The Tow Foundation is a Connecticut-based private grantmaking foundation founded by Leonard and Claire Tow, who also founded the Century Communications Corporation, a cable television company. ¹ The organization makes grants in the arts, medical research, civic engagement, higher education, and criminal justice. ²

The foundation makes grants with a strong focus on New York- and Connecticut-based organizations. The organization makes grants to numerous left-of-center organizations through these programs and is heavily committed to the critical race theory-influenced concept of equity. ³

History

The Tow Foundation was founded in 1988 by Leonard and Claire Tow as the family’s private foundation. Initially, the program of the foundation was unstructured and was guided by the personal passions of the family members. ⁴

Leonard and Claire Tow were the co-founders of Century Communications Corporation and sold the cable television company in 1999. Century Communications Corporation was the fifth-largest cable television company in the United States at the time. ¹ Claire is now deceased, and Leonard is the chairman of the board of the Tow Foundation. ¹ Their daughter, Emily Tow, became the president of the foundation in 1995, a position she still occupies as of 2024. ⁵

When Emily Tow was brought on board, the foundation began to shift its focus away from medical research, cultural institutions, and higher education. Instead, the focus began to shift towards inequality and left-of-center social policy. ⁶

Grantmaking Priorities

The Tow Foundation funds criminal justice programs to reduce incarceration. It funds programs in both the adult and juvenile criminal justice system that provide alternatives to incarceration, rehabilitation programs in jails and prisons, and services to help former inmates transition back to society. It also advocates on behalf of broader criminal justice policy change.⁷

In addition to supporting criminal justice programs, the foundation funds medical research, higher education, and cultural institutions. It funds research into medical cures. It also funds scholarships, fellowships, and internships for college students. It also funds journalism and the arts with an emphasis on theater. It also funds training and creating partnerships for journalists. ⁸

The Tow Foundation makes grants in support of the critical-race theory influenced concept of equity. According to the foundation, its work is aimed at taking “action against racist, violent systems,” and aims to “dismantle the systems that have contributed to the racial injustice and deep, violent oppression in our country.” ^{9 10}

One of the Tow Foundation’s main grantmaking initiatives is for “Equity and Justice,” a program aimed at ending “mass incarceration” and “mass criminalization.” ³ The Tow Foundation has funded The Center for Institutional and Social Change at Columbia Law School to achieve “anti-racist, equitable and inclusive institutions.” ¹¹

The Tow Foundation also makes large contributions to higher education, including Bard College, Columbia University, Barnard College, and Yale University. ¹² The Tow Foundation’s funding of higher education institutions often overlaps with its “Equity and Justice” initiative, such as donations made to The Center for Institutional and Social Change at Columbia Law School and numerous donations to the Bard Prison Initiative at Bard College. ^{11 13}

The Tow Foundation also supports civic engagement efforts including activities from “educating to mobilizing, training, convening, and organizing.” ¹⁴ It also supports medical causes such as cancer research, and the performing arts. ^{15 16}

The Tow Foundation also supports the Tow Center for Digital Journalism located in the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, totaling over $10 million in support from the Center’s inception in 2010. ¹⁷

People

Leonard Tow is the chairman of the board of the Tow Foundation. He sits on the board of the “Lincoln Center Theater and Educational Broadcasting Corporation,” and is a “trustee of the Brooklyn College Foundation and the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and serves as a director of AMC Networks,” according to his biography on the Tow Foundation’s website. ¹⁸

Emily Tow is the president and executive director of the Tow Foundation. Tow is a trustee of both New York Public Radio and The Marshall Project. She was also appointed to the New York State Juvenile Justice Advisory Group by former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D). She is a member of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations and Exponent Philanthropy and is a former chair of Philanthropy New York and a former trustee of Barnard College. ^{19 20 22}

Beeta Jahedi is the director of strategy and communications. She has been working for the foundation since 2017. Previously, she was the senior director of learning and programs at San Diego Grantmakers. ²⁰

Diane Sierpina is the director of justice initiatives. She has been a part of the foundation since 1998. Before joining the foundation, she was a newspaper and magazine journalist. Sierpina holds leadership roles with the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance, the New York Juvenile Justice Initiative, and the Youth Transition Funders Group. ²³

Funding

In 2023, the foundation had $14,366,606 in revenue, $31,079,753 in expenses, and $321,681,918 in total assets. ¹² According to the foundation, seventy percent of its grants are multi-year and unrestricted funding. ⁵

In 2023, Bard College received $650,000 from the Tow Foundation, Barnard College received $210,000, the Brooklyn College Foundation received $800,000, Columbia University received nearly $2 million, the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism CUNY Foundation received $150,000, and the Dwight Hall at Yale (Center for Public Service and Social Justice) received $100,000. ¹²

Also in 2023, the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth received $500,000 and the Frederick Douglass Project for Justice received $100,000 from the Tow Foundation. The Planned Parenthood Federation of America received $10,000, GirlTrek received $200,000, the Robin Hood Foundation received $200,000, the Futuro Media Group received $400,000, the Tides Center received $250,000, the Willaim J. Brennan Jr. Center for Justice received $150,000, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center received $2 million, and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts received $1 million. ²⁴

1. “Family Legacy.” The Tow Foundation, November 29, 2022. https://www.towfoundation.org/about/our-story/family-legacy/.
2. “Our Approach.” The Tow Foundation, August 28, 2023. https://www.towfoundation.org/impact-areas/our-approach/.
3.  “Equity and Justice.” The Tow Foundation, May 16, 2024. https://www.towfoundation.org/impact-areas/equity-and-justice/.
4. “Tow Foundation”. 2016. Foundation Center. http://foundationcenter.org/about-us/funding-foundation-center/funder-s-forum/tow-foundation.
5.  “Our Story.” The Tow Foundation, August 28, 2023. https://www.towfoundation.org/about/our-story/.
6. “Tow Foundation”. 2016. Foundation Center. http://foundationcenter.org/about-us/funding-foundation-center/funder-s-forum/tow-foundation.
7. “Justice Initiatives”. 2019. Tow Foundation. Accessed August 26. https://www.towfoundation.org/justice-initiatives/.
8. “Strategic Initiatives”. 2019. Tow Foundation. Accessed August 26. https://www.towfoundation.org/strategic-initiatives/.
9. Brady, Dan. “Black Lives Matter.” The Tow Foundation, March 31, 2022. https://www.towfoundation.org/the-latest/black-lives-matter/.
10. “Our Foundation.” The Tow Foundation, June 8, 2023. https://www.towfoundation.org/about/our-foundation/.
11. “Center for Social and Institutional Change and Columbia Law School.” The Tow Foundation. Accessed January 6, 2025. https://www.towfoundation.org/grantee/center-for-social-and-institutional-change-and-columbia-law-school/.
12. “Tow Foundation,” Private Foundation Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990 PF) 2023. Page 11 Part XIV.
13. “Bard College.” The Tow Foundation, July 5, 2022. https://www.towfoundation.org/grantee/bard-college/?grant_keyword=&grant_tax_grant_category%5B0%5D=higher-education&grant_meta_grant_status=&sort_order=recipient_name-asc.
14. “Civic Engagement.” The Tow Foundation, September 6, 2024. https://www.towfoundation.org/impact-areas/civic-engagement/.
15. “Medicine and Public Health.” The Tow Foundation, May 16, 2024. https://www.towfoundation.org/impact-areas/medicine-and-public-health/.
16. “Arts and Culture.” The Tow Foundation, May 16, 2024. https://www.towfoundation.org/impact-areas/arts-and-culture/.
17. “Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.” The Tow Foundation, July 5, 2022. https://www.towfoundation.org/grantee/columbia-university-graduate-school-of-journalism/?grant_keyword=Tow%2BCenter%2Bfor%2BDigital%2BJournalism%2B&grant_meta_grant_status=&sort_order=recipient_name-asc
18. “Leonard Tow.” The Tow Foundation, September 12, 2022. https://www.towfoundation.org/person/leonard-tow/.
19. “Emily Tow.” The Tow Foundation, December 5, 2024. https://www.towfoundation.org/person/emily-tow/.
20. “Staff”. 2019. Tow Foundation. Accessed August 26. https://www.towfoundation.org/staff/.

22. Nadia Alia is the director of operations. She has been working for the foundation since 2013. Previously, she was the manager of member services at Philanthropy New York. ²¹“Staff”. 2019. Tow Foundation. Accessed August 26. https://www.towfoundation.org/staff/.

23. “Staff”. 2019. Tow Foundation. Accessed August 26. https://www.towfoundation.org/staff/.
24.  “Tow Foundation,” Private Foundation Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990 PF) 2023. Pages 1, 2.