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Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Announces $200 Million Investment in Parks & Trails Initiative

The gift honors the Foundation’s namesake, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr, on the 100th anniversary of his birth and celebrates his legacy in the communities he was most devoted to. The funds will be split evenly, dedicating $100 million to each region to help develop signature legacy parks, advance the vision of completed regional trail systems, and support the sustainability of these public spaces. (more…)

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The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation has announced its cohort for STEM 2035, a $5.5-million initiative through which grant funding and technical assistance will be provided to existing afterschool and summer STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs in Western New York and Southeast Michigan.

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Sure, sometimes, the 22-acre space comes alive for the occasional outdoor concert, but for the most part, Detroit’s West Riverfront Park is pretty desolate compared to the city’s RiverWalk, just a few miles east and home to lush wetlands vegetation, family-friendly playgrounds and volleyball courts and spacious walkways that welcome three million visitors a year of all races and incomes.

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Detroit Future City’s deputy director, Allandra Bulger, has been named executive director of the first-of-its-kind nonprofit support and innovation center in development for Detroit, following a national search.

The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation is putting more than $5 million in grants over the next few years behind the center and has tapped the TechTown business incubator in Detroit to transfer the supportive approach and collaborative, innovative environment it has created for entrepreneurs to the region’s nonprofits through the new Center for Nonprofit Support. It’s also managing the day-to-day operations of the center, whose permanent name will be determined as part of a community engagement process.

Read the full article at Crain's Detroit Business »

In 2016, NPQ wrote about the founding of the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation in Michigan. The emergence of the new philanthropy was made notable by a number of factors, including its $1.2 billion endowment and the fact that it will sunset or spend down within twenty years of its founding.

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Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Expands its Opportunity to Impact Caregivers with
$4 million Investment and Partnerships with the Michigan Health Endowment Fund and the Health Foundation for Western & Central New York

RCWJRF provides $2 million grant to each organization to endow new Program Officer positions focused on strategies and program to support caregivers of older adults, Kenneth M. Genewick joins the Health Foundation for Western & Central New York, Tim Niyonsenga joins the Michigan Health Endowment Fund.

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Play is critically important to a child’s development. Kids learn how to interact with the world around them through play. It helps them learn the cognitive, physical, social and emotional skills that they need to thrive. Play is considered so essential to child development that the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights see it as a right of every child.

Despite that, not many foundations support initiatives that support play outside of broader education work. However, there’s a small—and growing—number of funders that do. A recent gift that fits the bill came from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.

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It can be difficult for philanthropy, often based in wealthy coastal cities, to meaningfully address middle America’s ongoing economic plight. Since the 2016 election, as we’ve often observed, many funders have begun paying closer attention to those challenges. But the geographic disconnect remains.

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