The Harman Family Foundation funds programs in the Washington, DC region and New York City that work at the intersection of arts and youth development, that improve and enrich educational opportunities for middle to high school students, and that make post-secondary and career success possible for underserved youth and young adults up to age 25 in low-income communities.The Foundation also supports capacity building for community-based nonprofits, and the promotion of philanthropy, through its founding and development of Spur Local (formerly the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington). Significantly smaller grant making programs in Boston and Los Angeles are primarily focused on youth development through the arts. A family-directed Emerging Challenges Fund addresses social issues that may arise now and again and that feel particularly pressing to the board – political challenges to LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, the COVID-19 pandemic, the subversion of women’s reproductive rights — to take a few examples.

Unless otherwise advised, all new applicants to our regular grant making programs must submit an LOI and applications are then by invitation. Applications for grants to the Emerging Challenges Fund are entirely by invitation of the board.

Please note that, while we try to respond to all unsolicited Letters of Inquiry, we are not always able to do so.