Achelis & Bodman Foundation

The endowment stems from the combination of assets held by The Achelis Foundation, founded in 1940 by Elisabeth Achelis, and The Bodman Foundation, founded in 1945 by George and Louise Bodman. Achelis’s father was the president of the American Hard Rubber Company, while Bodman was an investment banker. The two foundations were run jointly for many years before formally merging in November 2015.

The foundation concentrates its grantmaking on Arts & Culture, Education, Employment, Health, Public Policy, and Youth & Families. It favors organizations operating within New York City and northern New Jersey. Grants are generally unrestricted and range from $25,000 to $100,000, though the board explicitly states it supports a broad variety of institutions rather than a narrow set of focus areas.

The foundation operates without application deadlines. Prospective grantees are directed to review the foundation’s program areas and guidelines on its website before submitting only the requested information. The website suggests the grantmaking process is driven by proactive identification of organizations by staff, particularly Executive Director John B. Krieger, whose work in identifying grantees was acknowledged in the February 2026 chairman’s letter.

The foundation does not publicly disclose its investment management structure. However, public records indicate the endowment holds stakes in external private-equity vehicles such as TIFF Private Equity Partners and Private Advisors Secondary Fund, suggesting it uses outside managers for at least a portion of its alternative-asset allocations. It also holds direct commercial real estate interests, including MCR Hotels and Digital Realty Trust.

The foundation does not publish a formal investment committee roster. Governance appears to rest with the board of trustees, which includes professionals with direct investment management experience. Chairman John N. Irwin III co-founded Brookside Capital Partners, Trustee George McCabe founded Portolan Capital Management, and Treasurer Horace I. Crary Jr. is a Senior Vice President at Brown Brothers Harriman, providing deep in-house investment expertise.

In 2025, the foundation distributed $6.5 million across 127 grants. The endowment corpus has been estimated by Altss at approximately $136 million. This implies a payout rate of about 4.8%, consistent with a private foundation’s minimum distribution requirement but not confirmed by the foundation.

Several trustees and the executive director maintain memberships in the Pilgrims Society, an Anglo-American network, and the Order of Malta, a Catholic lay religious order. These affiliations are not governance roles for the foundation but reflect the board’s broader civic and professional network in New York and London.