Heckscher Foundation for Children

About Heckscher Foundation for Children

The Heckscher Foundation for Children backs underserved youth through a venture philanthropy model that emphasizes measurable outcomes. Its recent grantmaking shows a strong tilt toward education, workforce pathways, and capacity-building, with large awards used to support college persistence, literacy, school improvement, and job access. The foundation also funds children with learning differences, campus communities, arts education, and recreation-related services. A clear example of its college strategy is the College Completion Innovation Fund, which Heckscher helped establish as an early funder. In the recent grants list, the foundation gave $700,000 to The Brooklyn College Foundation Inc for education and academic support and $300,000 to the Research Foundation of the City University of New York for education and academic support, both pointing to its interest in higher education access and completion. The foundation also supports workforce pathways at scale, including $1,000,000 to Arbor Rising for workforce development and $900,000 to Merit America for workforce development. Alongside those larger bets, it makes program, operating, and capacity-building grants across New York and beyond, using funded partnerships to pursue change at key inflection points in young people's lives.

What Heckscher Foundation for Children Funds

In workforce development, the foundation gave $1,000,000 to Arbor Rising for workforce development and $900,000 to Merit America for workforce development, signaling sustained support for job pathways and career readiness. It also awarded $370,000 to The Door for a workforce development training program and $250,000 to Npower for workforce development. In literacy and learning support, it backed Read Alliance with $340,000 for literacy tutoring and gave $659,000 to Literacy Academy Collective for literacy academy school support. For K-12 math, Ascend Public Charter Schools received $315,875 for mathematics training and curriculum in grades K-5, while New Visions for Public Schools received $543,187 for mathematics support and career directory. The foundation also supports arts education and other youth services. Florida Atlantic University Foundation Inc received $250,000 for arts education, and Central Park Conservancy Inc received $750,000 for social services, health, and recreation.

How Heckscher Foundation for Children Gives