OVERVIEW: The Schooner Foundation funds human rights, social justice, environmental conservation, economic opportunity, journalism, and campaign finance reform in the United States and internationally.
IP TAKE: This corporate funder makes substantial grants, but does not accept unsolicited proposals. The foundation’s tax filings over the past few years show decent range in the size of outfits it supports. It predominantly funds larger international organizations, but some grants fund mid-range and smaller organizations. Schooner grants are often awarded to advocacy groups and organizations needing to build capacity or that are in need of technical assistance. Specific project grants, multi-year funding grants, and fellowships are also common. Schooner also contributes to political candidates and party committees. Boston is an important area of giving.
Despite its progressive approach to some of its funding, this foundation is not accessible or approachable making it a tough nut to crack.
PROFILE: In 1996, Vin Ryan established the Schooner Foundation, which he leads with his wife Carla Meyer and family. Schooner is a progressive foundation focused internationally on human rights, peace and security, and economic opportunity. At home, the foundation supports progressive media, campaign finance reform, the green economy, investigative reporting and judicial reform. The Schooner Foundation is the charitable arm of Boston-based investment firm Schooner Capital.
Vincent J. Ryan graduated from Boston University. In 1971, he founded Schooner Capital. He also serves as a director of Iron Mountain, a $5 billion global records management company which he acquired and grew.
Schooner provides general operating support, project-based grants, fellowships, guidance, and strategic collaboration to organizations that “share our values of trust, integrity and respect, and whose programs are aligned with our core funding areas.”
Grants for Global Development and Human Rights
Vin Ryan serves on such boards as Survivor Corps. Trustee Cynthia Ryan worked at the U.N. and serves as the Senior Africa Advisor of The Schooner Foundation, where she focuses on human rights, economic opportunity, and peace and security.
The Schooner maintains a broad approach to funding global development in order to consider a wide range of work. In the past, the foundation has awarded global development related grants to organizations such as Mugoya Farm Estates in Uganda, which received support for its sustainable agriculture and training, as well as, financing to develop the farm. Global Greengrants Fund is also a past Schooner grantee. This global nonprofit received a general operating support grant for its ongoing work to put natural resources in the hands of local people.
Types of human rights organizations Schooner supports include Fund for Global Human Rights, Global Greengrants Fund, and International Justice Mission. As demonstrated by past grants, Schooner supports a diverse set of rights causes. For example, the Fund for Global Human Rights combats abuses on a large scale on behalf of a number of different populations. Global Greengrants fights for environmental rights at the community level.
Grants for Global Health
The foundation lacks a distinct grantmaking strategy towards global health, but past global health related grants fund organizations such as Friends of Casa Materna, a nonprofit working to reduce maternal and infant death rates in the Matagalpa region in Nicaragua; and Tanzanian Children’s Fund, an organization improving education, increasing access to healthcare, and creating economic opportunities in Tanzania.
Grants for Journalism
The Schooner Foundation supports progressive media outfits such as Foundation for National Progress. It also supports policy organizations Brennan Center for Justice, Center for Social Inclusion, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and The Nation Institute.
In the United States, the foundation focuses its grantmaking on “progressive media, campaign finance reform, the green economy, investigative reporting, and judicial reform.” Past journalism grantees include New Media Ventures, which received a grant for general operating support; and The Progressive, which also received a grant for general operating support.
Grants for Criminal Justice Reform
In the United States, the foundation focuses its grantmaking on “human rights & social justice, global health, education, economic opportunity, peace & security, environmental conservation, investigative journalism, and campaign finance reform.” Schooner is a well-known progressive funder that addresses violence prevention and social justice at a range of levels. In the past, the foundation has made criminal justice, violence prevention and anti-discrimination grants to organizations such as the Center for Victims of Torture, which received funding for its work helping torture survivors worldwide; and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which received support for its work fighting against hate, bigotry and injustice.
Grants for Environmental Conservation.
The Schooner Foundation’s environmental grantmaking is limited. It supports the Nature Conservancy annually, and occasionally makes donations to major international environmental outfits, as well as smaller local conservation groups. Other grantees include Conservation International, Ocean Research and Conservation Association, Global Greengrants Fund, and Indian River Land Trust.
Environmental grantees have also included Alternatives for Community and Environment, Environmental Learning Center, Maasai Wilderness Conservation, Nature Conservancy, Beyond Benign, which is “dedicated to providing future and current scientists, educators and citizens with the tools to teach and learn about green chemistry in order to create a sustainable future,” and Silent Spring Institute, “a partnership of scientists and citizens concerned about environmental links to breast cancer.”
Important Grant Details:
Grants generally range from $50,000 to $500,000. Note that the foundation shows some preference for organizations based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Schooner Foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for funding.
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