The Jack and Jill of America Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Jack and Jill of America, a cultural advocacy and education nonprofit for African American youth. It provides funding for local Jack and Jill chapters’ programs and volunteer events.

It also supports its parent organization’s legislative lobbying by giving out grants to nonprofits that prioritize housing, education, and health care equity for African Americans, with an emphasis on early childhood education. Though it is nonpartisan, some of the groups that it funds – which include the Children’s Defense Fund, a lobbying partner of the foundation’s parent organization – have historically supported left-of-center plans and policies. ¹

Founding and History

The Jack and Jill of America Foundation was founded in 1968 and since its inception, it has focused heavily on early childhood education among the African-American community. ² One of its earliest funded initiatives was a ten-year partnership with Florida A&M and Ohio State University to help African-American high schoolers with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics literacy. ³

In 2002, however, the Jack and Jill of America Foundation moved its headquarters to Washington, D.C., a marked shift in the foundation’s granting focus to more national-scale programs. ⁴

Activities

Most of the Jack and Jill of America Foundation’s funds go towards chapter educational programs, supporting education from early childhood through college. Its largest-funded programs are the Jack and Jill Reading Corners, youth literacy courses carried out by its parent organization’s local chapters. The foundation also provides collegiate financial assistance through its College Prep grants and Foundation Scholars scholarship. ⁵

As of December 2020, the Jack and Jill of America Foundation’s most recent funding initiative is its “Close the Gap” program. The program will establish a $2 million endowment to ensure that its scholars graduate from Historically Black Colleges and Universities with no debt. It is currently partnered with four universities: Savannah State, Alcorn, Prairie View A&M, and Huston-Tillotson.

The Foundation pays for health fairs that are put on by local chapters around the country. As for familial support, the Foundation gives out nearly $100,000 in grants each year to African American families in need. ⁶

Finances

The Jack and Jill of America Foundation’s most recent publicly available filings show total revenues of $1,804,613 and total expenses of $883,073. ⁷

The Jack and Jill of America Foundation is funded almost entirely by proceeds raised by its local chapters and its investment returns. In 2018, for example, just 2% of its revenues were raised by external foundations and corporations. ⁸ Its largest contributing chapters are its metropolitan Atlanta and New York City locals.

In 2018, it granted the Children’s Defense Fund, a left-of-center advocacy group, $5,000. ⁹

Leadership

The executive director of the Jack and Jill Foundation is Pier Blake. Blake is the only paid member of the Jack and Jill Foundation, with a yearly salary of $84,116. ¹⁰ She is also a board member of the Maryland CASA Association. ¹¹

The president of the Jack and Jill Foundation is Icilma Fergus-Rowe. Outside of Jack and Jill of America, Fergus-Rowe is Director of Cardiovascular Disparities at Mount Sinai Medical Center. ¹²

1. 2018 Jack and Jill Foundation Annual Impact Report. (2018). Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://issuu.com/jjfoundation/docs/jackandjill_11.7update
2. Who We Are. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2020, from https://jackandjillfoundation.org/who-we-are/
3. 2018 Jack and Jill Foundation Annual Impact Report. (2018). Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://issuu.com/jjfoundation/docs/jackandjill_11.7update
4. 2018 Jack and Jill Foundation Annual Impact Report. (2018). Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://issuu.com/jjfoundation/docs/jackandjill_11.7update
5. 2018 Jack and Jill Foundation Annual Impact Report. (2018). Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://issuu.com/jjfoundation/docs/jackandjill_11.7update
6. 2018 Jack and Jill Foundation Annual Impact Report. (2018). Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://issuu.com/jjfoundation/docs/jackandjill_11.7update
7. Jack and Jill Foundation 990. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2020, from https://www.guidestar.org/profile/51-0224656
8. 2018 Jack and Jill Foundation Annual Impact Report. (2018). Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://issuu.com/jjfoundation/docs/jackandjill_11.7update
9. 2018 Jack and Jill Foundation Annual Impact Report. (2018). Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://issuu.com/jjfoundation/docs/jackandjill_11.7update
10. Jack and Jill Foundation 990. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2020, from https://www.guidestar.org/profile/51-0224656
11. Blake, P. (n.d.). LinkedIn Profile – Pier Blake. Retrieved December 10, 2020, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/pier-blake-0bb01a7/
12. P, M. (2019, May 11). How Dr. Icilma Fergus, Busy Mom, And Community Activist Spends Her Mother’s Day: New York Carib News. Retrieved December 11, 2020, from https://www.nycaribnews.com/articles/how-dr-icilma-fergus-busy-mom-and-community-activist-spends-her-mothers-day/