O. Francis Biondi Jr. and Jamie Nicholls
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Cofounder of King Street Capital Management
FUNDING AREAS: Education, Community Development, Health, NYC Community
OVERVIEW: While O. Francis Biondi and his wife Jamie appear to have a charitable vehicle called the Jamie Nicholls & Fran Biondi Charitable Trust, there's little information on the outfit. We do know that Biondi moves philanthropy through the King Street Charitable Trust, where he and his business partner Brian Higgins serve as trustees. The trust is more than a decade old, but has ramped up its giving lately. According to available tax filings, the trust awarded around $11.8 million in grants in 2017. The trust has several key interests, some of which reflect Biondi’s priorities, and some Higgins. Jamie is on quite a number of boards including serving as chair of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. She is also on the board of overseers of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
BACKGROUND: O. Francis Biondi went to Yale and then Harvard Business School. In 1995, he cofounded King Street Capital Management with fellow First Boston alum Brian Higgins. Biondi is considered to be the more public of the cofounding duo.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION: Biondi's alma mater, Yale University, has received steady support from King Street. Jamie, meanwhile, went to Amherst College, which they have also supported. Money has gone to Columbia University, Princeton, and Villanova, Higgins' alma mater. Meanwhile, on the K-12 education front, King Street Charitable Trust has recently supported East Harlem School, Harlem Village Academies, the Inner-City Scholarship Fund, and Turnaround for Children, a nonprofit that partners with public schools to address the obstacles to teaching and learning that stem from poverty. Recent gifts have also gone to several private schools such as Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, the Chapin School in Manhattan, St Anne's-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Wilmington Friends School in Deleware, from which Biondi graduated.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: The trust awarded $2 million to Harlem Children's Zone in 2016. The Harlem-based outfit that supports at-risk youth and their families. Support has also gone to the Robin Hood Foundation, the New York City antipoverty outfit, as well as domestic shelters and services.
HEALTH: King Street Charitable Trust's grantmaking has supported a number of different health outfits of late, and it appears that cancer research is a big priority. Grantees have included Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where Jamie sits on the board. Support has also gone to New York Presbyterian Hospital, St. Judes Children's Research Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, NYU Langone Medical Center, Melanoma Research Alliance, Mt. Sinai, the American Cancer Society, and the North Shore - LIJ Health System. The foundation's grantmaking has also strongly supported Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which researches cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, and more. Jamie has chaired the board of trustees at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory since 2010.
NYC COMMUNITY: Despite sites of philanthropy in Charlottesville, Virginia, and elsewhere, most of Biondi's philanthropy takes place in New York City, where he has founded outfits such as the 92nd Street Y, the Ronald McDonald House of New York City, Boys Hope Girls Hope NY, New York City Police Foundation, New York City Ballet, New York Historical Society, and more. While King Street's philanthropy does involve gifts exceeding $1 million and several in the $100,000 range, there are also quite a few annual grants under $10,000.
LOOKING AHEAD: King Street's philanthropy has ramped up in recent years, from around $2 million in 2009 to more than $11.8 million in 2017. The list of annual grantees appears to be getting longer as well. The young billionaires, Biondi and Higgins, should be watched down for greater giving down the line.
CONTACT:
King Street Charitable Trust doesn't provide a clear avenue for grantseekers to get in touch, but an address is listed below
The King Street Charitable Trust
65 E. 55th St., 30th Fl.
New York, NY United States 10022
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