Eugene & Agnes E. Meyer Foundation

Eugene & Agnes E. Meyer Foundation

Founded in 1944 by Eugene Meyer — the former Federal Reserve chairman who revived The Washington Post — and his wife Agnes, an author and activist, the Meyer Foundation emerged from one of the 20th century's most consequential media-and-policy families. The endowment was seeded with Post stock, and the founders' daughter, Katharine Graham, later led the newspaper through the Pentagon Papers and Watergate eras. Today the foundation operates independently from the Graham family media holdings, governed by a board chaired by Tram Nguyen. The foundation practices regional place-based grantmaking, concentrating almost entirely on the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland, and Northern Virginia. Grants target affordable housing, early-childhood education, workforce development, and healthcare access for economically disadvantaged communities. The foundation does not make program-related investments or run a mission-related portfolio alongside its endowment — it operates as a traditional private foundation distributing roughly 5% of assets annually. Recent multi-year grants have gone to organizations including the DC Fiscal Policy Institute and Fair Budget Coalition, supporting advocacy for equitable budget allocations in the District. With approximately $231 million in assets, the Meyer Foundation operates a lean professional staff from its offices at 1250 H Street NW in downtown Washington. The foundation participates in the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers and is a signatory to Philanthropy's Promise, a commitment by foundations to dedicate a majority of grant dollars to marginalized communities. In 2025, Janice Thomas was named President and CEO, succeeding George L. Askew, who stepped down in late 2024 after a period of board-level leadership transition. The Meyer Foundation's structure as a DC-specific foundation backed by media wealth is unusual among peer foundations in the capital, most of which are either national in scope or tied to technology fortunes. The foundation's singular focus on systems change within a single metro area — rather than direct-service grants or national policy work — creates a concentrated influence profile that local nonprofits rely on for multi-year general operating support, a rare posture in a field dominated by project-based funding.