Yawkey Foundation
The Yawkey Foundation, established in 1977, is a private charitable foundation that has awarded over $620 million in grants to 501(c)(3) nonprofits across Eastern Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina, in six giving areas including health care, education, and youth athletics.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1977
- HeadquartersDedham, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Yawkey Foundation does
The Yawkey Foundation is a private charitable foundation established in 1977 following Tom Yawkey's death in 1976, continuing the philanthropic legacy of Tom and Jean Yawkey in Eastern Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina. The foundation awards grants to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations across six priority areas: Health Care, Education, Human Services, Youth & Amateur Athletics, Arts & Culture, and Conservation & Wildlife. Since inception it has awarded more than $620 million in cumulative grants, with the June 2026 $50 million commitment to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute representing the largest single grant in the foundation's history.
The foundation operates four distinct programs: Program & Small Capital Grants (up to $100,000), Strategic Investment Grants ($250,000 to $1 million), and Transformational Capital Grants (up to $5 million) flow through a competitive two-step application process — Initial Proposal followed by invitation-only full Grant Application — managed through a Blackbaud-powered Applicant Portal adopted in May 2025. The Yawkey Scholars Program, launched in 2005, has provided over $17 million in tuition support to more than 400 first-generation college students and operates as a separate direct-program track. The foundation does not develop proprietary technology and generates no revenue from products or services; its grantmaking capacity is sustained by the Yawkey endowment and investment returns thereon.
The foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees chaired by John L. Harrington, with Alicia Verity appointed CEO in January 2025 succeeding Maureen H. Bleday. Headquartered in Westwood, Massachusetts with 11-50 employees, the foundation concentrates its work on children, families, and the underserved in the geographies the Yawkeys called home. Anchor relationships span eight decades with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (since 1953), the National Baseball Hall of Fame (since 1939), and Pine Street Inn (35+ years), providing both continuity and concentration in flagship partnerships.
Yawkey Foundation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Yawkey Foundation
- Legal name
- Yawkey Foundation
- Website
- https://yawkeyfoundation.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1977
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The Yawkey Foundation, established in 1977, is a private charitable foundation that has awarded over $620 million in grants to 501(c)(3) nonprofits across Eastern Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina, in six giving areas including health care, education, and youth athletics.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Yawkey Foundation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Charitable Foundation Grantmaking
- NAICS
- Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)
Keywords
Where Yawkey Foundation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Dedham
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Yawkey Foundation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Charitable Grantmaking: The Yawkey Foundation operates as a private charitable foundation that awards grants to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. The foundation does not generate revenue from products or services. It perpetuates the philanthropic legacy of Tom and Jean Yawkey by making significant and positive impacts on quality of life for children, families, and the underserved in Eastern Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Yawkey Foundation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Yawkey Foundation is a private charitable foundation that awards grants to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations operating in Eastern Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina. It funds six priority areas — Health Care, Education, Human Services, Youth & Amateur Athletics, Arts & Culture, and Conservation & Wildlife — through three grant tiers (Program & Small Capital up to $100,000, Strategic Investment $250,000–$1 million, Transformational Capital up to $5 million) plus the Yawkey Scholars Program for first-generation college students.
Product overview
The Yawkey Foundation is a charitable grant-making foundation that provides funding to nonprofit organizations in six giving areas: Health Care, Education, Human Services, Youth & Amateur Athletics, Arts & Culture, and Conservation & Wildlife. The foundation offers four distinct grant programs (Program & Small Capital Grants, Strategic Investment Grants, Transformational Capital Grants) through a competitive two-step proposal process, plus the Yawkey Scholars Program for college scholarships. The foundation's geographic focus is Eastern Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Yawkey Scholars Program: A four-year college scholarship program for first-generation students in Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina, providing tuition support of $35,000 per year for Massachusetts students and $15,000 per year for South Carolina students, plus mentoring and enrichment funding.
- Program & Small Capital Grants
- Strategic Investment Grants
- Transformational Capital Grants
Products and services
- Program & Small Capital Grants
- Strategic Investment Grants
- Transformational Capital Grants
- Yawkey Scholars Program
Quantifiable outcome
- More than $620 million awarded in charitable grants since inception
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Yawkey Foundation
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Yawkey Foundation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Yawkey Foundation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- Boston Children's Museumcore$1,000,000 Climate Resiliency Grant to support the first phase of the museum's Climate Resilience Campaign, protecting utility systems from rising water levels along Fort Point Channel. The project addresses flooding projections that could affect the plaza approximately 182 days per year by the 2070s.
- Dana-Farber Cancer InstituteflagshipEight-decade partnership supporting cancer research, care, and patient support. The Foundation granted a historic $50 million gift, the largest in the foundation's history, to support construction of a planned 300-bed, 14-floor dedicated adult cancer hospital (the only such hospital in New England) and the Future of Cancer Care Fund. A new bridge connecting Dana-Farber's Yawkey Center to the planned hospital will be named in honor of Jean and Tom Yawkey.
- Round the Bend Farmcore$1 million grant for greater access to healthy, locally grown food for South Coast communities in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.
- McLean Hospitalcore$2 million grant for McLean's New Child & Adolescent Campus Project, advancing child and adolescent mental health initiatives.
- The BASEcorePartnership to unite two long-standing Foundation partners - the National Baseball Hall of Fame and The BASE in Roxbury. The foundation brought 40 student-athletes from The BASE to the Hall of Fame for guided tours of the exhibit and a visit to Doubleday Field.
- Franklin Cummings Techcore$2.5 million grant to support student services at the college's new Nubian Square campus building in Roxbury, Boston.
- Camp Harbor Viewflagship$7.5 million grant for The Connors Leadership Academy, supporting Camp Harbor View's plans for its future hub for year-round youth enrichment in Dorchester.
- Pine Street Innflagship$15 million commitment to help increase supportive housing and end homelessness. The Women's Inn shelter was renamed Yawkey House in recognition of the Foundation's 35 years of support, enabling Pine Street Inn to increase permanent housing capacity by 40%.
- Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA)flagship$3 million transformational grant to build La CASA: The Center for Arts, Self-determination, and Activism. Once complete, this will be New England's largest Latinx arts, culture, and neighborhood community center, representing the largest gift in IBA's 55-year history.
- Good SportscorePartnership to donate baseball and softball equipment to youth organizations. Good Sports, a nonprofit creating equitable access in youth sports, partnered with Yawkey Foundation to donate $17,600 in equipment to Roxbury YMCA. Additional partnerships include donations to Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester and Metro South Camp Riverside.
- House of Possibilities (HOPe)core$5 million grant for campus expansion to increase capacity for supporting individuals with disabilities and their families in Southeastern Massachusetts. Previously received $555,000 Strategic Investment Grant for Easton facility expansion pre-construction activities.
- National Baseball Hall of Fame & MuseumcorePartnership on the Black Baseball Initiative and Yawkey Gallery exhibit 'The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball.' The foundation is honored to support the museum's efforts to amplify stories of Black baseball. Tom Yawkey began supporting the Hall of Fame in 1939.
- South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR)corePartnership for conservation of the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center. The foundation donated 269 acres of protected wilderness in Georgetown County to SCDNR to protect in perpetuity, adding to the 24,000-acre wildlife sanctuary that is the site of the world's longest-running alligator study.
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)corePartnership presenting the 'Dispatches from an Ocean Planet' summer speaker series and the 2024, 2025, and 2026 WHOI Ocean and Climate Outreach Series. The foundation supports WHOI's public education initiatives about ocean science and climate.
- Boston UniversitycorePartnership on the Yawkey Nonprofit Internship Program at Boston University, a selective program for sophomores and juniors providing funding to support participation in unpaid internships at nonprofit organizations.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Yawkey Foundation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- The Barr Foundation: Boston-based private foundation that distributes significant grants in Arts & Culture, Climate, and Education across Massachusetts. Highly comparable as a regional, multi-area private foundation with a similar scale of giving and Boston-area footprint.
- Highland Street Foundation: Massachusetts-based private foundation supporting youth, education, and human services nonprofits in Greater Boston. Comparable as a regional family foundation with similar Areas of Giving (education, human services, youth) and a Massachusetts-only focus.
- The Klarman Family Foundation: Boston-based private foundation primarily funding education, scientific research, and civic causes. Comparable in size, Boston-area focus, and family-foundation grantmaking model targeting nonprofit partners.
- The Boston Foundation: Greater Boston's community foundation, distributing grants across Eastern Massachusetts for education, health, housing, and arts. Directly comparable to Yawkey in geographic focus, donor-advised giving model, and multi-area of giving strategy.
- The Riley Foundation: Massachusetts-based private foundation supporting youth, education, and community programs in Greater Boston and Cape Cod. Comparable as a regional Massachusetts-focused private foundation with overlapping Education and Youth & Amateur Athletics priority areas.
Broad incumbents
- The Kresge Foundation: Large national private foundation with multi-billion-dollar endowment making grants across health, education, environment, and human services nationwide. Comparable as a private foundation with multi-area grantmaking, but materially larger and not geographically concentrated like Yawkey.
- The Pritzker Family Foundation: Large national private family foundation with multi-area giving (education, health, civic engagement). Comparable as a multi-generational family foundation, but with broader national scope and larger endowment.
Regional players
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation: Massachusetts-based health-focused grantmaking foundation supporting healthcare access and coverage for vulnerable populations. Comparable as a Massachusetts-only grantmaking foundation with a strong Health Care area of giving.
- Bain Capital Foundation: Boston-based corporate-affiliated foundation supporting education and workforce development in the Greater Boston area. Comparable in regional focus and education priority area but structured as a corporate foundation rather than a private family foundation.
- The Boston Children's Health Foundation: Greater Boston-area foundation focused on children's health, education, and welfare. Comparable as a regional family/charitable foundation with overlapping Health Care and Human Services priority areas.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Yawkey Foundation social profiles
Digital presenceYawkey Foundation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Yawkey Foundation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Yawkey Foundation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Yawkey Foundation M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments2 records
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Frequently asked questions about Yawkey Foundation
What does Yawkey Foundation do?
The Yawkey Foundation is a private charitable foundation that awards grants to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations operating in Eastern Massachusetts and Georgetown County, South Carolina. It funds six priority areas — Health Care, Education, Human Services, Youth & Amateur Athletics, Arts & Culture, and Conservation & Wildlife — through three grant tiers (Program & Small Capital up to $100,000, Strategic Investment $250,000–$1 million, Transformational Capital up to $5 million) plus the Yawkey Scholars Program for first-generation college students.
Is Yawkey Foundation a public or private company?
Yawkey Foundation is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Yawkey Foundation founded?
Yawkey Foundation was founded in 1977. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Yawkey Foundation based?
Yawkey Foundation is headquartered in Dedham, United States, in the North America region.
How does Yawkey Foundation make money?
One revenue line is on record: charitable Grantmaking.
Who are Yawkey Foundation's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are The Barr Foundation, Highland Street Foundation, The Klarman Family Foundation, The Boston Foundation and The Riley Foundation. Broad incumbents are The Kresge Foundation and The Pritzker Family Foundation. Regional players are Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, Bain Capital Foundation and The Boston Children's Health Foundation.
Does Yawkey Foundation have an API?
No public API is recorded for Yawkey Foundation.
What industry is Yawkey Foundation in?
Yawkey Foundation's product category is Charitable Foundation Grantmaking. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAKAA, Private Foundations, with a secondary code of EDADAHAC, Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts. Its NAICS code is 813211 and its SIC code is 8300.