Flora L. Thornton Foundation

Background

The Flora L. Thornton Foundation was started in 1983. ² Flora Thornton was married to Charles Thornton, ³ who was the founder of Litton Industries. ³ Charles Thornton was a member of President Ronald Reagan’s “kitchen cabinet.” ⁴ At the time of Charles Thorton’s death in 1981, Litton Industries had about $5 billion in sales. ⁴ Flora Thornton died in 2010 ⁴ and endowed the foundation with part of her estate. In 2011, the foundation had $24.1 million in revenue, which included the gross sale price of an asset for $21.6 million. ⁵

Finances

The Flora L. Thornton Foundation had $2.2 million in revenues with total expenses of $4.9 million in 2022. ⁶ The foundation reported total assets of $47.2 million. ⁶

Grantmaking

Environmentalism

In 2022, the Flora L. Thornton Foundation donated $70,000 to environmental advocacy group Center for Environmental Health, $100,000 to climate advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund,  ¹ $55,000 to the Rocky Mountain Institute, ¹ $30,000 to left-of-center Climate Center, ¹ $30,000 to the Natural Resources Defense Council, $90,000 to The Nature Conservancy, and $70,000 to the Southern Environmental Law Center. ¹

Other Advocacy

In 2022, the Flora L. Thornton Foundation gave $25,000 to the left-of-center health advocacy group Center for the Science in the Public Interest. ¹

Also in 2022, the Flora L. Thornton Foundation gave $10,000 to the International Planned Parenthood Federation Western Hemisphere Region. ¹ In 2020, the Western Hemisphere Region disaffiliated from the International Planned Parenthood Federation. ⁷ The International Planned Parenthood Federation Western Hemisphere Region later merged with the International Women’s Health Coalition and the Center for Health and Global Equality to form Fos Feminista. ⁷