OVERVIEW: The Eugene and Emily Grant Family Foundation is the philanthropic vehicle of real estate veteran Eugene Grant and his wife Emily. The couple's New York City grantmaking features support of the arts, Jewish organizations, and more. Apart from the city, Westchester County and Long Island are also sites of giving.
IP TAKE: The foundation keeps a low profile but appears to accept proposals.
FUNDING AREAS: Arts & Culture, Jewish Causes, Health & Human Services, Education
PROFILE: Born in Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan, Eugene M. Grant graduated from University of Michigan in 1938 and received a law degree from Columbia University. He joined the Army Air Forces and then entered the real-estate development business, steering Eugene M. Grant & Company in New York.
Eugene Grant and his wife Emily also engage in philanthropy, and established the Eugene and Emily Grant Family Foundation in the late 1990s. Grantmaking at the foundation appears to be up of late. At the start of the decade, under $1 million went out of the door. In the most recent tax year publicly available, meanwhile, some $17.6 million moved out of the door.
The foundation keeps a low profile, with a minimal web presence, but does appear to accept unsolicited proposals. Much of the couple's giving via their foundation focuses on New York City and its surrounding suburbs in parts of Long Island and Westchester County.
The Grant family's New York City giving involves arts and culture and Eugene Grant sits on the boards of the Met Opera and The Jewish Museum. Arts grantees have included Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Museum of Natural History, The Jewish Museum, MoMA, Lincoln Center, and Whitney Museum. In the city's suburbs, the Grants have been particularly supportive of Emelin Theatre in Mamaroneck, of which Emily Grant was a founding board member.
The Grants also support Jewish organizations in New York. Eugene Grant's grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants and Grant is chairman emeritus of Westchester Holocaust Commission. The Grants, via their foundation, have supported places like American Jewish Committee, Westchester Philharmonic, Larchmont Temple, Chabad of Larchmont & Mamaroneck, Solomon Schechter School of Queens, and UJA Federation.
Eugene and Emily Grant, via their foundation, also support education in New York. Emily Grant joined the board of the Purchase College Foundation in 1969, and served for nearly 20 years as chairwoman. The Grants have been major benefactors of SUNY Purchase, and have given more than $10 million to the school. Other grantees have included Cooper Union.
The family also supports health and human services in the New York City area. They've given significant sums to White Plains Hospital. Other grantees have included United Way of Westchester, Human Development Services of Westchester, and New York Genome Center.
PEOPLE:
CONTACT:
The Eugene and Emily Grant Family Foundation does not provide a clear avenue for getting in touch with the couple, but below is contact information:
Eugene and Emily Grant Family Foundation
277 Park Ave., 47th Fl.
New York City, NY 10172
Telephone: (212) 688-4700