Ellison Foundation

About Ellison Foundation

A $600,000 grant to Seattle Children’s Hospital anchors Ellison Foundation’s recent giving and signals how focused its grantmaking is: large, targeted checks to established organizations serving children and families in Washington State. The foundation’s recent pattern includes support for pediatric medical care, homelessness services for families, college-prep education for underserved youth, arts programming, and safety-net work, mostly in Seattle and nearby King County communities. Several recipients appear more than once across recent years, which points to ongoing relationships rather than isolated awards. Seattle Children’s Foundation received funding for homelessness prevention in 2024 and 2025, while the University of Washington Foundation received education-related support in both 2023 and 2025. Overlake Medical Center Foundation also appears in multiple years for healthcare support, including awards in Bellevue. The foundation’s giving is not broad or diffuse. It concentrates on direct-service institutions and community-serving nonprofits such as Mary’s Place, Cristo Rey Seattle High School, and United Way of King County. The result is a grantmaking profile centered on local service delivery, with a clear emphasis on children, students, and families facing health or housing challenges.

What Ellison Foundation Funds

Ellison Foundation supports a compact set of cause areas through substantial operating or program support. In family homelessness, it gave $252,000 to Mary’s Place for homeless needs and $100,000 to Vine Maple Place for homelessness, showing sustained attention to housing instability. In education, the foundation backed Cristo Rey Seattle High School with $250,000 for education and gave $50,000 to Northwest Education Access for education, alongside support for Bellevue Boys & Girls Club for youth programs. Medical and clinical care is another major thread: Overlake Medical Center Foundation received $200,000 for healthcare, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research received $150,000 for cancer research. The foundation also funds arts and human services. Seattle Art Museum received $200,000 for artistic programs, and Brothers for Life received $120,000 and then $100,000 for human services, indicating repeated support within a narrow set of priorities.

How Ellison Foundation Gives