About Meyer
The Meyer Foundation identifies and invests in visionary leaders and effective community-based nonprofit organizations that are working to create lasting improvements in the lives of low-income people in the Washington, DC metropolitan region, and works to strengthen the region’s nonprofit sector as a vital and respected partner in meeting community needs.
How We Work
For more than 65 years, the Foundation has supported extraordinary nonprofit leaders and organizations meeting community needs throughout the Greater Washington region. Our practice has been to listen to those leaders and to adapt our work as new challenges arise for nonprofits and the people they serve. Beginning in 2012, a new strategic framework will guide the Foundation’s work, bringing additional focus to our longstanding commitments to achieving lasting positive change for low-income people in our region and championing the region’s nonprofit sector and its leaders.
The work of the Foundation extends beyond grantmaking. Meyer’s seasoned program staff are deeply invested in the success and effectiveness of the organizations the Foundation supports. Program officers often provide technical assistance on management and program issues, connect grantees with potential partners and collaborators, and help them identify sources of additional support. We also work collaboratively with other grantmakers to address important community issues, and we use our resources and voice to highlight the critical role of our region’s nonprofit sector and its dedicated and inspirational leaders.
Our Founders
Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer created the Meyer Foundation in 1944. Eugene Meyer was an investment banker, public servant under seven U.S. presidents, and owner and publisher of The Washington Post. His wife, Agnes Ernst Meyer, was an accomplished journalist, author, lecturer, and citizen activist. In 1950 the Meyers created an independent board of business and civic leaders to guide the Foundation’s work.
