The Walton Family Foundation awarded $454.4 million in grants for K-12 education and environmental programs, regional and special projects in 2016, according to the nonprofit’s annual report released on Monday.
Read the full report here.
The foundation spent:
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$190.2 million on K-12 education. Much of that money supported charter schools.
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$131.7 million on special projects that promoted the arts, science and innovation. That money also supported universities across the state and a variety of smaller programs.
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$83.2 million on environmental causes. That money went to organizations charged with protecting the oceans, the Colorado and Mississippi Rivers; coastal conservation; innovation, research and more.
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$48.6 million on home region causes. Several cities and organizations in northwest Arkansas, as well as nonprofits focused on the Mississippi Delta region, benefited from those grants.
“Our family’s engagement with the foundation is stronger and more strategic than ever, said Board Chair Carrie Walton in the report. “We remain grounded in our grandparents’ timeless commitment to opportunity, but our multi-generational approach brings fresh thinking to our work, just like they hoped it would.”
She took on the role last year, and said how the foundation is governed has been restructured to “act more urgently and effectively.”
Walton also said, even though the nonprofit has been around for nearly 30 years, it “feels very entrepreneurial” and the way organizations like the foundation approaches their work has changed significantly.
“The idea of the moment in philanthropy is around ‘reaching scale.’ Foundations used to think more in terms of just finding great organizations to invest in. The new idea is to look at big issues at the systems level and at scale,” she said in the report. “It is a fantastic development, but it is also very hard to do. This family is doing that. This foundation feels very comfortable taking on those big issues.”
There are five Walton family members on the board. The others are Alice Walton, Ben Walton, Rob Walton and Steuart Walton.
Carrie Walton added that other family members serve the foundation through membership on committees and the fourth generation is beginning to get involved in its efforts.