About Mary Kay Ash Foundation
Guided by Mary Kay Ash’s dream to enrich the lives of women everywhere, the Mary Kay Ash Foundation raises and distributes funds to invest in breakthrough cancer research (including clinical trials) for cancers affecting women and to end domestic violence against women and girls.
Focus Areas
Cancer research (women-related cancers: ovarian, uterine, breast, endometrial, cervical)Clinical trialsDomestic violence shelter supportSurvivor servicesAwareness and advocacy
Who They Fund
people with cancer (cancer patients/survivors)women affected by interpersonal/sexual/gender-based violencesurvivors of violence
Funding Style
issue-specific grantstargeted/project funding
About Mary Kay Ash Foundation
Mary Kay Ash Foundation directs its giving toward two linked priorities: research on cancers affecting women and support for survivors of domestic violence. Recent awards show both a research-heavy cancer portfolio and a separate stream for shelter and survivor services, including a $600,000 cancer grant to Ut Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and a $75,000 violence-against-women grant to Conference on Crimes Against Women in Dallas. The foundation’s cancer program includes translational work, clinical research, and fellowship support, while its domestic violence funding is built around emergency shelters and direct services for women and children escaping abuse. The foundation’s recent record also shows continued support for major medical and service institutions over multiple years. Cancercare in New York received grants in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center received grants in 2024 and 2025. On the domestic violence side, the Conference on Crimes Against Women appears repeatedly in the recent grants list. Across the portfolio, the pattern is clear: targeted project funding for cancer research and safety-focused support for organizations serving women and girls.
What Mary Kay Ash Foundation Funds
In cancer research, Mary Kay Ash Foundation backed Ut Southwestern Medical Center with $600,000 in 2024 for a cancer grant, and Baylor Scott & White Dallas Foundation with $200,000 in 2024 for a cancer grant. The foundation also funded Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center with $100,000 in 2025 for a cancer grant, reflecting support for clinical and translational work on cancers affecting women. Domestic violence work is another core lane. The foundation gave $75,000 in 2025 to Conference on Crimes Against Women for violence against women, and the same organization also received $50,000 in 2023 for a violence against women grant. Its active shelter program supports emergency domestic violence shelters that provide services to women and children, showing a focus on both immediate safety and longer-term survivor support. The portfolio also includes training and research capacity-building, such as a $100,000 grant in 2025 to Baylor College of Medicine for cancer research.
How Mary Kay Ash Foundation Gives
Typical grants cluster at $20,000, with a median of $20,000 and a 75th percentile of $50,000; larger awards appear in the cancer portfolio, where the program can reach $100,000 or more. The foundation is a Public Charity and does not fund individuals. Its recent grants show repeat support across years: Cancercare appears in 2023, 2024, and 2025, while Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Conference on Crimes Against Women each received multiple grants. The presence of both open shelter grants and invitation-based cancer research programs suggests a mix of unsolicited and invited funding pathways.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$2.6M
Total Assets
$17M
Total Revenue
$3.8M
Total Expenses
$2.9M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $20K and $50K, with a median of $20K.
25th Percentile
$20K
Median
$20K
75th Percentile
$50K
Geographic Reach
National51 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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