What We Fund
The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation operates across three major program areas: Empowering Youth, Empowering Women, and Empowering Innovation. We believe in building a world where all dreams are achievable – and we fund programs to make that world a reality.
Helen and David’s values are the building blocks of the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation. Their deeply-held beliefs in equality, creativity, and innovation guide our grant-making process from start to finish. We work hard to promote what they believed in, including:
Dreaming Big
Ambition, passion, and hard work come together to make even the biggest dreams possible.
Creating Magic
A little bit of magic goes a long way – and we believe all our programs should have that special touch.
Disrupting Status Quo
We empower our people and our participants to always question how things are done and why.
Building Community
The boat moves fastest when we all row together. No one person can change the world, but together anything is possible.
Since 2012, The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation has funded programming for more than 110,000 participants.
79,000
participants across our youth programming, including both ongoing and one-time grants
32,000
participants across our women’s programming, including both ongoing and one-time grants
440
participants across our innovation programming, primarily Brown & Genius Grants.
HOW WE OPERATE
We work from the ground up.
The HGB Foundation believes in deep partnership work with our grantees. With the exception of Genius Grants, which are designed to be one-time, hands-off investments in extraordinary innovators and ideas, all our programs are co-created with grantees and involve regular communication to iterate, improve, adjust, and amplify work on the ground. We leverage our networks and resources to help grantees overcome obstacles, evolve curriculums, and scale programming – all while honoring and preserving the expertise of the leadership brought to bear by our grantees.
Please note that we do not accept unsolicited grant applications.
GUIDING PRINCIPALS
Helen and David are at the heart of all our work.
While David strongly believed in the power of institutions to enact change, Helen was all about people and the power individuals have to do good. Helen’s and David’s vision and values drive our theories of change across all of the Foundation’s programs. These components often work in tandem to ensure program success.
When we are considering a new grant, we always ask:
- Would Helen or David love the idea?
- Does it think big or could it work on a large scale?
- Is it a unique concept?
- Does it disrupt the status quo?
When a program, idea, or potential Genius prompt us to say, “Yes!” to all these questions, we know we may have found a good fit.
PROGRAM AREAS
We operate across three primary verticals.
We believe in our future generations’ unique leadership, in their ability to be agents of change, and in our responsibility to them. Our programs enable children and adolescents to build confidence and develop the skill set necessary to live fruitful lives.
We believe that women can accomplish anything when they are equipped with the resources and tools necessary to thrive. Our programs, focused on gender parity, strive to empower women and to support them as they become leaders in their respective fields.
We believe that the drive to invent and improve never ends. Our innovation programming revolves around initiatives and people who have transformative ideas that aim to disrupt the status quo through bold and unique concepts that drive innovation.