Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation
The Babcock Foundation partners with organizations and networks working to alleviate poverty and increase social and economic justice in 11 Southern states. We believe in democracy, opportunity and the power of partnerships, and we follow the lead of local experts who know what their communities need to thrive.
We support collaborative, multi-strategy, place-based work focused on democracy and civic engagement, economic opportunity, and supportive policies and institutions. We believe sustained, general-support grants are critical to helping organizations remain nimble and effective. In addition to grantmaking, we make strategic investments aligned with our mission and values.
Established in 1953 with a $12 million bequest from Mary Reynolds Babcock, in its early days the Foundation supported historically black colleges and universities, grassroots advocacy groups, voter education and government accountability efforts – a unique legacy for Southern family philanthropy.
The values that guided the Foundation in those days – fairness, democracy, equity and opportunity – continue to be our North Star today.
Grants
Stories
"As the South Grows" series highlights opportunity in the region
The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and Grantmakers for Southern Progress have teamed up on a series of reports highlighting some of the promising systematic change efforts at work across the South. MRBF supported the project and Program Director Lavastian Glenn served on the...
Sparking Development where it’s Needed Most
Big-money real estate developers are flocking to the American South, lured by aggressive economic development policies, generous tax incentives, lax regulations, low-cost land, cheap labor and a booming population. Investors are pouring considerable dollars into large real estate funds that...
Investing in Opportunity: Georgia’s Civic Engagement Network
Like much of the South, Georgia is a racially diverse state rapidly growing even more so. Thanks in part to booming immigrant and refugee populations, it is projected to become majority-minority by 2025. And like its neighbors, Georgia has more than its share of challenges, including political...
Issues
"As the South Grows" series highlights opportunity in the region
The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and Grantmakers for Southern Progress have teamed up on a series of reports highlighting some of the promising systematic change efforts at work across the South. MRBF supported the project and Program Director Lavastian Glenn served on the advisory committee.
As the South Grows highlights stories of potential, impact and...
Sparking Development where it’s Needed Most
Big-money real estate developers are flocking to the American South, lured by aggressive economic development policies, generous tax incentives, lax regulations, low-cost land, cheap labor and a booming population. Investors are pouring considerable dollars into large real estate funds that typically target the same five to ten big cities. These dominance of these so-called “mega-funds,” which...
Meet our new Program Associate
The Babcock Foundation is pleased to welcome Taylor Chapman as our newest program associate. Chapman will provide programmatic and administrative support for MRBF’s network officers, and guidance to current and potential grantee partners.
Chapman comes to the Foundation from the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she served as a...
We Stand with the Dreamers: Our Statement on DACA
The Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation strongly opposes plans to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which enables 800,000 young people to study and work in the United States without fear of deportation.
Often called “dreamers,” the youth enrolled in DACA were brought here as children; for many, America is the only country they’ve ever known. Rescinding...
Confronting Hate: Our Statement on Charlottesville
The board and staff of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation denounce, in the strongest terms, the racism and anti-Semitism surfacing across the country. While the violence in Charlottesville has rightly drawn the world’s attention and scorn, subtle, socially acceptable forms of everyday bigotry are also nefarious in their hobbling effects on opportunity, dignity and humanity.
We grieve...



