N - Z
Philanthropic Organizations
- The Omidyar Network
- Operation Family Fund
- The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
- The Robin Hood Foundation
- The Rockefeller Foundation
- Ronald McDonald House Charities
- The Ross Institute
- The Ruth Lilly Philanthropic Foundation
- The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Fund
- The Saban Family Foundation
- The Larry and Jane Scheinfeld Foundation
- The Skoll Foundation
- The Smith Richardson Foundation
- The Soros Foundation Network
- Tomorrow's Hope Foundation
- United Nations Foundation
- The Waitt Family Foundation
Waitt Family Foundation
Founder: Ted Waitt
Areas of interest:
- Community building
- Historical discovery
- Scientific breakthroughs
- Violence prevention
Notable projects/programs:
- National Geographic/Waitt Grants Program
- The Program for Anthropological and Archaeological Studies
- The Program for Ocean Exploration and Conservation
- The Sioux City Project
- Founding Fathers Campaign and Coaching Boys into Men
- Mentors in Violence Prevention
- Anti-bullying in schools and the workplace with the Workplace Bullying Institute
More about the Waitt Family Foundation:
Over $100 million has been attributed to the generosity of The Waitt Family Foundation and its affiliates, the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention and the Waitt Institute for Discovery. Working under a "past-present-future" framework, the Waitt Institute has awarded over 2,000 grants to worthy causes.
Initially, the Waitt Family Foundation specialized in building communities and breaking the cycle of domestic violence. However the creation of The Waitt Institutes in 2005 enabled the foundation to fund explorations in the name of history and scientific research.
The Waitt Family Foundation started out advancing the interests of the founder's immediate community, the Siouxland region of Iowa. Locally, approximately 228 local projects have benefited from the foundation, especially causes dealing with youth and education. No less than $13 million has been expended by the Waitt Foundation in this view. For instance, the Waitt Family Foundation restored the historic Orpheum Theater. The Waitt Foundation also contributed to the Gateway Pro Am Charity Golf Classic, a fundraiser that amassed $4 million for the Boys and Girls Home of Siouxland, among other projects.
The Waitt Family Foundation added community building and the prevention for domestic violence prevention to its portfolio in 1999. The next year, the Ted Waitt and the Waitt Family Foundation unveiled the "Digital Divide Fund," bringing 30,000 computers to depressed areas in the US.
Before long, The Waitt Institute widened its scope to include such fixtures of San Diego philanthropy as the UCSD Cancer Center Foundation, Children's Convalescent Hospital, YWCA, Monarch School for Homeless Children, and Hope in the City. The acclaimed San Diego's Family Justice Center is also a project of the Foundation.
The Waitt Family Foundation's scope also includes the Rwanda Gift for Life, which inculcated entrepreneurship in Rwandan women.
The Waitt Family Foundation has also funded the Genographic Project, a five-year research partnership between National Geographic and IBM. Led by Spencer Wells, the Genographic Project will establish ten scientific research centers around the world that will use DNA testing to trace the migratory history of the human species. Ted Waitt is also involved in the project "The Lost Gospel of Judas".
The Souixland Heritage Foundation's "Our New Museum" public campaign announced the first major gift contribution by the Waitt Foundation for $3 million. In conjunction with the donation, the Waitt Challange Grant is being established by the Souixland Heritage Foundation in an effort to inspire contributions and challenge the SHF to raise at least $3 million to be applied to the "Our New Museum" campaign.
Ted Waitt, the founder of Gateway, established the Waitt Family Foundation in La Jolla, California in 1993. Ted Waitt is also the founder of Avalon Capital Group, Inc.
On the strength of the Waitt Family Foundation's accomplishments, Ted Waitt was touted one of the top fifty philanthropists in the US, according to BusinessWeek. Ted Waitt was also named Sioux City's Philanthropist of the Year in 1997 and 2001.