Zients Family Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Zients Family Foundation makes grants for education, human services, health, human rights, community development, economic development, philanthropy, international relations, public safety and public affairs.
IP TAKE: This funder often awards multi-year support to its grantees. Newcomers may have a difficult time securing funding from Zients. It lacks transparency, which restricts further grantmaking information. It’s also not an accessible funder, but you’re welcome to reach out to them by snail mail, which it puts in place given its limited staff.
PROFILE: The Zients Family Foundation, established in 2003, was created by Jeff and Mary Zients. The foundation is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and makes grants that closely align with the couple’s interests. While the foundation does not cite specific geographic restrictions regarding beneficiary population locations, tax filings reveal that Zients supports education and work on the global stage, particularly in South Africa, where Mary was born.
Jeffrey Zients graduated from Duke University, then founded and managed private equity firm Portfolio Logic. Zients went into government as President Obama’s principal economic policy advisor as director of the National Economic Council. Zients also served in the Office of Management and Budget as acting director, and deputy director, management, and federal chief performance officer. He helped spearhead the turnaround of the healthcare.gov website launch.
Grants for Global Development and Health
The foundation’s work in global development is broad and tends to prioritize South Africa, but has also occurred in Kenya and Rawanda. The Zeints have supported the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund-USA, which supports NGOs in South Africa that provide services to children and youth. Other grantees include Bantwana Initiative, which works toward "improving the wellbeing of vulnerable children and their caregivers and families affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty," as well as African Leadership Foundation, Doctors Without Borders, Ubuntu Education Fund, and Women for Women International, where Mary sits on the board.
Grants for Women and Girls
Zients funds a variety of projects concentrating on women and girls, including those related to women’s rights, peace-building efforts and women’s empowerment. Past grantees include Women for Women International and the Nomi Network. The foundation does not specifically state geographic restrictions, but its tax filings indicate that it prioritizes organizations located in Washington, D.C., and East Coast states.
Grants for K-12 and Higher Education
The Zients Family Foundation appears to prioritize funding education outfits at both the K-12 and higher ed levels. Interests areas align with the family’s personal interests and affiliations rather than a more expanded giving strategy in this space. Many education grantees are multi-year funders, so once you’re in through the door here, this is a good education funder to know.
The Zients support Jeff’s alma mater Duke University, as well as Harvard, Mary's alma mater. Zeints co-founded Urban Alliance (UA), an inner city high school jobs and mentoring program serving young people in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Chicago. The organization has worked with “over 500 businesses to put some 3,000 young people on a path to economic success." Other grantees have included Urban Alliance Foundation, City Year Washington, DC, Teach for America, St. Albans School, Phillips Exeter, Posse Foundation, College Track, Maret School, and City Year South Africa, a youth service community program in Johannesburg.
Important Grant Details:
Grants can range from $1,000 to $500,000, but most range from $1,000 to $10,000. The Zients Family Foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for funding and prefers a proactive approach in its giving.
The Zients Family Foundation prioritizes supporting work in education. The rest of the foundation’s giving interests appear to be secondary in focus.
Giving occurs at both the national and international levels, but tends to concentrate in New York, Massachusetts, Virginia and Maryland. At the international level, grantmaking tends to prioritize South Africa, Kenya, Israel, and Rawanda.
The foundation does not operate a website and is primarily run by trustees.
While the Zients Family Foundation does not provide a direct way of getting in touch, we’ve provided a phone number where they may be reached: (202)266-6519.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
CONTACT:
Zients Family Foundation
4500 Garfield Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
