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

Job Announcement: Associate Network Officer

Overview

The Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation is seeking an Associate Network Officer to manage existing relationships and identify new ones in specific parts of the South, and grow into administering related grants portfolios.

This is an excellent opportunity...

For Love of Humankind: A Call to Action for Southern Philanthropy

We are issuing a clarion call to Southern philanthropic organizations to respond to the manic drumbeat of anti-immigrant rhetoric and cruelty coming from the White House. This month began with a mass shooting targeting the Latinx community. Days later, massive raids tore apart hundreds of...

Photo by CNN

Channeling Anguish into Action

Over the weekend, Americans watched in horror as yet another gunman expressing hatred toward immigrants targeted Latinx people in Texas, killing 22 people and wounding dozens more. Attacks by men touting white supremacist ideology have surged in recent years, and many believe racist rhetoric...

MRBF

Issues

Places

  • A More Equitable ROI: Deploying our Racial Equity Tool

    As we have been wading deeper into our learning about racial equity and trying to advance opportunity through all aspects of our work, it became apparent we needed some kind of equity tool – a consistent mechanism to guide our thinking about the effects of our actions, from the grants we make to the ways we describe our work. To set about creating this tool, we drew expertise from some of the...

  • Our Partners are Steadfast: MRBF's Statement on Supreme Court Rulings

    The board and staff of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation are relieved the Supreme Court blocked the administration’s plan to place a citizenship question on the 2020 census. As we stated when we signed an amicus brief to the court in April, the question would have depressed response rates among already hard-to-count communities, robbing them of resources and political reputation. It also...

  • 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.

    Background

    The Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation’s mission is to help people and places move out of poverty...

  • MRBF Seeks New Program Director

    The Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation seeks a highly collaborative, discerning, mission-driven and experienced grantmaker committed to taking on entrenched challenges and structural inequalities for its next Program Director. With its mission of helping people and places move out of poverty and achieve greater social and economic justice, the Foundation is often described as a pioneer...

  • Babcock Foundation Welcomes New Associate Network Officer

    The board and staff of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation are pleased to introduce our new associate network officer, Reggie Weaver.
    Weaver comes to us from Common Cause, where he served as an organizer in North Carolina’s Triad region. His work focused on expanding the electorate in black and brown communities through get-out-the-vote campaigns, election protection and...