The George Gund Foundation

11/18/2024 in Announcements

The Gund Foundation awards $14.7 million at its November meeting

The 2024 election cycle has reaffirmed The George Gund Foundation’s commitment to addressing climate change and environmental degradation, entrenched and accelerating inequality—especially racial inequity, and weakened democracy. With a focus on public policy and advocacy, as well as direct support to programs and operations, the Foundation’s grantmaking seeks to address fairness and justice in our local community and beyond.

Against this backdrop, The George Gund Foundation awarded $14.7 million at its last meeting of the year, led by significant investments in current and graduating students from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), the Foundation’s primary focus of its public education program area. Our investments are more than matched by the citizens of Cleveland, who supported Issue 49, an operating levy increase and bond extension authorization with a resounding majority vote on November 5.  

The Foundation awarded a $2.75 million grant for Cleveland State University’s previously-established Living Learning Community, which provides CMSD Say Yes scholarship recipients a residential experience that integrates intensive academic support, leadership training, mentorship, graduation coaching, comprehensive wraparound services, and experiential learning. Two $75,000 grants were awarded to College Now Greater Cleveland for higher education partnerships and student support services, including targeted outreach to CMSD high schools to increase higher education enrollment.

The Foundation awarded $350,000 over two years for the CMSD’s integrated health expansion through the Educational Services Center of Cuyahoga County. A total of six school health clinics are, or will be, open by the 2025–26 school year, including three elementary schools (Anton Grdina, Mound, and Clara Westropp) and three high schools (Glenville, John F. Kennedy, and John Marshall). Other investments in CMSD students include grant awards for robotics teams, chess programs, and arts and cultural experiences through numerous grantees that provide programming in our public schools.

In addition to these awards, the Foundation’s grants reflect priorities outlined in the Foundation’s What We Believe statement as well as priorities across program areas. Grants include the following:

  • $260,000 over two years to EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute, which offers tuition-free workforce training in the culinary and hospitality industries for returning citizens, as well as a support network necessary for their long-term success. That support includes free or reduced-rate housing for nearly 80 students, alumni, and their families; and childcare for infants and young children six days per week.
  • $250,000 over two years to Enlightened Solutions, a research and advocacy organization dedicated to organizing and empowering Black women in Cleveland. Enlightened Solutions advances systems-change efforts including research, advocacy, organizational development, and community engagement that center the lived experiences of a diverse group of Black women in our region.
  • $400,000 over two years to Magnolia Clubhouse, an organization dedicated to the treatment and rehabilitation of persons diagnosed with a severe mental disorder(s). Magnolia Clubhouse is embarking on a $6 million expansion of its University Circle campus that will connect its two primary buildings, convert an existing carriage house into a medical clinic, expand its current programming and training space, and increase the number of persons served annually by 50 percent.
  • $140,000 over two years to Praxis Integrated Fiber Workshop, which builds the local and international community of fiber artists and makers through classes, workshops, residencies, and replicable social projects that teach the art form and demonstrate how fiber arts can be used to build healthy, resilient, and inclusive communities.
  • $250,000 over two years to Policy Matters Ohio, a nonprofit policy research institute working to create a more vibrant, equitable, sustainable, and inclusive Ohio. Policy Matters’ work crosses such diverse topics as the state budget, tax and revenue, work and wages, health, safety and justice, sustainability and climate, and education and opportunity.
  • $100,000 to the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights Foundation, whose physician members seek to protect and defend the right to appropriate medical care and treatment in their obstetrics and gynecological medical practices across the state.
  • $200,000 over two years to Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio for its array of reproductive care services including comprehensive contraception options, STI identification and treatment, HIV testing, abortion care, breast and cervical cancer screenings, gender affirming care, and medically accurate sexual and reproductive health education.
  • $3.6 million over three years to the Cleveland Public Market Corporation for the West Side Market’s transformation project, which will include facilities improvements and enhancements, new public gathering spaces, and outreach efforts to attract a mix of visitors and vendors that more closely reflects the diversity that exists within the City of Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio.

Further details on the Foundation’s November 2024 grants can be found at gundfoundation.org.

In 1952, The George Gund Foundation was established by George Gund, former chair of the Cleveland Trust Company. The Foundation funds programs that enhance our understanding of the physical and social environment in which we live and increase our ability to cope with its changing requirements. Grants are made three times a year in the areas of climate and environmental justice, creative culture and arts, democracy building, public education, thriving families and social justice, and vibrant neighborhoods and inclusive economy. To date, Foundation commitments have totaled over $945 million.