OVERVIEW: The Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation supports nonprofits focused on arts and culture, film, education, and human services, primarily in the Bay Area and Chicago.
IP TAKE: This is the funding vehicle of George Lucas and Mellody Hobson. A key source of grants for film and education, the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation is profoundly private. It lacks transparency and does not maintain a website or have much of an internet presence. Additionally, in recent years, it has prioritized bringing the Los Angeles-based Lucas Museum of Narrative Art to life through $1 billion spent on construction and endowments. This means that other funding interests have taken a backseat as a result; however, Hobson and Lucas are both Giving Pledge signatories, so expect their giving to ramp up significantly once the museum opens. That said, Lucas is considered an education funding heavyweight, also making grants via the George Lucas Educational Foundation.
The good news is that the foundation accepts unsolicited letters of inquiry, so reach out to pitch your education or film preservation project. Grantseekers are advised to contact the foundation first prior to sending an application in order to better cultivate a relationship with grant officers here, as well as improve your application.
PROFILE: Established in 2005, the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation (formerly the George Lucas Family Foundation) is the private foundation of George Lucas and Mellody Hobson. Born in Modesto, California, George Lucas is best known as the creator of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film franchises, as well as founder of Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic, the Academy Award-winning motion picture visual effects company. He also co-founded the film production company, American Zoetrope, with Francis Ford Coppola. In 2012, Lucas sold Lucasfilm to The Walt Disney Company for over $4 billion. Mellody Hobson is president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, a Chicago-based investment company. Previously she served as Chairman of the Board of Directors at DreamWorks Animation SKG and Starbucks, where she was “the first black chairwoman of an S&P 500 company.” A Princeton University graduate, Hobson has served on the boards of the Chicago Public Library, the Field Museum, and the Chicago Public Education Fund. The couple are Giving Pledge signatories and have pledged to give away at least half of their wealth to philanthropy.
Hobson/Lucas keeps a low public profile and does not have a website, which limits information available about its funding priorities; however, recent tax records show that the family foundation supports “organizations involved with arts and culture, film, education, and human services.”
Grants for K-12 and Higher Education
Education grants are broad and often invest in K-12 public education, as well as in youth organizations that support children in this age range. Higher education grants tend to prioritize large universities with film schools or universities with established arts departments. As well, higher ed grants invest in organizations and funds that invest in collect access.
- Education grants range from a few thousand to several million or more, but only support a few select organizations per year, and tend to involve multi-year proposals.
- Some of Hobson/Lucas’ largest grants go to the George Lucas Educational Foundation, which Lucas established in 1991 to transform “K-12 education so that all students can acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to thrive in their studies, careers, and adult lives.”
- Other K-12 grantees include the Hamlin School, Teach For America, Communities In Schools, A Better Chance, East Harlem School, Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching, Nicasio School Foundation, Mount Tamalpais School, Foundation for Teaching Economics, San Francisco Education Fund, and Chicago Public Education Fund, where Hobson sits on the board.
- In higher education, Lucas gave $175 million to help expand the University of Southern California’s film school. Other grantees include Michigan State University, Stanford University, University of Colorado, University of Washington, Columbia University’s School of the Arts, American Indian College Fund, Jackie Robinson Foundation, and Princeton University, Hobson’s alma mater.
Grants for Film, Arts and Culture
This funder’s film grants tend to invest in established organizations across the U.S., such as museums and cultural preservation societies that focus on film. Performing arts is another interest here.
- Hobson/Lucas has also invested heavily in the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which will house Lucas’s collection of movie memorabilia, illustrations, pop art, and props, worth approximately $1 billion. It is scheduled to open in 2026. George and Mellody Lucas prioritize preserving his artifacts, and willed his collection to be housed at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
- Other large grants have gone to support museums and cultural preservation organizations, especially to nonprofits focused on film history. Grantees include the Film Foundation, American Museum of the Moving Image, California Historical Society, The American Film Institute, Chicago Historical Society, Motown Historical Museum, and National Film Preservation Foundation.
- The family foundation also funds a small number of performing arts organizations. Grants have supported the Apollo Theater Foundation, Carnegie Hall Corporation, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, and Harlem School of the Arts.
Grants for Community Development and Human Services
The foundation gives million each year to human services organizations, including those that support childhood development and mentorship, medical research and outreach, gun control, cultural diversity awareness, faith-based resource centers, refugee aid, inner-city youth support, environmental and wildlife initiatives, various museums, public media and others.
- The couple prioritizes Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
- Grantees include San Geronimo Valley Community Center, Adopt A Family of Marin, Earle Baum Center of the Blind, GLIDE Foundation, People With Disabilities Succeeding, Center for Discovery Endowment Fund, Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Association, St. Vincent de Paul Society of Marin County, One Hundred Black Men, and YWCA of San Francisco & Marin.
Grants for Disaster Relief
Hobson/Lucas does not typically support organizations that respond to natural disasters; however, as IP has reported, the foundation contributed to the J. Paul Getty Trust led L.A. Arts Community Fire Relief Fund, an emergency fund for arts workers impacted by the L.A.-area fires.
Important Grant Details:
Grants typically range between $300 and $500,000, and they can go into the nine figures, but the majority are around $1,000. The foundation awarded over $62 million in a recent year and held more than $1 billion in assets. See recent 990s for more information about the types of groups the foundation supports and at what levels.
According to recent tax records, this funder accepts unsolicited letters of inquiry via post (see below) or email at publicity@skywalkerranch.com.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
CONTACT:
Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation
PO Box 2009
San Rafael, CA 94912
(415) 746-5059
publicity@skywalkerranch.com