Grants | Acton Family Giving

The world's oldest and largest library association comprised of 57,000 libraries and library professionals. It provides programmatic and financial support, as well as education, publications, and professional development to member libraries. With this support, libraries provide their communities an inclusive space to connect and build empathy, breaking down institutional and cultural barriers.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$200,000	2022	general support, $150,000 in 2021 and $200,000 in 2022 (payment two of two, total grant amount $350,000)
Good Fight Grants	$50,000	2022	Unite Against Book Bans Campaign, hosted by Office for Intellectual Freedom General Donations
Responsive	$2,000,000	2021	COVID-19 responsive regranting program for libraries
Areas of Exploration	$150,000	2021	general support, $150,000 in 2021 and $200,000 in 2022 (payment one of two, total grant amount $350,000)
Responsive	$1,000,000	2020	COVID-19 responsive regranting program for libraries
Areas of Exploration	$150,000	2020	general support
Areas of Exploration	$75,000	2019	general support
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2019	Great Stories Club (GSC)
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2018	Great Stories Club (GSC)

Economic Hardship Project

A nonprofit journalism outlet producing content about, and often by, Americans who are experiencing the fallout from economic inequity. By challenging and deepening the quality of the narrative on key economic issues, it seeks to support a growing movement to transform the way society views the poor and improve understanding of and compassion for those living in poverty.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$25,000	2021	general support

Facing History

An education nonprofit that uses lessons of history to nurture empathy, critical thinking, and civic agency in generations of young people, inspiring them to be upstanders and leverage their civic power for the common good.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Stories	$50,000	2022	general support, $50,000 per year for two years (payment one of two, total grant amount $100,000)
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2021	general support

Farm Sanctuary

An animal welfare organization that runs educational, public engagement, research, and advocacy initiatives. It focuses on the plight of farmed animals, the impact of industrialized animal agriculture on the environment, public health and social equity. It works to forge a new food system rooted in empathy and justice for animals, people, and the planet.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$45,000	2021	general support

Fred Rogers Productions

A children's nonprofit media company that models an enthusiasm for learning and earns the trust of parents and caregivers. Since 2012, it has developed content that supports children’s social-emotional learning while giving all children the chance to see themselves represented on screen.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
One Time Gifts	$500,000	2021	general support
Areas of Exploration	$200,000	2021	"Alma's Way"

Greater Good Science Center

A scientific research center based at UC Berkeley. It sponsors groundbreaking scientific research on social and emotional well-being, and helps the public apply this research to their personal and professional lives. In addition to its studies on the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being, its website, programs, and podcasts provide research-based tools and training to foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$75,000	2022	Greater Good Science Center, $75,000 per year for three years (payment two of three, total grant amount $225,000)
One Time Gifts	$100,000	2021	Greater Good Science Center, capacity building
Areas of Exploration	$75,000	2021	Greater Good Science Center, $75,000 per year for three years (payment one of three, total grant amount $225,000)
Responsive	$25,000	2020	Greater Good Science Center, COVID-19 Rapid Response Funding
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2020	Greater Good Science Center, $50,000 per year for two years (payment two of two, total grant amount $100,000)
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2019	Greater Good Science Center, $50,000 per year for two years (payment one of two, total grant amount $100,000)
Areas of Exploration	$12,500	2018	Greater Good Science Center's empathy research

History UnErased

An education nonprofit putting LGBTQ+ history in the classroom through a groundbreaking digital curriculum. By integrating these histories into the mainstream curriculum, it aims to ensure all students are able to learn and understand a more complete story of our nation and develop a more genuine understanding and empathy for all humans who have shaped America.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Stories	$25,000	2022	general support, $25,000 per year for two years (payment one of two, total grant amount $50,000)
Stories	$50,000	2022	capacity building
Areas of Exploration	$25,000	2021	general support

Humane Society Silicon Valley

An animal protection organization in Silicon Valley. This trusted, best-in-class nonprofit shelter offers quality services that treat and rehabilitate animals and shares its best practices across the country with other organizations. It also works toward finding homes for shelter animals, keeping pets in homes, preventing overpopulation, and educating the community about animal welfare to enhance the human-animal bond.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$25,000	2022	Mutual Rescue
Areas of Exploration	$25,000	2022	Mutual Rescue capacity support
Family Giving	$25,000	2021	general support, $25,000 per year for two years (payment two of two, total grant amount $50,000)
Family Giving	$25,000	2020	general support, $25,000 per year for two years (payment one of two, total grant amount $50,000)
Animal Connection	$100,000	2019	general support, $100,000 per year for three years (payment three of three, total grant amount $300,000)
Animal Connection	$100,000	2018	general support, $100,000 per year for three years (payment two of three, total grant amount $300,000)
Animal Connection	$100,000	2017	general support, $100,000 per year for three years (payment one of three, total grant amount $300,000)
Animal Connection	$100,000	2016	general support

Inevitable Foundation

A nonprofit that funds and mentors professional, disabled screenwriters with the goal to close the disability representation gap in film and TV. Its goal is to create a world where people with disabilities are valued both on and off screen.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$25,000	2021	Inevitable Foundation

Institute for Human-Animal Connection

An academic institute that executes education and research programs to elevate the relationships between people, other species, and the environment to improve the health and welfare of all. It is dedicated to understanding, confronting, and dismantling historic and ongoing marginalization and oppression in human-animal-environment interactions.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2022	Institute for Human-Animal Connection, $50,000 per year for two years (payment one of two, total grant amount $100,000)
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2021	Institute for Human-Animal Connection

Mongabay

A nonprofit news organization that covers conservation and environmental issues to fill the gap in mainstream media coverage. The new Mongabay Kids platform was created as an online environmental education platform to connect kids, families, and educators with nature and conservation.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$75,000	2021	Mongabay Kids build-out

Narrative 4

An education nonprofit that harnesses the power of stories to build capacity for compassion—especially among and for the under-served, underprivileged, and communities in conflict—using story-based arts to help participants unlock their human potential and create positive, action-based change in the world around them.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2021	general support

PBS Foundation

An American public broadcasting organization and media content distributor comprised of hundreds of member stations and a monthly reach of over 100 million people through television and digital platforms. It provides public access to educational experiences; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances. Its educational media helps prepare children for success in school and opens up the world to them in an age-appropriate way.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$200,000	2021	Carl the Collector programming and the New Voices, New Approaches initiative
One Time Gifts	$1,000,000	2020	PBS Capital Campaign to fund PBS KIDS Content
Animal Connection	$200,000	2019	Wild Kratts programming, $200,000 per year for two years (payment two of two, total grant amount $400,000)
Animal Connection	$200,000	2018	Wild Kratts programming, $200,000 per year for two years (payment one of two, total grant amount $400,000)

Rural Strategies, Daily Yonder, Rural Assembly

A nonprofit that uses media, storytelling, and collaboration to cultivate a powerful community of rural people and their allies around a sense of common concern and shared purpose. The organization believes that by empowering and amplifying diverse rural voices to tell their stories in their own words they are influencing broader perceptions about equity and who belongs.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2022	general support

Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory

A research and outreach organization focused on empathy, prosocial behavior, and social connection. In particular, it studies how empathy and human connection benefit individuals and communities and barriers, such as polarization, that get in the way of human connection. It also develops research-based tools for overcoming those barriers.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2021	Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab

The Center for the Science of Moral Understanding

An academic center at the University of North Carolina that aims to reduce animosity in America by increasing moral understanding through three key initiatives: building knowledge, developing scholars, and bridging science and society.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2022	The Center for the Science of Moral Understanding

The Facing Project

A national nonprofit that creates a more understanding and empathetic world through stories that inspire action. It brings people and communities together through acts of empathy that include listening, storytelling, and connecting across difference with the belief that stories are the most powerful tool for change.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$25,000	2022	general support

The War Horse

A nonprofit news and media organization with a mission to lift up unheard, ignored, and misunderstood voices of military service. Through investigative journalism, first-person narratives, and writers workshops, it shares the stories of veterans and military family members with a personal context and awareness about U.S. military actions and their impact on our common humanity.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$25,000	2021	general support

Urban Bush Women

A New York City organization that approaches dance from a woman-centered perspective and as members of the African Diaspora community. Working to create a more equitable balance of power and representation in the dance world, they use their peformances as the message and the medium to bring together diverse audiences across the country through choreography and collaboration.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2022	general support, $50,000 per year for two years (payment one of two, total grant amount $100,000)
Stories	$75,000	2018	general support
Stories	$100,000	2017	general support
Stories	$100,000	2016	general support

Voice of Witness

A nonprofit that advances human rights by amplifying the voices of people impacted by and fighting against injustice. Through an oral book series and educational programming, VOW emphasizes the importance of listening to and learning from the firsthand experiences of marginalized communities. Its stories build empathy that fosters critical inquiry into and understanding of seldom-heard stories.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$50,000	2022	capacity building
Stories	$75,000	2022	general support, $100,000 in 2021, $75,000 in 2022, and $75,000 in 2023 (payment two of three, total grant amount $250,000)
Stories	$100,000	2021	general support, $100,000 in 2021, $75,000 in 2022, and $75,000 in 2023 (payment one of three, total grant amount $250,000)
Stories	$100,000	2019	general support, $150,000 in 2019 and $100,000 in 2020 (payment two of two, total grant amount $250,000)
Stories	$150,000	2019	general support, $150,000 in 2019 and $100,000 in 2020 (payment one of two, total grant amount $250,000)
Stories	$150,000	2018	general support, $150,000 per year for two years (payment two of two, total grant amount $300,000)
Stories	$150,000	2017	general support, $150,000 per year for two years (payment one of two, total grant amount $300,000)
Stories	$100,000	2016	general support

World Wildlife Fund

A worldwide conservation organization. WWF shares the belief that elevating stories from communities grounded in their interconnectedness with wildlife and the environment has the power to inspire humans to care deeply for all life on Earth and, as a result, protect it. The organization's expansive global network ensures the amplification of these stories will transcend borders.

Giving Areas	Amount	Year	Purpose
Areas of Exploration	$100,000	2022	Wolakota Rosebud Bison Project, $100,000 per year for two years (payment two of two, total grant amount $200,000)
Areas of Exploration	$100,000	2021	Wolakota Rosebud Bison Project, $100,000 per year for two years (payment one of two, total grant amount $200,000)
Animal Connection	$84,000	2019	Protecting Ocean Pathways in the Mexican Pacific, $60,600 in 2018 and $84,000 in 2019 (payment two of two, total grant amount $144,600)
Animal Connection	$60,600	2018	Protecting Ocean Pathways in the Mexican Pacific, $60,600 in 2018 and $84,000 in 2019 (payment one of two, total grant amount $144,600)
Animal Connection	$25,000	2016	Fresh Water program