Robert and Janice McNair Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Robert and Janice McNair Foundation’s grantmaking focuses on education, diseases, medical research, economic opportunity, arts and culture, criminal justice and public health with a strong focus on Houston, Texas.
IP TAKE: The McNair Foundation’s largest area of giving is education, followed by medical research at the McNair Medical Institute at Baylor Medical School. Most other areas of giving stem from the foundation’s community impact program, which has given to diverse causes including arts and culture, criminal justice, economic opportunity and health in recent years. Houston is a clear geographic priority, but a significant portion of McNair grants fund organizations that operate in North and South Carolina.
The McNair Foundation is not accessible and accepts applications on an invitation-only basis. Many of its grantees are organizations with which members of the McNair Family maintain an interest. Networking is key to getting on their radar.
PROFILE: The Houston-based Robert and Janice McNair Foundation was established in 1988 by the late Robert McNair, the founder of the Houston Texans football team, and his wife, Janice. As a couple, the MacNairs were deeply involved in philanthropy, with a particular interest in health and education. The foundation maintains the mission of “transforming some of the biggest challenges our nation faces today into the solutions of tomorrow” through its “passionate support of students, young entrepreneurs, medical research and the community.” Its main funding programs are the McNair Medical Institute, McNair Centers for Entrepreneurism and Free Enterprise, McNair Scholars and Community Impact.
Grants for K-12 and Higher Education
Education is McNair’s largest area of funding but is limited in scope. More than half of all education grantmaking stems from the foundation’s sister organization, the Robert and Janice McNair Educational Foundation, which focuses almost exclusively on Rutherford County Schools in North Carolina. McNair’s Scholarship Programs support undergraduate study at the McNairs’ alma maters, the University of South Carolina, Columbia College in South Carolina and at the Jones School of Business at Rice University in Houston.
Grants for Diseases
McNair’s grantmaking for diseases goes mainly to the McNair Medical Institute at Baylor College of Medicine. The institute is the site of a McNair Scholars program that identifies and recruits talented scientists and physician-scientists from around the world to the Texas Medical Center, where they pursue “collaborative and transformational research in the areas of breast and pancreatic cancer, juvenile diabetes and the neurosciences.” To provide an idea of the kind of work McNair looks for, one McNair Scholar Malgorzata Borowiak’s research involves “human pancreatic development and pluripotent stem cell technology application towards cellular therapy for type 1 diabetes.” Baylor is also the site of the McNair Student Scholars program, which supports students for eight years through medical and graduate school. In addition to its support for McNair Medical Institute, the foundation has given to the Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation, Belleville Hospital Foundation, the Epilepsy Foundation of Texas and the American Cancer Society.
Grants for Brain and Cell Research
McNair’s grantmaking for brain and cell research overlaps significantly with its disease funding. The foundation’s main recipients are the McNair Medical Institute at Baylor and the Texas Medical Center, which has used funding to support its neuroscience research on “the brain’s impact on disease at the cellular messaging level.”
Grants for Work and Economic Opportunity
McNair’s work and economic opportunity grantmaking stems from its Centers for Entrepreneurism and Free Enterprise, which aim to “inspire and educate future business leaders.” The programs offer support to student researchers and professors who “educate young people in the foundations of entrepreneurial leadership and free enterprise — including teaching and modeling the principles of individual responsibility, limited government and principled entrepreneurship.” Programs currently operate at Houston Baptist University, Northwood University, Rice University, the University of St. Thomas and the University of South Carolina.
Grants for Animal Welfare and Wildlife
McNair’s environmental funding flows through its Community Impact program and prioritizes support for animals and wildlife. Most of the foundation’s grants in this area have gone to established organizations in South Carolina and the greater Houston area, including the Houston Zoo, the South Carolina Aquarium, the Houston Botanic Garden, the Houston Humane Society and Houston Wilderness, Inc.
Grants for Criminal Justice
Law enforcement and criminal justice grants are made through McNair’s Community Impact program, although the foundation does not name specific goals for its funding in this area. Previous grants have been made to Houston’s Bridges to Life and the Prison Entrepreneurship Program, which both work with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals.
Grants for Public Health
A portion of McNair’s Community Impact grantmaking has gone to public health initiatives, with a strong focus on the greater Houston area. Grantees include the Texas chapter of the American Cancer Society, Houston’s Methodist Hospital Foundation and the Shriners Hospital for Children.
Grants for Arts and Culture
McNair’s funding for “cultural initiatives” and the arts stems from its Community Impact program and has prioritized cultural organizations in the Houston area. The foundation does not name specific priorities for its arts and culture grantmaking, but past grantees include the Gaillard Performance Hall Foundation, the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, the Spoleto Festival U.S.A. and A.D. Players in Texas.
Important Grant Details:
The McNair Foundation made about $17 million in grants in a recent year. Grants range from $5,000 to over $1 million, and the foundation’s average grant size is about $100,000. This funder shows a strong preference for organizations in greater Houston and North and South Carolina, but national organizations and organizations that operate in other areas of the U.S. have received funding on occasion. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s recent tax filings.
The McNair Foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for funding. General inquiries may be directed to the foundation’s staff via email.
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