Barr Foundation

We are pleased to introduce the new barrfoundation.org 🎉    We invite you to explore our program areas, search the grants database, and see our grantees’ work in action. Leave a comment to let us know what you think.

In times of uncertainty, we can look to artists to help reimagine a future that prioritizes community, creativity, and joy. Barr is investing in arts organizations doing this work across Massachusetts in two new initiatives: 🔹 Catalyzing Vitality: Long-term, flexible funding has disproportionally flowed to large and well-established organizations. Meanwhile, smaller orgs—many led by people of color—have been creating equally impactful work with far fewer resources. Catalyzing Vitality supports 55 grassroots arts organizations with $7 million in funding as they bring about their bold visions. 🔹 Cultural Evolution: This initiative focuses on 8 arts organizations facing a major inflection point in their growth, like capital campaigns and expanding spaces. The cohort supports sector leaders as they prepare their organizations to thrive amid transformational change. Sign up for our newsletter to hear more about these initiatives as they progress: https://lnkd.in/eD8ayDhy

The Barr Foundation has launched a search for its next President: a bold, visionary, and transformative leader who will guide the Foundation into its next chapter. Building on decades of dedicated stewardship and strategic growth, Barr’s next President will guide a deeply resourced organization well positioned to face the urgency of what lies ahead--all while centering our core values, mission, and communities. View the full position profile on our website.

Barr’s co-founders, Barbara and Amos Hostetter, are among the 2025 recipients of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. We're thrilled to see them recognized for their work to use philanthropy to drive meaningful change.

The barrage of action in the past several weeks previews the challenges that the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors will face in the years ahead. Barr is in this work for the long haul. Here is how we are approaching this moment in these early stages. 🔹 Barr’s steadfast commitment to center racial equity remains unchanged. To us, that means investing in leaders and solutions that bring us closer to a world where everyone can pursue their unbounded potential, and where the promise of equal opportunity for all becomes a reality. 🔹 Our success hinges on maintaining relationships with our partners that are rooted in mutual trust, respect, and care. Based on what we’re hearing, we are organizing trainings and capacity supports, working to reduce administrative burden, and creating more flexibility in how Barr funds can be used. 🔹 Advocating for the concerns of the nonprofit sector is essential. We will invest in social sector infrastructure that enables greater coordination, communication, and knowledge sharing between organizations. This work has been part of our grantmaking at Barr for many years, and we anticipate investing further in the near term. 🔹 We need to summon our creativity to imagine new ways forward. This moment compels us to think and act in new ways. With so much to draw us into pessimism, the work of our partners—and their passion, commitment and dedication—give us hope and inspiration when we need it most.  

A new report finds that replacing fossil fuel-fired ‘peaker plants’ can help Massachusetts meet its climate goals. Mireille Bejjani, Co-Executive Director of Slingshot, calls these plants "the low-hanging fruit of the energy transition...the dirtiest per unit of energy produced.”

With the right investments, we can build a more reliable, accessible, and cleaner transportation system that improves both public and environmental health. Kevin Xu Shen, Transportation Policy Analyst at Union of Concerned Scientists, explains what we gain when we prioritize people's freedom of movement.

Arts organizations, salons, restaurants, and small businesses make space for us to meet our neighbors and access services. A new investment from MassDevelopment will help 34 community partners buy, renovate, and expand buildings that catalyze economic activity in their communities.

To meet its ambitious climate goals, the clean energy sector in Massachusetts needs to fill 34,000 jobs over the next six years—EV mechanics, wind turbine technicians, geothermal drillers, solar panel engineers, and more. "We have shifted from talking about the transition we need to actually building it. The skill and training and capacity of the workforce are what’s going to determine success,” says Zeyneb Magavi, Executive Director of HEET.

We know that the creative economy is a vital part of communities across Massachusetts. How can we quantify these contributions to make the case for more attention and investment? The New Bedford Economic Development Council worked with Zapalac Advisors to shine a light on the specific companies, nonprofits, and individual creatives that make up New Bedford's creative ecosystem. The report has been a valuable tool in conversations with real estate developers and business recruitment efforts across the city.