Morrison & Foerster Foundation

About Morrison & Foerster Foundation

A defining feature of The Morrison & Foerster Foundation is its steady support for access to justice and equity-focused community programs, with major recent grants going to Equal Justice Works for its Fellowship Program and to Myriad USA Inc for Integrated Brilliant Education. The foundation also backs local legal aid and civil rights work through repeated support for Bay Area Legal Aid and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its giving extends beyond legal services into education, housing, youth development, and arts-related support, matching the foundation’s stated emphasis on underserved communities and equal access to justice. The pattern in the recent grants list shows both broad local giving and targeted larger awards. Several grants are unrestricted general support, while others are restricted program support tied to named initiatives. The foundation’s recipients include organizations serving law students, low-income communities, children and youth, people facing homelessness, and victims seeking recovery services. That mix shows a funder that combines institutional support for legal and civil rights infrastructure with program-specific gifts for education and community stability. Recipients such as Oakland Reach and De Novo Center for Justice and Healing reflect that blend of education access and legal or healing services, while Washington, DC-based grantees anchor the foundation’s national footprint.

What Morrison & Foerster Foundation Funds

In legal education and public interest fellowships, the foundation gave $335,000 to Equal Justice Works for Fellowship Program general support, continuing a three-year sequence that also included $313,000 in 2024 and $286,000 in 2023. It also supported The Justice and Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco with $50,000 in 2025 for scholarship and general support, following $50,500 in 2024 for the Bay Area Minority Law Student Scholarship. Housing and homelessness appear in multiple grants. Bay Area Community Resources received $66,668 for Home Away From Homelessness restricted program support, while DC Central Kitchen got $100,000 for restricted program support. Legal services and civil rights also surface through $100,000 to Advocates for Children of New York for restricted program support and $112,500 to De Novo Center for Justice and Healing for restricted program support.

How Morrison & Foerster Foundation Gives