Investing in Efforts to Improve Lives Worldwide
Bloomberg Philanthropies supports unique efforts to address issues that fall outside of our core program areas. Like our other areas, these Founder’s Projects emerge from Mike’s personal experiences in business, government, and philanthropy.
Investing in Institutions at the World Trade Center
Elected mayor just weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Mike led New York City through the aftermath, including rebuilding the World Trade Center site and reinvesting in Lower Manhattan. Today, he chairs the boards of two institutions that anchor the site: the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and the Perelman Performing Arts Center.
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum bears solemn witness to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993, and has become one of the most visited sites in New York City, with over 60 million visitors to the museum since 2014. It honors thousands of victims and recovery workers and preserves their stories for young people and future generations with no memory of the attacks. In 2022, the Memorial & Museum named Beth Hillman as its new president and CEO.
The Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC NYC), set to open in September 2023, will be a modern and forward-looking arts center that establishes Lower Manhattan as a cultural destination. It is the last piece in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. Designed with highly flexible and innovative theater spaces, PAC NYC will host a wide array of performances in dance, music, theater, film, media, and chamber opera that give artists new opportunities to create and engage with audiences from around the world. Bill Rauch serves as artistic director, and in 2022, PAC NYC appointed its first executive director, Khady Kamara.
Investing in Women’s Economic Independence
Since 2007, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Women’s Economic Development program has invested in nonprofit partners to connect women to income-generating activities that lead to economic independence. Each woman in the program receives an individualized plan that helps her become self-reliant. Our partners in this work, including Women for Women International, Sustainable Growers, CARE International, and Nest, span a range of focus areas and approaches, and together we are:
- Working with national governments and partners in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Tanzania to reach major economic development targets;
- Enrolling women in training programs based on market assessments, and providing them with program plans focused on building their economic independence through vocational training, skills-building, health and wellness education, savings education, and guidance on enrolling children in school; and
- Creating partnerships with nonprofits and the private sector that allow women to connect with sustainable income-generating activities and access international markets.
To date, our investments have enrolled nearly 725,000 women in training programs that help lead to economic independence and indirectly benefit more than 2.8 million children and family members.
Global Reach, Local Impact: Kigali
Spotlight
Women’s Economic Development
Our partnership with Sustainable Growers, which trains women coffee growers in Rwanda, D.R. Congo, and Tanzania to produce specialty coffee and access international markets, was highlighted on the world stage in 2022 as a global best practice program for advancing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Accelerating the Pace of Black Wealth Accumulation in the U.S.
Our Greenwood Initiative works to accelerate the pace of wealth accumulation for Black individuals and families in the United States and address systemic underinvestment in Black communities.
In 2020, to help address racial health disparities and increase the number of Black doctors, we made a major investment to reduce the burden of debt for more than 975 students at America’s four historically Black medical schools: Meharry Medical College; Howard University College of Medicine; Morehouse School of Medicine; and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. Nearly 450 students have now graduated, and we have doubled the percentage of students who graduate without medical school debt and helped increase the number entering primary care residencies, working in public hospitals, and serving underserved communities.
“Growing up, becoming a doctor was something rare in the Black community. I never knew physicians that looked like me, nor did I have family working in the medical field. But, I was always reminded that this needed to change, and I could be a part of that change.”
– Dr. Asanté Quintana
Meharry Medical College Class of 2022
Current Resident in Ophthalmology, Weill Cornell Medicine
Global Reach, Local Impact: Atlanta
We also partnered with Johns Hopkins University to launch the Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative, which aims to support a new, more diverse generation of scholars and researchers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. The initiative will permanently support 100 students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to pursue PhDs in STEM at Johns Hopkins. The first cohort enrolled in 2022.
In 2022, the Greenwood Initiative also launched the Black Wealth Data Center and its Racial Wealth Equity Database to tackle the issue of inaccessible and insufficient data on racial wealth disparities. The new database houses more than 35 datasets across five key topics — assets and debt, education, housing, employment, and business ownership — to empower decision-makers with reliable data that can drive policies and programs to advance racial wealth equity.
Strengthening Johns Hopkins University and its Home City
Mike has long been committed to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, where we support a wide range of scholarships, endowed professorships, capital projects, and research. His historic $1.8 billion gift in 2018 made Johns Hopkins need-blind for undergraduates in perpetuity.
His commitment has helped make the Bloomberg School of Public Health a leading force in public health research, and we have also supported the Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center, the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, and the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. The interdisciplinary Bloomberg Distinguished Professors program endows 100 professorships that span at least two university schools.
Beyond the JHU campus, Bloomberg Philanthropies supports efforts across Baltimore to strengthen small businesses and expand youth success. Beginning in 2017, we joined Goldman Sachs to expand its 10,000 Small Businesses program to Baltimore, where over 500 entrepreneurs have graduated and now employ more than 7,600 people. One of the 2022 participants was Joni Holifield, a longtime partner who founded nonprofit HeartSmiles to provide leadership development and entrepreneurship opportunities for young people. In partnership with HeartSmiles, Urban Alliance, and 10,000 Small Businesses, we support up to four years of leadership training and mentorship, work opportunities, and college advising for Baltimore high school students.
Many of our programs also work in Baltimore, including our Asphalt Art Initiative, which helped create three installations to improve street safety around a local elementary school.
Spotlight
Johns Hopkins in D.C.
Bloomberg Philanthropies has also supported the creation of Johns Hopkins’ new campus in Washington, D.C., set to open in Fall 2023. The building at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, formerly the Newseum, will be the D.C. home for 11 of the university’s schools, including the School of Advanced International Studies.
Fighting for Common-Sense Gun Safety Reforms
Everytown for Gun Safety is the largest gun violence prevention organization in the United States, with 10 million supporters and a network of over 2,000 current and former mayors, 1,500 gun violence survivors, and 400 Students Demand Action volunteer groups. As mayor, Mike co-founded a coalition called Mayors Against Illegal Guns to advocate for gun safety laws, which merged with the grassroots group Moms Demand Action to form Everytown in 2014.
The organization has advocated for critical state laws and for executive actions. In 2022, Everytown played a key role in passing the first federal gun safety legislation in over 25 years, which enhances background checks, provides funding for states to enforce redflag laws, and cracks down on gun trafficking. Everytown’s “Demand a Seat” program also trained volunteers to run for political office.
Helped elect over
140
140gun safety volunteers to office in 2022
Everytown for Gun Safety played a key role in the passage of the first U.S. federal gun safety legislation in a generation, alongside its efforts to help elect gun safety champions to office. Credit: Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund
Supporting a Public Library in Mike’s Hometown
In Mike’s hometown of Medford, Massachusetts, Bloomberg Philanthropies supported the opening of a new public library, named in honor of his parents. The Charlotte & William Bloomberg Medford Public Library was officially dedicated in June 2022 and contains over 123,000 volumes, vibrant art, community spaces, and more.
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Founder’s Projects
Top photo: The 9/11 Memorial & Museum (foreground) and the Perelman Performing Arts Center (back center) are central to the World Trade Center site.
Improving Lives Worldwide
Founder’s Projects are unique efforts led by Bloomberg Philanthropies to address issues that fall outside the core program areas – and that the pandemic has only intensified. These initiatives emerge from Mike’s personal experiences in business, government, and philanthropy.
All around the world, nations are grappling with challenges that only seem to be intensifying. The problems we face stretch across borders. And so, to solve them, we have to stretch across borders, too.
- Mike Bloomberg
Investing in Women’s Economic Independence
Women’s Economic Development
The Women’s Economic Development program is committed to the belief that women are central to economic growth, and that expanding opportunities and earning power for women strengthens communities and promotes economic independence. Across a wide range of efforts with key nonprofit and government partners, the program draws on a strong model for progress: providing women with critical skills and business training, connecting them and their products to international markets to increase market access, and ensuring they have partnerships and investments in place to sustain their success.
Through work with nonprofit organizations like Women for Women International, Sustainable Growers, and Nest, the initiative has enrolled more than half a million women in training programs around the world, directly benefiting more than 2.2 million family members. Across the portfolio, 12 different vocational tracks are available to the women who enroll, including agriculture, tourism, brickmaking, and textiles, that are based on market assessments and government priorities in each country.
This work includes partnerships with Sustainable Growers and national governments to train women producers in Rwanda, Congo, and Tanzania and bring high-quality coffee to the international market. Today, the coffee they produce is sold around the world. In partnership with CARE, Bloomberg Philanthropies is expanding efforts to increase farmers’ income and agricultural productivity by developing pooled savings and loans programs, enabling farmers in Rwanda, Congo, and Tanzania to access working capital and build their businesses. Bloomberg Philanthropies also supports Nest’s global work with women and their families who make goods by hand in their homes – including developing the first-ever Ethical Standard to ensure fair wages, safe working conditions, and other benefits for people producing goods from home. This work has expanded access to markets for more than 1,100 businesses representing 250,000 workers in over 120 countries.
Strengthening Johns Hopkins University and Its Home City
Johns Hopkins University
In 1964, the year he graduated, Mike Bloomberg donated $5 to Johns Hopkins University. Ever since, he has demonstrated a special commitment to his alma mater, serving as chair of the Board of Trustees and supporting need-based scholarships, endowed professorships, major capital projects, and research. His historic $1.8 billion gift in 2018 made Johns Hopkins need-blind in perpetuity.
Mike’s commitment has helped make the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health a pioneering force in public health research and scholarship and an indispensable leader in the global response to COVID-19. It is ranked the #1 school of public health in the United States according to U.S. News & World Report, and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ support has been key in developing the widely cited Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
Bloomberg Philanthropies has supported the Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center, the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, and the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. The Bloomberg Distinguished Professors program was also recently expanded from 50 to 100 endowed professorships, each with appointments in at least two schools across the university to increase cross-disciplinary collaboration and lead to new breakthroughs.
With support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, Johns Hopkins has also purchased and begun to transform the former Newseum building at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. The iconic building will provide a new, high-visibility home for the university’s D.C.-based academic programs, anchored by the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. It will also provide Baltimore-based students with greater access to experiences in the nation’s capital, fostering new collaboration opportunities.
Baltimore
Bloomberg Philanthropies continues to expand its philanthropic engagement in Johns Hopkins’ home city of Baltimore, with a focus on youth, education, small businesses, and workforce development.
The Bloomberg Youth Fellows program provides year-round academic support and professional development opportunities for young people, implemented by partners HeartSmiles and Living Classrooms Foundation. West Baltimore native Joni Holifield founded HeartSmiles in 2015 as a platform for young people to cultivate their talents through leadership development. Joni also oversees the Youth Advisory Board at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which provides guidance from young people to the school’s Center for Adolescent Health. To date, the fellows program has supported 148 Baltimore teens, including 23 in 2021.
In 2017, Bloomberg Philanthropies partnered with Goldman Sachs to expand their successful 10,000 Small Businesses program to Baltimore to help local entrepreneurs grow their companies. More than 475 program alumni now have a combined revenue of over $450 million and over 9,000 employees.
Baltimore is a host city for the Bloomberg Arts Internship program, and Baltimore-based arts organizations participate in the Arts Innovation and Management program. Bloomberg Philanthropies has also worked with city leaders to better use data through the City Data Alliance, to improve public safety with creative solutions from an Innovation Team, and to hone management skills through the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative. In 2021, Bloomberg Philanthropies expanded support for Baltimore’s Grads2Careers program to advance career and technical education. The program has provided skills training to 500 young people and will now reach over 800 more.
Stories of Impact
Joni Holifield
Founder and President, HeartSmiles
Fighting for Common-Sense Reforms to Prevent U.S. Gun Violence
Everytown for Gun Safety
In 2006, Mike Bloomberg co-founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns to fight gun violence in cities and advocate for common-sense gun safety laws. The group merged with Moms Demand Action, a network of grassroots volunteer activists, and together formed Everytown for Gun Safety in 2014. Today, Everytown is the largest gun violence prevention organization in the United States, with a network of over 2,000 current and former mayors, 1,500 gun violence survivors, 450 Students Demand Action volunteer groups, and millions more supporters across the country.
Podcast
Listen to Learn How Everytown is Working at the Federal, State, and Local Levels to Prevent Gun Violence
Everytown advocates at the local, state, and federal levels for laws and policies that make a demonstrable difference in public safety, such as mandatory background checks for all handgun sales. It advances gun safety through innovative litigation and continuing efforts to classify untraceable, homemade guns as firearms under federal law.
Electing “Gun Sense Champions” is a key part of Everytown’s advocacy strategy. In 2021, Everytown invested statewide in New Jersey and Virginia and in local races across the country from mayor to sheriff to school board, including by training members of their grassroots network to run for office themselves. Mike supported this work with his personal funds.
Rebuilding and Remembering in New York City
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum
Elected mayor just weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Mike Bloomberg led New York City through the aftermath, including the work of rebuilding the World Trade Center site and transforming Lower Manhattan into the diverse, 24/7, family-friendly community it is today. The resilient spirit, hard work, and courage of countless New Yorkers enabled the entire city to make a remarkable recovery.
Mike began his chairmanship of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in 2006. The institution bears solemn witness to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993, and has become one of the most visited sites in New York City. It honors thousands of victims and recovery workers and preserves their stories for young people and future generations that have no memories of the attacks.
In 2021, the world came together to mark 20 years since the attacks. Mike welcomed President Joe Biden and many other visiting dignitaries to the Memorial & Museum’s in-person commemoration ceremony, which was attended by over 8,500 people.
Supporting Culture in Lower Manhattan
The Performing Arts Center
First conceived as part of the World Trade Center Master Plan in 2003 and chaired by Mike Bloomberg, the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center (PAC) is now under construction and scheduled to open in 2023. The Performing Arts Center will be a cultural anchor for Lower Manhattan – and a symbol of renewal as New York City rebuilds in the wake of a crisis yet again.
Clad in marble, the building will glow at night, reflecting the vitality of the performing arts. Inside, state-of-the-art spaces will house productions in theater, film, dance, music, and chamber opera. Designed to change layouts with innovative technology, these performance spaces will give artists new opportunities to create and engage with audiences from around the world. The Performing Arts Center will also serve as a prominent community space for Lower Manhattan’s residents, workers, and visitors.
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Founder’s Projects
Top photo: With partner Sustainable Growers, Bloomberg Philanthropies supports women coffee producers in Rwanda, Congo, and Tanzania, with long-term investments resulting in the women-operated Question Coffee Café and the Coffee Academy. Sustainable Growers was recognized as a model at Expo 2020 Dubai, advancing four UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Credit: Clay Enos