JPB Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The JPB Foundation’s funding for poverty, medical research, and the environment supports research, activism, and projects related to civic engagement, economic opportunity, voting, clean energy, green infrastructure, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease.
IP TAKE: This is not an accessible funder. You have to be tapped here to receive a grant. Overall, JPB prioritizes evidence-based practices, scalable projects and collaborative work.
PROFILE: The New York-based JPB Foundation was established in 2011 by Barbara Picower, the wife of Jeffry Picower, one of the main beneficiaries of Bernie Madoff’s infamous Ponzi scheme. The Foundation was established with the remains of Picower’s estate following a legal settlement totaling $7.2 billion. The foundation carries on the giving legacy of Jeffry and Barbara Picower with program areas in Poverty, Medical Research and the Environment.
Grants for Economic Development, Civic Engagement and Democracy
JPB’s Poverty program area works to help Americans living in poverty overcome the “steep and unfair obstacles to attaining financial security, good health, and a voice in decisions that affect them.” Grants for economic justice support programs that “ensure financial security for people in poverty by increasing access to good jobs, protecting and strengthening the safety net, and alleviating financial hardship.”
JPB’s poverty grantmaking also supports health equity and democracy initiatives. Grants for democracy work to “increase the voice and power of people in poverty” by broadening the “civic engagement and voting rights” of traditionally disenfranchised communities. It also supports democracy-related work by “protecting the rights and full participation of immigrants in society.” Previous grantees include the Center for American Progress, Center for Community Change and Innovation Network Inc.
Grants for Diseases and Brain Research
JPB’s Medical Research programs awards grants to consortiums of scientists performing research in its two targeted areas: Parkinson’s disease and diabetes. For each disease, the foundation “supports five to eight world-class scientists who agree to conduct their research within a collaborative framework.” JPB hand-picks groups of scientists who are “approaching their targeted disease from different angles, and whose work has complementary aspects.” JPB also provides funding for MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, which studies “the mechanisms that drive the quintessentially human capacity to remember and to learn,” “related functions like perception, attention, and consciousness,” and diseases that cause neurological dysfunction. Past grantees include Dr. Bradley Hyman of Massachusetts General Hospital and Dr. Ted Johnson of Johns Hopkins University.
Grants for the Environment and Climate Change
JPB’s Environment program area works to “enable healthy and resilient communities by enriching and supporting the environment,” with a strong priority on “low-income communities and underserved communities of color.”
The foundation’s environmental grantmaking has three focus areas. Energy grants promote the “transition to a clean and just energy future by increasing the supply of clean power and its efficient and affordable use.” Environmental health grants support programs that ensure that “natural systems and the built environment are free of toxic chemicals by detoxifying the indoor and outdoor environments.” Green infrastructure grants promote the “benefits of natural spaces by delivering, improving, and maintaining parks, natural areas, and the routes to get there” in order to “protect against climate change and improve overall community health.” JPB conducts climate change-related grantmaking through its Environment program. Overall, climate change efforts tend to support green infrastructure, environmental health, and clean energy. Past grantees include Bluegreen Alliance Foundation, Earth Day Network and EarthJustice.
Important Grant Details:
JPB’s grant amounts are substantial, often ranging from $150,000 to $700,000. The foundation’s grantmaking strategy involves supporting “research and dissemination,” identifying barriers, scaling “high quality, promising, and proven services,” and building capacity of “organizations and fields.”
JPB does not accept unsolicited grant applications or requests for funding.
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