Carson Family Charitable Trust

About Carson Family Charitable Trust

A defining feature of the Carson Family Charitable Trust’s recent giving is its repeated use of large, targeted support for New York institutions that are building research, academic, and service capacity. In 2025, it gave $6,221,253 to New York Genome Center Inc for general operating support, following a $5,000,000 matching grant with the Simons Foundation the year before. That same pattern appears in higher education and biomedical infrastructure: the trust backed Columbia Business School’s capital campaign, supported Rockefeller University’s capital campaign and President’s Fund, and funded New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s women and newborns facility. The trust also shows a clear interest in strengthening campus and institutional assets rather than spreading gifts broadly across many small recipients. Its portfolio also includes support for arts and community institutions in New York City, such as Marymount Manhattan College’s Judith Mara Carson Center for Visual Arts, Central Park Conservancy’s Harlem Meer Project, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Across these grants, the trust uses substantial commitments to reinforce major organizations, often through operating support, capital campaign support, or restricted project funding tied to specific facilities and programs.

What Carson Family Charitable Trust Funds

In higher education, the trust backed Manhattan Marymount College with $10,325,000 for general operating support in 2024 and gave Marymount Manhattan College $2,000,000 for an unrestricted scholarship fund in 2023. It also supported Columbia University’s business school capital campaign with $3,250,000 in 2024. Biomedical and research infrastructure is another clear theme. The New York Genome Center Inc received $6,221,253 for general operating support in 2025, after a $5,000,000 matching grant with the Simons Foundation in 2024. Rockefeller University also received $3,000,000 for its capital campaign in 2023 and $2,000,000 for the President’s Fund honoring Rick Lifton in 2024. The trust has funded health and housing-related projects as well. New York-Presbyterian Hospital received $2,000,000 for the construction, equipping, and operation of the Hospital for Women and Newborns, and Breaking Ground HDFC received $2,000,000 for the Paramount as transitional and supportive housing.

How Carson Family Charitable Trust Gives