life.” Funding prioritizes programs that reach underserved women who lack adequate information about sexuality, contraception and pregnancy. Other priorities include the presentation of unbiased information, replicability and sustainability. The foundation will not support crisis pregnancy centers or abstinence-only sexual education. Grantmaking is limited to organizations based in the U.S., but has supported many U.S. organizations that run programs in other parts of the world. One past global health grantee, Hesperian Health Guides, used funding to create a family planning choices app for women and girls in the Santiago and Sacatepéquez areas of Guatemala. Another recent grant went to Bakashana, an organization that created a women’s health advocacy space in Kasama, Zambia.
Past public health grantees include several local and regional chapters of Planned Parenthood, women’s advocacy training programs run by Physicians for Reproductive Health and New York City’s Reproductive Health Access Project, which aims to increase the accessibility of high-quality reproductive care in underserved communities.
The Anna Lalor Burdick Program also provides support to sexual reproductive health education programs for women and girls, prioritizing communities where women and girls lack access to information about reproductive health, contraceptives and pregnancy termination. The foundation expects that its grantees provide women and girls with unbiased information and does not support crisis pregnancy centers of abstinence only sexual education. Another recent grantee, Trust Women of Wichita, Kansas, provides abortion care to women in underserved communities throughout the state.
Important Grant Details
The Lalor Foundation makes about $800,000 in grants a year. Its fellowships are awarded in the amount of $55,000, and its Anna Lalor Burdick Program grants generally range from $10,000 to $35,000. The foundation maintains a list of past fellowships and program grants on its website.
The Lalor Foundation runs open applications for both of its funding programs. Fellowship applications must be submitted online by mid-January and Anna Lalor Burdick program applications, which are also submitted electronically, are due on the first of May or November. Grant applications require the submission of a concept paper, for which directions are linked to the foundation’s website. General inquiries about fellowship applications should be emailed to the fellowship manager, and inquiries about grants may be directed to the Anna Lalor Burdick program director. The foundation’s telephone number is 617-391-3088.
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