Our Mission

To act as a meaningful catalyst for progressive and secular social change.

Our Approach

With a dynamic approach to philanthropy, our family-based organization develops partnerships with best-in-class charity leaders who are passionately committed to improving the human experience through programs that are impactful, efficient and innovative.

Take a long, hard look down the road you will have to travel once you have made a commitment to work for change. Know that this transformation will not happen right away. Change often takes time. It rarely happens all at once. In the movement, we didn't know how history would play itself out. When we were getting arrested and waiting in jail or standing in unmovable lines on the courthouse steps, we didn’t know what would happen, but we knew it had to happen.

Use the words of the movement to pace yourself. We used to say that ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part. And if we believe in the change we seek, then it is easy to commit to doing all we can, because the responsibility is ours alone to build a better society and a more peaceful world.

- John "Good Trouble" Lewis, Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America

Who We Support

The philanthropic goal of the Change Happens Foundation funding initiative is to assist innovative charities with a high-level of impact and a strong history of making good change happen. The top three areas of focus for the Change Happens Foundation grantmaking are science, the environment, and education.

Research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics

Science

Research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics.

conservation, climate change, and sustainable energy

Environment

Programs focused on conservation, climate change, and sustainable energy.

education

Education

Ideas and practices to educate and prepare students for bright and rewarding futures.