The Essex Avenue Foundation concentrates a small number of very large grants focused primarily on community-based education and social services, with a notable emphasis on a single Bronx community school. Its portfolio also includes targeted investments in supportive housing, refugee/immigrant higher-education access, and urban environmental sustainability. Grants are typically sizable and often unrestricted or program-specific, indicating flexibility and trust in grantee execution.
The Essex Avenue Foundation’s largest recent gifts have gone to Escuela Comunitaria Del Bronx, including $5,000,192 in 2023, $2,851,937 in 2024, and $1,895,108 in 2025. That sustained support signals a strong commitment to a single Bronx community school while the broader portfolio reaches into housing, education access, and environmental work. The foundation’s giving also includes major support for Breaking Ground, with grants tied to both a 2030 Fund and a Working Capital Fund, and a $1,500,000 award to Cornell University for the Initiative to Support Afghan Scholars and Students fund. Those grants sit alongside large unrestricted gifts to schools and community organizations, showing a preference for substantial, flexible awards. The pattern is not limited to one subject area: the same funder has backed supportive housing development, refugee and immigrant higher-education pathways, composting, youth services, and urban ecology. Across the recent grants list, the common thread is concentrated, high-dollar support for organizations carrying out direct service, program expansion, or capital-linked work in New York City and beyond.
In education, The Essex Avenue Foundation has repeatedly supported Escuela Comunitaria Del Bronx with multi-million-dollar unrestricted grants, indicating a durable relationship with the Bronx school community. In higher education access for displaced students, it gave $1,500,000 to Cornell University for the Initiative to Support Afghan Scholars and Students fund. Housing and homelessness are another clear thread. The foundation awarded $2,000,000 to Breaking Ground for the 2030 Fund and later gave $1,000,000 for its Working Capital Fund, alongside a $700,000 grant to Coalition for the Homeless for the Eviction Prevention Fund and general support. Environmental work appears in grants such as $1,300,000 to Council on the Environment Inc for the Composting Program and $530,000 to City Parks Foundation for the Tree Time Program, which supported sidewalk tree planting in Brooklyn.
Typical grant size sits at $50,000 at the 25th percentile, $145,000 at the median, and $450,000 at the 75th percentile, but the recent list shows that this funder also makes repeated seven-figure awards. The portfolio is marked by continuity: Escuela Comunitaria Del Bronx appears across 2023, 2024, and 2025, as do Breaking Ground, City and Country School Inc, the Coalition for the Homeless, and The New York Foundling. The Essex Avenue Foundation is a regular funder rather than a DAF and makes grants nationally. It also funds individuals, which fits the presence of scholar-support funding in the recent record.
$27.8M
$616.1M
$92.1M
$28M
Most grants fall between $50K and $450K, with a median of $145K.
25th Percentile
$50K
Median
$145K
75th Percentile
$450K
About 0% of grants go to recipients in NY.
Top 2 recipient countries by grant volume for Essex Avenue Foundation.
| Rank | Country | Grants | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United StatesDomestic | 200 | $68M | 99.0% |
| 2 | Zambia |
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Highly concentrated giving: very few, large grants dominate total funding; repeat multiyear support to a flagship community school alongside single large commitments to mission-specific initiatives and place-based environmental work.
Notable grantees: Escuela Comunitaria del Bronx (Bronx Community School), Breaking Ground Housing Development Fund Corporation, Cornell University (Initiative to Support Afghan Scholars and Students), Council on the Environment, Inc. (composting/urban sustainability)
Most grants go to recipients in Massachusetts by count, but the recent grants are heavily concentrated in New York City and nearby places. New York recipients include Bronx and New York City organizations such as Escuela Comunitaria Del Bronx, Breaking Ground, Council on the Environment Inc, The New York Foundling, Coalition for the Homeless, and City Parks Foundation. Outside New York, recent awards reached Ithaca, Portland, Berkeley, Chicago, New Haven, Alexandria, Charlottesville, Washington, DC, Silver Spring, and Tavernier. The recipient-country distribution is overwhelmingly U.S.-based, with 200 grants in the United States and 2 in South Africa.
Recent grants point to education, housing stability, refugee and scholar support, and environmental sustainability. Examples include multi-year support for Escuela Comunitaria Del Bronx, funding for Breaking Ground’s housing-related funds, Cornell University’s Afghan scholar initiative, and environmental grants for composting, tree planting, solar programs, oyster restoration, and coral restoration.
Yes. The median recent grant size is $145,000, with the 75th percentile at $450,000. The recent record also includes multiple awards at $1,000,000 and above, including seven-figure grants to schools, housing nonprofits, and university-based initiatives.
Yes. Several recipients appear in multiple years, including Escuela Comunitaria Del Bronx in 2023, 2024, and 2025; Breaking Ground in 2023, 2024, and 2025; City and Country School Inc in 2023, 2024, and 2025; The New York Foundling in 2024 and 2025; and the Coalition for the Homeless in 2024 and 2025.
By recipient count, Massachusetts is the top state, while the bulk of named recent grants land in New York City and the Bronx. The recent list also includes recipients in Ithaca, Portland, Berkeley, Chicago, New Haven, Alexandria, Charlottesville, Washington, DC, Silver Spring, and Tavernier.
Yes. The foundation’s profile indicates that it funds individuals, and the recent grant record includes support connected to the Initiative to Support Afghan Scholars and Students fund at Cornell University.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
| 2 |
| $600K |
1.0% |
Recipient country reflects the grantee's headquarters per IRS 990-PF and Schedule F filings, not the program's implementation country.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ESCUELA COMUNITARIA DEL BRONX BRONX COMMUNITY SCHO | BRONX, NY | $1,895,108 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| BREAKING GROUND HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FUND CORPORATI | NEW YORK, NY | $1,000,000 | 2025 | Working Capital Fund |
| CITY AND COUNTRY SCHOOL INC | NEW YORK, NY | $1,000,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| THE NEW YORK FOUNDLING | NEW YORK, NY | $1,000,000 | 2025 | the Home of Integrated Behavioral Health and the Road to Success program |
| ALI FORNEY CENTER | NEW YORK, NY | $750,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| WE CARE SOLAR | BERKELEY, CA | $750,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| HEALTH IN HARMONY INC | PORTLAND, OR | $750,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS INC | NEW YORK, NY | $700,000 | 2025 | Eviction Prevention Fund and General support |
| WOMEN IN NEED INC | NEW YORK, NY | $700,000 | 2025 | programming and Emergency needs fund |
| REFED INC | CHICAGO, IL | $700,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| JUBILEE JUSTICE INC | ALEXANDRIA, LA | $700,000 | 2025 | Black Farmers Rice Project |
| GREENWAVE ORGANIZATION CORP | NEW HAVEN, CT | $625,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| CORAL RESTORATION FOUNDATION INC | TAVERNIER, FL | $600,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL INC | CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA | $580,000 | 2025 | to assist 10 Habitat for humanity statewide offices in starting-up solar programs in anticipation of the roll-out of the federal solar for all program, and to provide seed funding for future solar campaigns in additional states beyond the original 10 states |
| CITY PARKS FOUNDATION INC | NEW YORK, NY | $530,000 | 2025 | Tree Time Program: Sidewalk tree planting along Vandervoort Avenue in Brooklyn, NY |
| TREES FOR THE FUTURE INC | SILVER SPRING, MD | $525,000 | 2025 | Senegal program |
| SOLAR UNITED NEIGHBORS | WASHINGTON, DC | $525,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| THE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION | ARLINGTON, VA | $500,000 | 2025 | Working Farms Fund |
| RETHINK FOOD NYC INC | NEW YORK, NY | $500,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| CITY AND COUNTRY SCHOOL INC | NEW YORK, NY | $500,000 | 2025 | Caroline Pratt Institute |
| COUNCIL ON THE ENVIRONMENT INC | NEW YORK, NY | $500,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| BILLION OYSTER PROJECT | NEW YORK, NY | $500,000 | 2025 | Design & Permitting of Oyster Reefs |
| FAUNA & FLORA INTERNATIONAL USA INC | WASHINGTON, DC | $500,000 | 2025 | Deforestation Prevention in the Annamite Mountains |
| CHRISTIAN HERALD ASSN INC | NEW YORK, NY | $500,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| GREEN CITY FORCE | BROOKLYN, NY | $500,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| THE DREAM LIFE TWO SIXTY | Lusaka | $500,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| WOMEN IN NEED INC | NEW YORK, NY | $500,000 | 2025 | to continue the legal aid program and to address food insecurity |
| BRONXWORKS INC | BRONX, NY | $500,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| WILD LANDSCAPES INC | TALLAHASSEE, FL | $500,000 | 2025 | Green Heart of the Everglades project |
| THE CHILDRENS AID SOCIETY | NEW YORK, NY | $500,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| REFED INC | CHICAGO, IL | $500,000 | 2025 | Catalytic Grant Fund |
| PROJECT DRAWDOWN | NEW YORK, NY | $500,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| WOMENS HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIO | BRONX, NY | $494,000 | 2025 | the emergency fund and general support |
| UNIVERSITY OF MAINE FOUNDATION | ORONO, ME | $410,000 | 2025 | Kelp Strain Selection Laboratory and Production System work |
| FAUNA & FLORA INTERNATIONAL USA INC | WASHINGTON, DC | $400,000 | 2025 | Mangrove Projects |
| PROJECT RENEWAL INC | NEW YORK, NY | $350,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| CITY PARKS FOUNDATION INC | NEW YORK, NY | $350,000 | 2025 | NYC Green Relief and Recovery Fund |
| NON TRADITIONAL EMPLOYMENT FOR WOMEN | NEW YORK, NY | $300,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support, Emergency Fund, Expansion of Youth Programs |
| NATIVE RENEWABLES INC | FLAGSTAFF, AZ | $300,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| NATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS | NEW YORK CITY, NY | $300,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| NEW YORK RESTORATION PROJECT | NEW YORK, NY | $300,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| CEC STUYVESANT COVE INC | LONG ISLAND CITY, NY | $300,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| EARTH MATTER NY INC | NEW YORK, NY | $300,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| WATERFRONT ALLIANCE INC | NEW YORK, NY | $225,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
| FUND FOR PUBLIC HOUSING INC | NEW YORK, NY | $210,000 | 2025 | Sustainability Grant Management fund |
| RARE INC | ARLINGTON, VA | $200,000 | 2025 | to support Rare's mangrove conservation and restoration efforts worldwide, including important mangrove areas of Brazil, Mozambique, and the Philippines |
| THE BOMA PROJECT INC | MANCHESTR CTR, VT | $175,873 | 2025 | Rural Entrepreneur Access Project in Turkana, Isiolo, Marsabit and Samburu |
| COOPERATIVE EXTENSION ASSOCIATION IN THE STATE OF | ITHACA, NY | $171,555 | 2025 | Ag Energy NY and Expansion fund |
| MOTT HAVEN SPANISH SEVENTH DAY | YONKERS, NY | $169,000 | 2025 | food fund |
| SURE WE CAN INC | BROOKLYN, NY | $150,000 | 2025 | General & Unrestricted |
ESCUELA COMUNITARIA DEL BRONX BRONX COMMUNITY SCHO
$1,895,108General & Unrestricted
the Home of Integrated Behavioral Health and the Road to Success program
General & Unrestricted
JUBILEE JUSTICE INC
$700,000Black Farmers Rice Project
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL INC
$580,000to assist 10 Habitat for humanity statewide offices in starting-up solar programs in anticipation of the roll-out of the federal solar for all program, and to provide seed funding for future solar campaigns in additional states beyond the original 10 states
Tree Time Program: Sidewalk tree planting along Vandervoort Avenue in Brooklyn, NY
Deforestation Prevention in the Annamite Mountains
THE DREAM LIFE TWO SIXTY
$500,000General & Unrestricted
to continue the legal aid program and to address food insecurity
PROJECT DRAWDOWN
$500,000General & Unrestricted
WOMENS HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIO
$494,000the emergency fund and general support
UNIVERSITY OF MAINE FOUNDATION
$410,000Kelp Strain Selection Laboratory and Production System work
General Operating Support, Emergency Fund, Expansion of Youth Programs
NATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS
$300,000General & Unrestricted
EARTH MATTER NY INC
$300,000General & Unrestricted
to support Rare's mangrove conservation and restoration efforts worldwide, including important mangrove areas of Brazil, Mozambique, and the Philippines
Rural Entrepreneur Access Project in Turkana, Isiolo, Marsabit and Samburu
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION ASSOCIATION IN THE STATE OF
$171,555Ag Energy NY and Expansion fund
MOTT HAVEN SPANISH SEVENTH DAY
$169,000food fund