|
- Assets: $1,846,556 (2005)
- Grants Received: $630,443 (2005)
- Grants Awarded: $4,825,621 (2005)
Established by the Sara Lee Corporation in 1981, the Sara Lee Foundation is an independent legal entity governed by its own Board of Directors. The Sara Lee Corporation's policy is to give nonprofit organizations at least 2 percent of its U.S. pretax income each year through cash and product donations; in 2003, these corporate-wide donations totaled more than $29 million, of which some $6.5 million was distributed through the Sara Lee Foundation.
The Foundation focuses its philanthropy primarily on groups based in the city of Chicago, where the corporation's headquarters are located, though it also gives to organizations across the United States and around the world. Identifying its areas of concern as women's issues, hunger, the homeless, job training, and arts and culture, the Foundation states that it places an especially high "priority on programs aimed at improving the lives of women, who comprise the majority of Sara Lee Corporation's consumers and employees." Viewing the United States as a nation where women and minorities face widespread discrimination, the Foundation seeks to strike a blow against such perceived injustice by "directing special attention to underserved and diverse populations, including women and communities of color."
The Sara Lee Foundation has established two principal Giving Programs:
Cultural Program: Each year, the Foundation directs at least 40 percent of its philanthropy to arts and culture organizations "reaching Chicago's diverse population." While it gives some money to major, world-renowned cultural institutions, its first priority is to help community-based groups that specialize in music, dance, theater, visual arts, literature, media, performance art, public art, architecture, or culture and the humanities. In order to qualify for a grant, a group must demonstrate its commitment to "diversity," meaning that a substantial part of its makeup must be nonwhite.
Community Initiatives Program: This program focuses on "issues related to hunger and homelessness, job skills and developing the full potential of women in our society." Virtually all grants made through this program are earmarked for social service organizations in Chicago that work with "underserved populations of need." Among the program's main objectives is to fund groups that strive to "reduce the barriers to equal opportunity" that allegedly pervade American society.
Among the recent beneficiaries of Sara Lee Foundation grants are such groups as: 100 Black Men of Chicago; Mujeres Latinas En Accion; AIDSCARE; the American Indian Center; Rainbow House; the National Council of Negro Women; the National Urban League; the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense & Education Fund; the Women's Legal Defense Fund; the National Alliance to End Homelessness; the Sierra Club Foundation; the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights; the American Bar Association; Pro Bono Advocates; Casa Central; the Horizons Community Services; the American Indian College Fund; the Inspiration Corporation; Outward Bound; the AIDS Action Committee; the National Puerto Rican Coalition; the Ms. Foundation for Women; the Latino Institute; and the Mexican-American Legal Defense & Education Fund.
|
