The Edward W. Hazen Foundation is a private, independent foundation. The Hazen Foundation uses its privilege and resources to support grassroots organizations engaged in education justice and youth organizing. Through multi-year, general operating grants, the Hazen Foundation supports organizations committed to advancing education reform, immigration rights, and juvenile justice. Responding to the urgency of our time amid crises and calls for change, the Hazen Foundation has committed to spending down all its resources by 2023.
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Youth and grassroots organizations pushing for racial and social change deserve our full support and commitment. Too often, young people are dismissed as naïve or misguided. But every day, we see them put their futures and bodies on the line in the fight for justice. Whether they’re organizing election campaigns, marching for immigrant rights, or protesting youth jails, young people are at the heart of movements for social change. The Hazen Foundation’s commitment to education began with Edward Warriner Hazen, who in his early years was a rural school teacher. Today, the Foundation continues to champion for an open and high-quality public school system accessible to all children.
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Youth and grassroots organizations pushing for racial and social change deserve our full support and commitment. Too often, young people are dismissed as naïve or misguided. But every day, we see them put their futures and bodies on the line in the fight for justice. Whether they’re organizing election campaigns, marching for immigrant rights, or protesting youth jails, young people are at the heart of movements for social change. The Hazen Foundation’s commitment to education began with Edward Warriner Hazen, who in his early years was a rural school teacher. Today, the Foundation continues to champion for an open and high-quality public school system accessible to all children.
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The Hazen Foundation is proud to support 50 grantees strengthening public education and youth organizing across their communities. Please see our Grantees page for a full list.
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The Foundation received its funds from an endowment provided by Edward W. Hazen. The endowment, valued at $30 million, was a source of support for the Foundation’s programs and administration. Since then, the Foundation’s investments have continued to produce revenue for the Foundation over time. The Hazen Foundation has championed socially responsible investment practices to prevent the exacerbation of global violence. Since making the decision to spend out the full corpus, the Foundation has elected to withdraw from ownership of publicly traded stocks.
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As we remain focused on spending down our assets for our network of grantees, we are not accepting any new letters of inquiry or unsolicited proposals.
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Our decision to distribute all our resources didn’t happen overnight. Like many foundations, we’ve wrestled with our history and structure, and we’ve come a long way since our founding nearly a century ago. We challenge ourselves to be accountable to the urgency of our time and the demands for racial justice. With our resources right now, we are building the movement by moving all our assets to the communities creating change.
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The Foundation will distribute its final round of grants in 2023. Learn more about our grantees here.
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The Foundation is governed by a national board of trustees and is managed by the president Lori Bezahler. The president is supported by staff who have engaged in dismantling racism and participated in youth organizing in various capacities before joining the Hazen Foundation.
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Edward Warriner Hazen was born in Middletown, Connecticut, on February 13, 1860. Hazen’s commitment to young people began in his early years as a rural school teacher. He later became involved with the YMCA—providing the site and funds for the initial building of Connecticut’s YMCA camp. Edward W. Hazen’s legacy lives on through the Foundation’s long standing support for education and developing youth leadership. He died on January 9, 1929, in Haddam, Connecticut.
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