# Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation is an Endowment / Foundation based in Wellesley, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation - **Headquarters:** Wellesley, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** 60 William Street, Suite 110, Wellesley, MA 02481, United States - **Founded:** 1977 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** nlmfoundation.org - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/nancy-lurie-marks-family-foundation ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About Nancy Lurie Marks founded the family foundation in 1977, channeling wealth connected to General Cinema and Harcourt General — the conglomerate built by her brother Richard Alan Smith. Her children, Cathy J. Lurie and Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey R. Lurie, now steer the board, with Cathy as President of the Board of Trustees. The foundation operates from Wellesley, Massachusetts, under a single mandate: advancing scientific understanding of autism and expanding services for autistic individuals. The foundation pursues its mission through a grantmaking portfolio spanning biomedical research, clinical care, policy, and education. Confirmed grantees include the new Lurie Autism Institute, a joint initiative with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine, and the longstanding Lurie Center for Autism at MassGeneral Hospital for Children. The grant program also funds autism training at Berklee College of Music and neuro-inclusive cancer care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Geographically, the foundation deploys capital across the United States, with international research projects and a partnership with the United Nations' think tank on aging and autism. Alongside its grantmaking, the foundation maintains a private equity and hedge fund portfolio sourced from the Lurie family's original wealth, generating returns to fund operations and grants in perpetuity. The core leadership team of six includes Clarence Schutt, a Princeton emeritus professor serving as Director and Chief Scientific Officer, alongside program officers dedicated to communications and community relations. In April 2026, the foundation and its affiliated Lurie Family Foundation and Eagles Autism Foundation named Dr. Huda Zoghbi the inaugural recipient of the Nancy Lurie Marks Prize for Autism Research (per Penn Medicine, April 2026). The foundation's structural differentiator is its dual architecture: a private-market investment portfolio operating parallel to a focused grantmaking mission, with no intermediary fund managers diluting its capital deployment. This design lets the foundation allocate grants directly to institutions, bypassing the co-investment and fund-commitment structures common among peer foundations. Its board ties to the Philadelphia Eagles franchise and the broader Lurie family network also provide a leverage point for high-visibility autism advocacy that most family foundations cannot replicate. ## Sectors - Healthcare Services - Education - Biotech - Digital Health ## People - Cathy J. Lurie — President of the Board of Trustees - Clarence Schutt — Director and Chief Scientific Officer - Jeffrey R. Lurie — Trustee ## Questions ### Who runs investment decisions at the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation? The foundation does not publicly name a dedicated chief investment officer. Its investment portfolio of private equity and hedge fund positions is managed internally under the board's oversight, led by President Cathy J. Lurie and Trustee Jeffrey R. Lurie. The foundation has not disclosed its external managers or allocators as of 2026. ### How does the foundation source its grant opportunities? The foundation uses a proactive, invitation-only strategy to identify grantees. It does not accept unsolicited grant applications and does not make grants directly to individuals. Program officers and scientific advisors, including Director Clarence Schutt, cultivate a pipeline of institutions like MGH, Penn Medicine, and Dana-Farber that align with the foundation's autism-focused mission. ### Does the foundation participate in fund commitments or only direct grants? The foundation's capital is split into two separate streams. One side makes direct grants to research institutes, clinical centers, and advocacy programs. The other side invests in private equity and hedge funds to generate returns that sustain the grantmaking operations. The foundation has not disclosed making fund commitments to external venture or buyout managers alongside its grantmaking activity. ### What is the foundation's relationship to the Philadelphia Eagles? Jeffrey R. Lurie, a trustee of the foundation and son of Nancy Lurie Marks, has owned the Philadelphia Eagles since 1994. The foundation, the Lurie Family Foundation, and the Eagles Autism Foundation jointly funded the newly established Lurie Autism Institute in Philadelphia, creating crossover between the NFL franchise's philanthropic efforts and the foundation's core mission. ## Related profiles - [Nancheng Finance Bureau](https://altss.com/profile/nancheng-finance-bureau) - [Nanda Capital Holdings](https://altss.com/profile/nanda-capital-holdings) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/nancy-lurie-marks-family-foundation-nlmff Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology