The Oak Hill Fund is a left-of-center grantmaking organization based in Charlottesville, Virginia. 1 The Oak Hill Fund was established in 2001 as a 501(c)(3) organization from the division of the W. Alton Jones Foundation, along with the Blue Moon Fund (now the Cassiopeia Foundation) and the Edgerton Foundation. 2
Oak Hill Fund grants are directed towards environmentalist projects, women’s health initiatives, and pro-abortion organizations.
History
The IRS gave Oak Hill Fund tax exempt status in 2001. 4 The Fund arose from the division of the W. Alton Jones Foundation. W. Alton Jones was an oil executive responsible for completing 3128 miles of oil pipelines from Texas to cities on the East Coast. 5 Upon the dissolution of his Foundation, three new organizations were created, including the Oak Hill Fund. 2 Each of the three new organizations is run by Jones’s descendants. Architect William Edgerton, Jones’s grandson, has been president of the Oak Hill Fund since its foundation.
When the W. Alton Jones Foundation was divided, it had a $400 million endowment. 2 At the end of 2017, the Oak Hill Fund reported $97.4 million in assets. 6
Advocacy Funding
Oak Hill Fund grants provide “overhead funding” for advocacy projects. 1 There are two main areas in which grant funding is focused: environmental activism and women’s reproductive health, especially abortion rights and contraception access.
Women’s Health Programs
The Oak Hill Fund focuses grants on projects which work to make emergency contraceptives available without a prescription and expand access to long-acting reversible contraceptives such as intrauterine devices. 7 Until 2016, grants were also given to projects seeking to expand public-school sexual education programs. 7 The group only provides grants in the southeastern United States. 8
The Oak Hill Fund contributed over $981,000 in grant funding to pro-abortion organizations and projects in 2017, 20 percent of its total grant payouts that year. 9 This includes both general funding for pro-abortion organizations and grants given explicitly to further abortion access.
In 2017 alone the Oak Hill Fund provided over $200,000 in grants to the National Network of Abortion Funds and the Hopewell Fund. 10 The National Network of Abortion Funds is designed to “remove financial and logistical barriers to abortion access” by connecting women seeking an abortion with organizations that will fund the procedure. 11 The Hopewell Fund is a funding organization in the Arabella Advisors network. 12 The grant given to the Hopewell Fund by the Oak Hill Fund was granted with the express purpose of providing loans and grants to low-income women for use in paying for abortions. 10
Also in 2017, the Oak Hill Fund gave a $334,125 grant to the Whole Women’s Advocacy Alliance with to open a new clinic in Charlottesville and promote abortion advocacy. 10 The Oak Fund also has a demonstrated interest in expanding access to abortion, as demonstrated by an $80,000 grant to the NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia Foundation. 10
Environmentalist Programs
Aside from women’s health issues, the Oak Hill Group focuses on environmental advocacy. Specifically, they give grant priority to projects that educate the public and policy makers, install renewable energy in low-income neighborhoods, create finance models for solar and wind power, and “defend against harmful fossil and nuclear fuel projects.” 13 In spite of being in favor of renewable energy reform, the Oak Hill Group is adamantly against the use of nuclear power. 13
Smaller projects include water quality projects, conservation of coral reefs, food security, and protection of various tree species. 13
Notable Grant Recipients
Most of the Oak Hill Fund’s grants recipients are concentrated in the local Charlottesville area. There are, however, several notable grant recipients that operate on regional or national scales:10
All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:
Total Grant Value:$57,593,562
Number of Grants:1,586
Number of Recipients:564
Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years:
Amount
Year
Funder
Subject
$250,000
2024
The Faison Center
TO SUPPORT THE CAMPUS SOLAR PROJECT: MARKEL HALL AND PIONEER HALL
$200,000
2023
Book Trust
TO ADVANCE LITERACY SKILLS FOR PREK-3RD GRADE STUDENTS ENROLLED IN TITLE I ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN METRO DENVER AND THE FAISON CENTER DURING THE 2023/24 SCHOOL YEAR, BOOK TRUST WILL PROVIDE 8,500 STUDENTS IN DENVER AND 40 STUDENTS AT THE FAISON CENTER WITH ACCESS AND AGENCY TO CHOOSE AS MANY AS 3 BOOKS OF INTEREST EACH MONTH OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.
$200,000
2022
Albemarle Housing Improvement Program Inc
TO COMPLETE FIVE OR MORE CRITICAL REHAB PROJECTS FOR LOW AND VERY LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS IN THE CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE. FUNDS WOULD SUPPORT THE CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE FROM INTAKE TO FINAL CLOSE-OUT, INCLUDING PLANNING, CONSTRUCTION, AND MANAGEMENT.
$200,000
2021
Albemarle Housing Improvement Program Inc
TO COMPLETE FIVE OR MORE CRITICAL REHAB PROJECTS FOR LOW- AND VERY LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS IN THE CITY OF CHARLOTTESVILLE.
$175,000
2020
Virginia League For Planned Parenthood, Inc.
TO OPEN A NEW HEALTH CENTER IN RICHMOND, VA IN 2020 TO EXPAND ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE IN THE HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY OF THE EAST END OF RICHMOND.
$150,000
2024
Piedmont Housing Alliance
TO INCORPORATE SOLAR AND ENERGY STORAGE INTO THE REDEVELOPMENT OF FRIENDSHIP COURT.
$150,000
2022
Book Trust
TO ADVANCE LITERACY SKILLS FOR PREK-3RD GRADE STUDENTS ENROLLED IN TITLE I ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN METRO DENVER AND THE FAISON CENTER DURING THE 2022/23 SCHOOL YEAR,
$150,000
2021
Book Trust
THROUGH THE 2021-22 SCHOOL YEAR, TO SERVE A TOTAL OF 4,935 BOOK TRUST STUDENTS ACROSS THE CITY OF DENVER, CO AND AT THE FAISON CENTER IN RICHMOND, VA.
$150,000
2021
The American Chestnut Foundation
TO: 1) FINISH REMOVING TREES WITH INFERIOR BLIGHT RESISTANCE FROM MEADOWVIEW SEED ORCHARDS. 2) PLANT PROGENY OF CROSSES BETWEEN MOST RESISTANT HYBRIDS. 3) TEST A NON-DESTRUCTIVE METHOD TO SCREEN SEEDLINGS FOR BLIGHT RESISTANCE PRIOR TO PLANTING. 4) ESTABLISH SMALL SCALE PERMITTED FIELD TRIALS OF DARLING 58 AMERICAN CHESTNUTS FOR ASSESSMENT. 5) CONSERVE ADDITIONAL WILD-TYPE AMERICAN CHESTNUTS AND PLANT FOR USE IN FUTURE BREEDING.
$150,000
2021
Virginia League For Planned Parenthood, Inc.
TO OPEN A NEW HEALTH CENTER IN RICHMOND, VA IN 2020 TO EXPAND ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE IN THE HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY OF THE EAST END OF RICHMOND.
$150,000
2020
The American Chestnut Foundation
CONTINUED SUPPORT TO: 1) SELECT THE MOST BLIGHT-RESISTANT TREES AT MEADOWVIEW RESEARCH FARMS, 2) SELECT THE MOST BLIGHT-RESISTANT TREES AT THEIR PENN STATE ORCHARD, USING GENOMICS, 3) GENOTYPE AND PHENOTYPE CHESTNUT HYBRIDS WITH VARYING AMERICAN CHESTNUT ANCESTRY, AND CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR 4) THE MARYLAND CHAPTER CHESTNUT BREEDING PROGRAM.
$149,875
2020
Whole Womans Advocacy Alliance
TO SUPPORT THE EXPANSION OF DIRECT SERVICES AT THEIR CHARLOTTESVILLE CLINIC TO INCLUDE ANNUAL WELLNESS EXAMS, STI AND HIV TESTING, ET AL. ALSO, TO SUPPORT ADVOCACY WORK AND LITIGATION EFFORTS AS THE LEAD PLAINTIFF IN FALLS CHURCH V. HERRING, A COMPREHENSIVE SUIT CHALLENGING ABORTION RESTRICTIONS IN VIRGINIA.
$125,000
2024
Virginia League For Planned Parenthood, Inc.
ABORTION CARE CAPACITY BUILDING AT VIRGINIA LEAGUE FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD: 1) SURGE SCENARIO PLANNING, 2) HIRE AND TRAIN ADDITIONAL ABORTION NAVIGATOR AND SECURITY PERSONNEL.
$125,000
2022
Planned Parenthood Southeast, Inc.
TO SUPPORT SUBSIDIES FOR PATIENTS SEEKING AN ABORTION BUT UNABLE TO ACCESS SERVICES WITHOUT ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT.
$125,000
2022
Virginia League For Planned Parenthood, Inc.
ABORTION CARE CAPACITY BUILDING AT VIRGINIA LEAGUE FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD: 1) SURGE SCENARIO PLANNING, 2) HIRE AND TRAIN ADDITIONAL ABORTION NAVIGATOR AND SECURITY PERSONNEL.
$125,000
2022
Whole Womans Advocacy Alliance
TO SUPPORT THE WAYFINDER PROGRAM AND GESTATIONAL EXPANSION AND PHYSICAL PLANT UPGRADES AT THE CHARLOTTESVILLE CLINIC.
TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO INDIVIDUALS WHO CANNOT COVER THE FULL COST OF AN ABORTION, AND TO PARTIALLY FUND AN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR POSITION.
$125,000
2020
Planned Parenthood Southeast, Inc.
TO SUBSIDIZE PATIENTS UNABLE TO ACCESS ABORTION WITHOUT ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT AT PPSE'S SIX HEALTH CENTERS IN ALABAMA (BIRMINGHAM AND MOBILE) AND GEORGIA (ATLANTA, LAWRENCEVILLE, MARIETTA, AND SAVANNAH).
$110,000
2023
A Step Ahead Foundation Tri-Cities
TO SUPPORT (1) DIRECT BIRTH CONTROL SERVICES; (2) TRANSPORTATION, (3) CALL CENTER OPERATIONS, AND (4) HEALTH EDUCATOR SALARIES/PROGRAMS FOR THREE AFFILIATES (E. TN, TRI-CITIES, W TN)
TO BUILD AND MAINTAIN A PIPELINE FOR EVERYDAY PEOPLE TO SERVE AS ADVOCATES FOR ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM THROUGH THEIR VIRGINIA ADVOCATES FOR ACCESS INITIATIVE. SPECIFIC PROGRAMS INCLUDE: 1) CHANGING MINDS THROUGH STORYTELLING TRAINING PROGRAM; 2) REPRO ON THE RECORD PUBLIC EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES; 3) RISE UP FOR REPRO: STUDENT ADVOCACY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM; AND 4) THE ADVOCATES FOR LOCAL ACCESS INITIATIVE
CONTINUED SUPPORT TO SUBSIDIZE THE COST OF ABORTION CARE AND LARCS FOR PEOPLE NEEDING ASSISTANCE IN FLORIDA: $75,000 TOWARDS ABORTION CARE (INCLUDING TRAVEL AND LODGING ASSISTANCE; $25,000 EACH TOWARDS LARCS AND A CASE MANAGER/SOCIAL WORKER TO HELP WITH LOGISTICS.
TO 1) RENEW COMMUNITIES BY DEVELOPING AND DEPLOYING SOLAR AT EVERY SCALE IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA; 2) PROTECT COMMUNITIES THROUGH POLICY DEVELOPMENT, REGULATORY INTERVENTION, AND OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE OR LEGAL PROCESSES, AND TO ENSURE THAT VIRGINIA'S ENERGY SYSTEM CONTINUES TO DECARBONIZE EQUITABLY AND AFFORDABLY; 3) DEFEND COMMUNITAS BY OPPOSING NEW INVESTMENTS IN FOSSIL FUELS, CIRCUMSCRIBING THE HARMS OF EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE, AND MITIGATING NEW THREATS TO THE ENVIRONMENT.
$100,000
2023
Denver Public Schools Foundation
CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR THE A TO Z FUND WHICH PROVIDES GRANTS TO TEACHERS FOR PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL'S BUDGET.
CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR THE FUNDING & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR INDEPENDENT ABORTION PROVIDERS (FTA) PROGRAM, WHICH HELPS INDEPENDENT ABORTION PROVIDERS RESPOND TO RAPIDLY CHANGING CONDITIONS WHILE CONTINUING TO MEET CRITICAL COMMUNITY NEEDS.
