OVERVIEW: The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation supports marine conservation, the performing arts, education, racial equity, economic justice, youth programs, criminal justice reform, immigrants’ rights and policy advocacy. This funder priorities Chicago and other Midwestern cities and states, except for its conservation program, which is global in scope.
IP TAKE: The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation has rapidly grown its grantmaking program since its 2011 founding and has become an important funder in the Chicago area and beyond, with a niche in grantmaking for the performing arts and marine conservation. Grants are mostly focused on the Midwestern region, but go to national and international conservation and arts organizations as well. Beyond this, Angell is growing its presence as an economic justice funder focused on the Chicago area. This foundation is collaborative and participates in pooled funds with other foundations. Recent examples include the Shark Conservation Fund and the League of American Orchestras’ Catalyst Fund
This is an approachable funder that typically makes a large number of modest grants to a wide range of organizations in its focus areas. Contact information is available at its website. However, this funder is not particularly transparent about which organizations it supports; its relatively sparse website does not include a grants database. At present, applications for its Social Impact fund for Chicago organizations is open to applications, whereas its Conservation and Performing Arts programs accept applications by invitation only. The foundation gets high marks from past grantees for being responsive, insightful and open-minded. Grant applications begin with a brief eligibility quiz, after which applicants may submit LOIs. The foundation runs two grantmaking cycles per year, with LOIs typically due in late spring and in the fall.
PROFILE: Established in 2011, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation honors the memory of its namesake, Paul Angell, the founder of the Newly Weds Foods company and an early manufacturer of the ice cream cake roll. Based in Chicago, Illinois, the foundation’s mission is to “work towards a world of thriving and equitable communities in which the promise and power of the arts flourish, and where healthy oceans sustainably support the human and other animal species that depend on them.” Angell supports programs in conservation, the performing arts, and social impact.
Grants for Marine Conservation
The Angell Family Foundation’s conservation program area centers around marine conservation, supporting efforts to protect the world’s oceans and iconic marine species.
- The foundation provides general operating grants, grants supporting specific programs.
- Grants also support educational programs related to marine conservation.
- Specific areas of interest include the sustainability of marine protected areas, governance for sustainable fishing, coral reefs, shark and ray species conservation, reducing plastic pollution, decarbonizing the shipping industry and increasing “legal capacity” for marine conservation.
- Past Angell marine conservation grantees include the Natural Resources Defense Council, Wildaid, Earthjustice and the Marine Conservation Biology Institute of Seattle.
Grants for Arts and Culture, Music and theater
Angell’s performing arts grants center on organizations that present classical music and theater programs in Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit and the Mid-Atlantic region.
- Grants have also supported arts education programming.
- Grantees include the Washington Drama Society, Chicago’s Merit School of Music, the Lookingglass Theatre Company, the DC Youth Orchestra and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Grants for Early Childhood, K-12 and Higher Education
Angell’s social causes program area names education as one of its main areas of focus. Grants target “programs that help students thrive, as well as efforts to transform schools into places in which all students succeed.” Education grants mainly stay in the Chicago area.
- At the early childhood level, grants support education, parent and caregiver support. Grantees include Family Focus of Chicago, Reading in Motion and the Children’s Place Association.
- K-12 grants support initiatives for high school completion and improving academic outcomes for at-risk students. Grantees include Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago, the Children’s Museum of Northwest Arkansas, Youth Guidance of Chicago and Raise Your Hand for Illinois Education, which helps schools “build parent power” and secure equitable funding.
- The foundation also supports access to higher education and post-secondary vocational training programs. The University of Chicago received funding for its Network for College Success and Inclusive Economy Lab.
Grants for Economic Development
The Angell Foundation’s social causes giving also names economic advancement as a focus area. Overlapping with its education giving, this subprogram supports vocational training and “post-secondary success for adults.”
- Grants also support social services related to “asset building” and financial stability.
- Grantees include Chicago’s Center for Changing Lives, the Inspiration Corporation’s Food Service Training Program and the North Lawndale Employment Network.
Grants for Women, Girls and Reproductive Health
Social impact grants also support “women’s empowerment” and reproductive justice, although it does not name more specific goals for this giving. Grantees include Women Employed, Planned Parenthood of Illinois, the Chicago Abortion Fund and the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation.
Grants for Criminal Justice Reform
A portion of Angell’s social impact grantmaking supports efforts in criminal justice reform, particularly in the areas of youth justice and ending the “school-to-prison pipeline.” Grantees include the Chicago Community Bond Fund, the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, Youth Crossroads and Adler University’s Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice.
Grants for Immigrants and Refugees
The social impact grantmaking area also broadly names immigrant and refugee rights and services as areas of grantmaking interest, although this has been a smaller area of giving. Grants have supported the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, Upwardly Global and the National Immigrant Justice Center.
Important Grant Details:
Though the Angell Foundation awards a handful of grants ranging from $500,000 to nearly $1 million, most grants typically range between $50,000 and $250,000.
- Grantees range from large, national organizations to small, community-based efforts.
- The Angell Foundation makes grants or general operations and project support.
- Begin the application process by registering with the application portal and completing the eligibility quiz. The foundation runs spring and fall grantmaking cycles and links current due dates to the applicant tutorial page.
- The foundation may be contacted via its contact page, which also provides email addresses for its individual grantmaking programs. The foundation’s phone number is (872) 337-8900.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
