The Gambrell Foundation History
Four decades of purpose, meaning, and community impact.
The Gambrell Foundation was created in 1988. In the nearly 40 years since our founding, we have supported communities in becoming a substantial source of purpose and meaning, critical ingredients for us all to live a good life. In 2015, the asset size of the foundation grew substantially, as did the requirements for leading a philanthropic organization of this size and scale.
Access to additional resources required us to ensure that the foundation is well-positioned for the future. We took steps to focus our strategy and support systems to enable greater impact, and our expectations for investments in the community have risen alongside them.
That sharpened focus is grounded in our home city. In 2014, a landmark study by Harvard economist Raj Chetty and his team ranked Charlotte last among the 50 largest U.S. metro areas for a child’s chance to rise out of poverty. A decade later, Chetty’s updated research found that Charlotte had climbed to 38th, one of the strongest improvements in the country. The data points to a powerful driver behind that progress: economic connectedness, the relationships and opportunities that reach across lines of class. It affirms what we have long believed, that people and the connections between them are the foundation of a good life.
The foundation supports a range of important causes and does not accept unsolicited grant requests. We rely on a network of community leaders and volunteers for ideas that can have a long-lasting impact on our city and region.
