Helping to Move People and Places out of Poverty

Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation

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. 

Our Mission & Vision

Grants

Stories

Change and Opportunity

From our board leadership to our staff structure, this year brings significant changes to the Foundation, though many important things will remain the same, including our mission, values, and commitment to racial...

Project South

Reasons to celebrate 2018

We won’t sugarcoat it: 2018 was a tough year. The words of abolitionist Frederick Douglass frequently came to mind: “This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and...

MRBF

Issues

Places

  • Using All Our Tools to Advance Equity in the South and Beyond

    While potential is universal, opportunity is not. In the American South, where the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation works, slavery, segregation and a host of laws, policies and practices have entrenched white supremacy, delivering enormous advantages to whites and pervasive disadvantages to people of color....

  • Job Announcement: Associate Network Officer

    The Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation is seeking an associate network officer to manage existing Foundation relationships and identify new ones in specific states/regions. The associate network officer will administer a related grants portfolio over time....

    We're hiring

  • Change and Opportunity

    From our board leadership to our staff structure, this year brings significant changes to the Foundation, though many important things will remain the same, including our mission, values, and commitment to racial equity and to the people and organizations that make the South better each day....

  • Reasons to celebrate 2018

    We won’t sugarcoat it: 2018 was a tough year. The words of abolitionist Frederick Douglass frequently came to mind: “This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never...

    Project South

  • Welcome our new board members

    The board and staff of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation are excited to begin 2019 with two new directors.

    Stephanie Tyree is...

    Stephanie Tyree, Holt Mountcastle