Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation

Activities

Myron Miller, a trustee of the Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation, participated on a panel discussion held by GMA Foundation, alongside other left-leaning grantmaking foundations and donor collaborative funds, including the Cedar Tree Foundation, the Piper Fund, and the Island Foundation. The discussion among the panelists touched upon multiple “routes to influencing public policy,” the need to maintain a “financial and administrative firewall around their charitable activities,” and that foundation leaders often engage in advocacy, which might affect the foundation’s actions. ²

In 2021, Myron Miller attended an immigrant advocacy event hosted by the Massachusetts Communities Action Network (MCAN). Miller argued that “social change framework” is a slow process that happens over time and that foundations must be patient and work with their grantees to generate change. He expressed how his long-term relationships with organizations with similar policy positions, including the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and the Conservation Law Foundation, work together to support community-based groups and organizing. ³

The Miller Innovation Fund is a grant program operated by the Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation that provides funding for specific projects led by social justice and community-based organizations in eastern Massachusetts. This fund aims to “help seed an agenda for reform” with a focus on housing, violence, immigration and refugee policy, healthcare, and incarceration.  ⁴

Grantmaking

From 2013 through 2023, the Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation allocated $750,000 to the Boston-based Chinese Progressive Association, ^{5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15} a left-leaning organization that engages in community organizing and activism among Chinese-Americans, including hosting events and activities with consular officials from the Communist-ruled People’s Republic of China (PRC). ¹⁶ The Chinese Progressive Association has hosted or participated in PRC-flag-raising events at the Boston City Hall Plaza to commemorate the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War. ¹⁷

From 2017 through 2022, the Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation allocated $175,000 to the Muslim Justice League, a far left-leaning advocacy group focused on opposition to police power in Massachusetts and federal programs targeted at suppressing radical Islamist extremism. ^{6  7  8  9  10  11} The Muslim Justice League has been outspoken about its anti-Israel, pro-Hamas sentiment and has encouraged others to follow the example of Matt Nelson, a young man who self-immolated on September 11, 2024 outside the Israeli consulate in Boston. The executive director of the Muslim Justice League, Fatema Ahmad, encourages others to “find ways to take action” and has referred to those who do as “martyrs.” ¹⁸

In 2022 and 2023, the Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation allocated $100,000 to the Center for Jewish Nonviolence,  ^{5  6} a far-left, anti-Israel advocacy group that organizes Jews to travel to Israel and participate in Palestinian-led “nonviolent civil resistance to occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing.” ¹⁹

Financials

As a grantmaking foundation, the Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation is funded primarily through its endowment assets and investment income. As of 2023, the Foundation’s assets totaled over $40 million. ²⁰

Leadership

The Herman and Frieda L. Miller Foundation is overseen by GMA Foundations, a Boston-based company that provides management and consulting services to foundations, philanthropic families, and giving programs. ²¹ Myron Miller is listed as a trustee on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) documents. ²²