OVERVIEW: The Zegar Family Foundation makes grants broadly across multiple subject areas and does not seem to prioritize funding for one cause over all others, although its website does indicate environmental issues and human rights are paramount. Its other funding areas include Science and Medicine, Human Services and Economic Opportunity, Education, Nutrition and Health, International Health and Development, and, finally, Arts, Culture, and Heritage.
IP TAKE: Zegar tends to support the same organizations each year, which decreases opportunities for new grant seekers, but reflects the foundation’s sustained commitment to helping its grantees scale. While there seems to be some room for new grantees, grant seekers will have to network and contact the foundation to introduce themselves. It maintains a sparse website, which limits transparency about grantmaking. According to their foundation website, they are “always open to new ideas,” suggesting a flexibility and willingness to adapt to changing needs within their areas of interest.
PROFILE: Founded in 2007, the Zegar Family Foundation was established by Charles Zegar, a computer scientist and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and his wife, Merryl Snow Zegar. Zegar was born to a Jewish family of modest means in New York. His mother was a musical comedy performer and opera singer and his father was a subway conductor. He graduated from Long Island University and earned a masters degree in computer science from New York University. While working at Salomon Brothers, he met Michael Bloomberg, who offered Zegar an ownership stake in the financial data company he was starting. Zegar headed up software development for the company that would become Bloomberg LP. Merryl Snow Zegar is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and earned a J.D. degree from Fordham University. She has worked as an attorney and an administrative law judge in New York City.
The foundation seeks to “give back by improving the larger world around us and the lives of others where our gifts can yield meaningful tangible impact for a better world.” This is a modest-sized family funder whose grantmaking includes a diverse set of priorities. It makes grants in eight areas, but prioritizes Environment and Sustainability, and Justice and Human Rights. Its other funding areas include Science and Medicine, Human Services and Economic Opportunity, Education, Nutrition and Health, International Health and Development, and, finally, Arts, Culture, and Heritage.
Based on information available from the foundation website and recent tax forms, the Zegar Family Foundation employs no staff, and only Charles and his wife, Merryl, serve as trustees. Charles and Merryl have signed The Giving Pledge as well. Charles made his millions writing the software for the financial data company, Bloomberg L.P. He previously had worked with co-founders Michael Bloomberg, Thomas Secunda and Duncan MacMillan at the Salomon Brothers investment bank. Merryl Snow Zegar is a graduate of the University of Connecticut and earned a J.D. degree from Fordham University. She has worked as an attorney and an administrative law judge in New York City.
Grants for Environment, Climate Change and Clean Energy
Zegar’s environment program broadly supports organizations “addressing the climate change crisis to preserve and conserve […] natural biodiverse resources and sustain [the] world environment.” Past grantees in this space include the National Parks Conservation Association and the Nature Conservancy. The foundation prefers to fund major, established organizations rather than invest in grassroots outfits in this funding area.
Grants for Global Security, Human Rights, and Criminal Justice
Zegar’s justice and human rights grants support organizations “assisting in seeking justice and protection of rights for people to whom rights are denied, including [pursuing] racial equality, criminal justice and immigrant rights through litigation, activism and advocacy for change.” The foundation includes causes such as criminal justice, immigrant rights, activism and advocacy as areas of grantmaking interest. Past human rights grantees include the Safe Passage Project Corporation, which received a general operating support grant for its ongoing work with indigent immigrant youth in New York; and the Innocence Project, which received a grant for its work exonerating wrongly convicted people through DNA testing.
Grants for Science Research
Zegar’s science and medicine grants support the advancement of “scientific and medical knowledge through innovative research.” These grants focus on basic scientific research that does not attract a lot of funding from the government or non-governmental organizations. Past science and medical research grantees include Johns Hopkins University and Columbia University Medical Center, which received funding for its Fracture Liaison Support program.
Grants for Economic Opportunity, Housing and Community Development
The foundation’s human services and economic opportunity grants prioritize broad support for programs that focus on “helping disadvantage[d] people help themselves through opportunities for economic growth and/or personal development.” Past grantees include Modest Needs Foundation, Pacific Pride Foundation, Safe Passage Project Corporation, and Robin Hood Foundation.
Grants for College Readiness and Higher Education
Zegar’s education grants primarily support higher education institutions and organizations “supporting educational institutions, primarily in the higher educational area and providing college access and success for the less advantaged students who desire to attend them.” Many grants are directed toward organizations operating in New York and California, and the foundation tends to develop multi-year partnerships with its grantees. Past college readiness grantees include Girls Inc. of Santa Barbara, California and New York City’s Trevor Day School.
Grants for Public Health
The foundation’s nutrition and health program makes grants to organizations that work to empower “people in underserved communities to improve nutrition and health through education programs encouraging healthier food choices, increased access to fresh foods and increasing options for achieving better health through enhanced medical assistance along with other programs bolstering health in these communities.” Past grantees include Wellness in the Schools, GEANCO Foundation, Wholesome Wave, Slow Food, and The Notah Begay III Foundation Inc.
Grants for Global Health and Global Development
The foundation’s website does not offer an abundance of information. However, recent tax filings reveal support for both big and small organizations. These grants go to programs “supporting economic relief and development, medical assistance, and human rights for people in need and other compelling causes throughout the world.” For example, Zegar has supported Doctors Without Borders, and the Peter Alderman Foundation, which helps people rebuild their lives after armed conflict through its mental health and recovery work. The Zegar Foundation also awards a couple of global health and development grants each year. Though the foundation pays attention to several global causes, it does not make a large number of international grants annually.
Grants for General Arts and Culture, Arts Education, and Visual Arts
Zegar’s work related to arts, culture and heritage supports organizations “contributing to societal enrichment through the arts, historical education, preservation of our national and global heritage and other cultural programs.” Past arts grantees include the Lower Eastside Tenement Museum and the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History. The foundation also supports the Museum of the City of New York, National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Little Orchestra Society, Figure Skating in Harlem, and the National Parks Conservation Association.
Important Grant Details:
The foundation does not offer grant listings on its website; however, tax filings indicate that grant amounts typically range from $25,000 to $100,000. The Zegar Family Foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for funding or letters of inquiry. But, according to its website, the foundation is “always open to new ideas from new sources.” Grant seekers can send general inquiries or make an introduction via email at info@zegarff.org.
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