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- Assets: $18,877,765 (2005)
- Grants Received: $19,466,328 (2005)
- Grants Awarded: $14,037,916 (2005)
The Zachary Smith Reynolds Foundation was established in 1936 by Dick and Mary Reynolds, son and daughter-in-law of Richard Joshua Reynolds, who started the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1875. The Foundation was set up as a namesake memorial to R. J. Reynolds' youngest son. Today the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation's Board of Trustees consists mostly of the descendants of R.J. Reynolds' four children. During its history, the Foundation has made grants to organizations in all of North Carolina's 100 counties.
The Reynolds Foundation states that its mission is "to improve the quality of life of the people of North Carolina … [and] to discourage discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and other factors that deny the essential humanity of all people." To be eligible for a grant, each prospective recipient is required to submit a diversity report detailing the racial and gender makeup of its board and staff; i.e., the grantee must meet numerical requirements for minority and female representation.
The Reynolds Foundation's grant-making priorities presuppose the existence of widespread injustice against women and minorities in the United States. It makes grants to organizations that fit one or more of these criteria: supporting "all reproductive options" for women (meaning unrestricted access to taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand); "work to end the disparity in economic opportunities [of men and women], and empower women to advocate for economic equity"; "promote a statewide system of accessible, affordable, high-quality child care"; "support efforts to develop minority leadership and promote political inclusion"; "promote cultural understanding and diversity"; "protect the civil rights of racial and ethnic minorities"; "advocate in opposition to predatory lending and other practices that have a disparate impact on the economically disadvantaged"; and "address systemic issues of racial and economic disparity" in the criminal-justice system.
The Reynolds Foundation also supports a number of radical environmentalist groups, in its effort "to advocate for environmental justice."
Among the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation's many grantees are the following organizations: the American Civil Liberties Union; the NAACP; the U.S. Public Interest Research Group; the Environmental Defense Fund; the Environmental Education Fund; the Urban League; the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; American Rivers; American Farmland Trust; the Conservation Fund; the League of Conservation Voters; the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL); the Center for Policy Alternatives; the Center for Participatory Change; Riverlink; the Nature Conservancy; the New River Foundation; the Fair Trial Initiative; Earth Share; the Legal Immigration Coalition; the Waterkeeper Alliance; the Latino Advocacy Coalition; the Center for Voting and Democracy; the Citizen Education Foundation; the Legal Aid Society; the Minority Support Center; the Organization of Black County Officials; the Peace Action Education Fund; the Latino Community Development Center; the Hispanic-Latino Center; Culturas Unidas; The Justice and Community Development Center; Planned Parenthood; the Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation; Southerners for Economic Justice; the Southern Environmental Law Center; the Open Space Institute; Student Action With Farmworkers; Boat People S.O.S.; the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project; Appalachian Voices; Peace at Work; Students United for a Responsible Global Environment; and the Wilderness Society.
A notable Trustee of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is Smith Bagley, who also serves as President of the Arca Foundation.
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