The "I Have a Dream" Foundation provides long-term support to children and youth living in under-resourced communities to achieve their full potential, by promoting from an early age values of higher education and career success, with opportunity guaranteed through financial resources and other services.
The largest recent grant in the record is $162,500 to I Have a Dream - Newark for SEL - Social Emotional Learning, which shows how I Have a Dream Foundation ties funding to long-term academic and social-emotional support rather than isolated project awards. The foundation’s own mission is centered on helping children from low-income communities succeed in school, college, and career, with postsecondary tuition assistance extending that support beyond K-12. Recent grants also show a multi-site network approach: $152,500 went to I Have a Dream - New Jersey for Inspire the Dream, and $75,000 went to I Have a Dream - Atlanta for Great Expectations. The grantee names in the recent grants list indicate support for local program affiliates in multiple cities, including Newark, Atlanta, Miami, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Dallas, Idaho, and Boulder. The pattern is consistent with direct program support, curriculum implementation, and capacity building for school-aged children and youth. Grant activity in the file is concentrated in education, youth development, college access, and postsecondary support, with an emphasis on students participating in SEL, literacy, and mentorship programs.
Social-emotional learning appears prominently in the grant record. The foundation awarded $162,500 to I Have a Dream - Newark for SEL - Social Emotional Learning, connecting funding to school-based support for students. Literacy is another named area: I Have a Dream - Idaho received $26,000 for a Literacy Program, showing support for reading-focused work within the same network. Youth mentorship and aspiration also show up through Inspire the Dream grants, including $152,500 to I Have a Dream - New Jersey and $52,594 to I Have a Dream - Idaho. School-based educational interventions are reflected in Great Expectations awards, such as $75,000 to I Have a Dream - Atlanta and $67,080 to I Have a Dream - Miami. Across these grants, the foundation is funding program implementation inside local affiliate sites rather than broad, unrestricted philanthropy.
Typical grant size is $13,844 at the 25th percentile, $35,894 at the median, and $60,152 at the 75th percentile, so most awards cluster in the mid-five-figure range with a smaller number of larger grants. The record shows repeated support to the same local affiliates across 2024 and 2025, including Newark, New Jersey; Milwaukee; Miami; Los Angeles; Idaho; and Boulder, which points to recurring program funding rather than one-off gifts. I Have a Dream Foundation is a regular funder, not a DAF or program-related investor, and it does not fund individuals. The grant record also includes both larger anchor awards and smaller follow-on grants to affiliate sites.
$462K
$3.4M
$4.2M
$5M
Most grants fall between $14K and $60K, with a median of $36K.
25th Percentile
$14K
Median
$36K
75th Percentile
$60K
About 0% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Lori Canova
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All recent grants in the provided record went to U.S. recipients. Activity is spread across multiple states, with the heaviest concentration in Colorado by grant count, even though the foundation is headquartered in New York, NY. Recent recipient cities include Newark, Atlanta, Sunny Isles, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Dallas, Hailey, and Boulder. The same affiliate locations appear more than once, especially Newark, Milwaukee, Miami, Los Angeles, Idaho, and Boulder, showing a distributed national footprint rather than a single-region focus.
The grant record centers on education and youth development, especially social-emotional learning, literacy, youth mentorship and aspiration, school-based educational interventions, and programmatic support for low-income students. Recent awards were tagged SEL - Social Emotional Learning, Inspire the Dream, Great Expectations, and Literacy Program.
The foundation’s typical award size is $13,844 at the 25th percentile, $35,894 at the median, and $60,152 at the 75th percentile. That places most grants in the mid-five-figure range, with some larger awards above $150,000.
Yes. Several affiliate sites appear in multiple years, including I Have a Dream - Newark, I Have a Dream - New Jersey, I Have a Dream - Milwaukee, I Have a Dream - Miami, I Have a Dream - Los Angeles, I Have a Dream - Idaho, and I Have a Dream - Boulder. The pattern suggests ongoing program support.
The top state by grant count is Colorado. The recent grant list also shows awards in New Jersey, Georgia, Florida, Wisconsin, California, Texas, and Idaho, but Colorado appears most often in the provided state distribution.
No. The foundation is marked as not funding individuals, and the recent grants list shows support going to affiliated organizations such as local I Have a Dream sites rather than to people directly.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Current and upcoming funding from I Have A Dream Foundation that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.
Who can apply: Open to communities, schools, and organizations interested in partnering with the Foundation to start a new program or affiliate; the form asks about school district(s), local assets, funding sources, challenges, and community support for launch.
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Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I Have a Dream - New Jersey | Newark, NJ | $152,500 | 2025 | Inspire the Dream |
| I Have a Dream - Atlanta | Atlanta, GA | $75,000 | 2025 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Miami | Sunny Isles, FL | $67,080 | 2025 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Milwaukee | Milwaukee, WI | $60,679 | 2025 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | $58,573 | 2025 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Dallas | Dallas, TX | $38,865 | 2025 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Boulder | Boulder, CO | $9,014 | 2025 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Newark | Newark, NJ | $162,500 | 2024 | SEL - Social Emotional Learning |
| I Have a Dream - Idaho | Hailey, ID | $52,594 | 2024 | Inspire the Dream |
| I Have a Dream - Milwaukee | Milwaukee, WI | $38,123 | 2024 | Inspire the Dream |
| I Have a Dream - Miami | Sunny Isles, FL | $33,665 | 2024 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - New Jersey | Newark, NJ | $26,574 | 2024 | Inspire the Dream |
| I Have a Dream - Idaho | Hailey, ID | $26,000 | 2024 | Literacy Program |
| I Have a Dream - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | $25,374 | 2024 | Inspire the Dream |
| I Have a Dream - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | $10,000 | 2024 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Idaho | Hailey, ID | $10,000 | 2024 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Boulder | Boulder, CO | $10,000 | 2024 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Milwaukee | Milwaukee, WI | $7,000 | 2024 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Idaho | Hailey, ID | $15,588 | 2023 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Boulder | Boulder, CO | $9,000 | 2023 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | $9,000 | 2023 | Great Expectations |
| I Have a Dream - Milwaukee | Milwaukee, WI | $6,000 | 2023 | Great Expectations |
I Have a Dream - New Jersey
$152,500Inspire the Dream
I Have a Dream - Atlanta
$75,000Great Expectations
I Have a Dream - Miami
$67,080Great Expectations
I Have a Dream - Los Angeles
$58,573Great Expectations
I Have a Dream - Dallas
$38,865Great Expectations
I Have a Dream - Newark
$162,500SEL - Social Emotional Learning
I Have a Dream - Miami
$33,665Great Expectations
I Have a Dream - New Jersey
$26,574Inspire the Dream
I Have a Dream - Los Angeles
$25,374Inspire the Dream
I Have a Dream - Los Angeles
$10,000Great Expectations
I Have a Dream - Idaho
$15,588Great Expectations
I Have a Dream - Los Angeles
$9,000Great Expectations
