Fresh Sound Foundation

The group is a supporter of left-of-center groups working to shift Georgia towards the Democratic Party such as the New Georgia Project, Fair Count Inc., and Women Engaged. New Georgia Project received $100,000, which was the largest single donation from the group, in 2022. ¹

The group funded the American Repertory Theatre which performed a remake of the play 1776 that only featured actors who were female, transgender, or non-binary. ²

Background

Ellen and Stuart Burt and their three grown children founded what eventually became the Fresh Sound Foundation in 1996 and the group took its current form in 2006. ³

The group made a large contribution to St. Lawrence University and then another one to Emerson College. ³ Emerson College continues to receive support from the group as of 2022. ¹

Grantmaking

Georgia Advocacy

The Fresh Sound Foundation is a supporter of several groups that are working to shift Georgia more towards the Democratic Party. It gave $100,000, which was its largest single contribution in 2022, to the New Georgia Project. ¹ The New Georgia Project, founded by former Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Stacey Abrams and once led by now U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia), has been accused of mismanagement and financial irregularities by the left-of-center media outlet Politico. ⁴

In 2022, the group donated $50,000 to Fair Count, Inc., which is another group founded by Abrams. Fair Count, Inc. worked on making sure the U.S. Census counts non-white Georgians. ¹

In 2022, the group donated $40,000 to Women Engaged, a Georgia-based left-of-center feminist group working to mobilize Black women. ¹

Environmental Causes

In 2022, the Fresh Sound Foundation donated to numerous environmentalist groups such as Alternatives to Community and Environment ($5,000), Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust ($5,000), Deer Hill Foundation ($5,000), Food Connects ($40,000), Land Trust Alliance Northeast Region ($8,000), River Network ($25,000), Save The River ($15,000), and Thousand Islands Land Trust ($31,000). ¹

Arts

In 2022, the Fresh Sound Foundation donated $40,000 to the American Repertory Theatre, which produced a remake of the play 1776. ¹ American Repertory Theatre’s production used actors who were all either female, transgender, or non-binary and criticized the Founding Fathers’ views towards slavery and women. ²

The play also included an educational program called “We Declare” which aligned with Massachusetts’s 8^th grade Curriculum Frameworks for History and Social Science. ⁵

Other Donations Of Note

In 2022, the Fresh Sound Foundation gave to the left-of-center groups Equal Justice Initiative ($50,000), Generation Citizen ($40,000), and Rockefeller Family Fund ($75,000). ¹

Leadership

The Fresh Sound Foundation’s president is John Burt. He is the co-founder of the arts nonprofit Cambodian Living Arts. ⁶

Jeff Burt is the treasurer of the group. He has been involved with land conservation for over a decade and serves on the board of the Thousand Islands Land Trust and the Killingworth Land Conservation Trust. ⁶

Laurie Burt is a trustee. She is a former Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. ⁶

Finances

According to the Fresh Sound Foundation’s 2022 tax returns, the group had $921,594 in revenue, $935,551 in expenses, and $11,063,708 in assets. ¹