Barr Foundation Announces $13.3 Million in New Grants

Last week, Barr’s trustees approved 16 grants totaling $9.5 million. In addition, the Foundation awarded more than $3.8 million in grants approved by the president during the second quarter of the year.

Below we highlight some of these new and longtime partnerships in alignment with Barr’s new strategic priorities announced earlier this year. We invite you to explore these and all of the grants awarded this quarter through our online grants database.

In Arts & Creativity, Barr awarded four grants totaling $1.9 million, with a focus on investing in organizations becoming more adaptive and relevant and on serving increasingly diverse populations. A $675,000 grant to creative writing center Grub Street will help it engage new, more diverse students, faculty, and staff, as well as diversify its income streams in order to support programmatic risk-taking. A $1-million grant to West End House will help it meet growing demand by teens from throughout Boston by building a new arts facility and establishing reserves, experimenting with cross-disciplinary learning labs, and transforming an underused park in Allston-Brighton into a neighborhood asset.

In Climate, Barr awarded nine grants totaling $2.1 million. With a $300,000 grant approved earlier this quarter, the Merck Family Fund has commissioned research to support informed design choices for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, now undergoing program review by participating states and stakeholders; such regional and state-led energy initiatives are crucial to ensuring that the U.S. can meet its national objectives and international obligations. A $300,000 grant to The Lawrence and Lillian Solomon Foundation will establish a new grants and technical assistance program for greenways planning and design in Greater Boston to better connect public spaces and make it easier for people to walk and bike.

In Education, Barr awarded 17 grants totaling $9 million, with a focus on redefining and reaching secondary success for all students throughout our region. A grant of $2,440,000 to Gateway to College National Network will strengthen and expand its flagship program, Gateway to College, to Massachusetts and New England. Gateway to College is a rigorous, early-college alternative to traditional high school, and is located entirely on college campuses. Also coming to the region is New Classrooms Innovations Partners’ “Teach to One: Math,” a nationally proven, competency-based, personalized learning approach to teaching middle-school math. With a $500,000 grant, New Classrooms will pilot this approach in partnership with schools in Massachusetts and New England.

Barr’s president, Jim Canales, previously shared the Foundation’s new initiative to promote a great public realm along the Boston waterfront. Initial grants approved this quarter and earlier were made to Boston Harbor Now, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, and The Trustees of Reservations.