The Mary Alice Fortin Foundation

The Mary Alice Fortin Foundation

The Mary Alice Fortin Foundation was established in 1993 by Philip and Mary Alice Fortin. Philip Fortin built his wealth as an independent oilman in Montana, and the foundation's dual geographic focus — Palm Beach County, Florida, and Yellowstone County, Montana — reflects the family's personal footprint across two very different American communities. The foundation does not maintain a public-facing grant application process. All grants are distributed by invitation only to qualified charitable organizations operating within its tightly defined mission areas of children, education, homelessness, and animal welfare. Unlike a typical institutional foundation, the Fortin Foundation operates with a lean governance structure dominated by the women of the Fortin family. Danielle H. Moore, step-granddaughter of Philip Fortin and Mayor of Palm Beach, serves as President and Director. Her two aunts — Lesly S. Smith, daughter of Mary Alice Fortin and a former Mayor of Palm Beach, and Susan Stockard Channing, daughter of Mary Alice Fortin and a professional actress — sit as Vice Presidents on the board. Larry B. Alexander, the sole non-family director, provides legal and administrative continuity as Secretary. This tight family governance means grant decisions and investment policy flow through a small, intergenerational group whose civic and social ties run deep in both Palm Beach and Montana. The foundation's endowment is invested across a mix of traditional and alternative assets. While the foundation does not publicly disclose a detailed portfolio breakdown, public regulatory filings reveal holdings that include commodity-linked exchange-traded products such as the Invesco DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund and the United States Natural Gas Fund LP. The foundation also holds an interest in Suntex Marina LLC, a marina owner and operator with properties across the United States, and owns its headquarters property at 201 Chilean Avenue in Palm Beach. The foundation's board members maintain active leadership roles in Palm Beach civic and philanthropic institutions, including the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Town of Palm Beach United Way, and the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League. This deep civic entanglement functions as the foundation's sourcing mechanism — grant recipients emerge from the board's direct community involvement rather than from an open application process. Related philanthropic structures under the broader Fortin umbrella include The Barker Welfare Foundation and The Fortin Foundation of Florida, Inc., creating a small constellation of giving vehicles that share board-level family overlap.