The Connelly Foundation is a

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

organization based in

West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania West Conshohocken is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,320 at the 2010 census. Its sister community is Conshohocken, located across the Schuylkill River. Montgomery County's seat, Norristown, is lo ...

. The organization was founded in 1955 by businessman and entrepreneur John F. Connelly. Connelly headed the foundation until his death in 1990, and his wife Josephine led until her death in 1999. The foundation is arguably best well known in the

Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...

for its charitable giving and general financial support to the

Archdiocese of Philadelphia The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Philadelphia is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southeastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. It covers the City and County of Philadelphia as well a ...

. In 2006, the foundation gave over to Catholic education in the Philadelphia area.

History

John F. Connelly founded The Connelly Foundation in 1955 while head of Connelly Containers. During his lifetime, he saw the foundation award over $74 million in grants to both religious and secular organizations in education, health and human services and cultural activities. Josephine C. Mandeville, a daughter of the founders, became President upon Connelly's death in 1990 and held this role until 2018 when Tom Riley succeeded her. Mandeville remained with the foundation as Chairman. Riley had previously served as vice president for strategic planning for the Foundation since 2012.

Activities and programs

The foundation has awarded over $300 million in grants since its inception in 1955, mostly within the Philadelphia area. In 1993, the foundation enacted a tuition credit program, known as the Josephine C. Connelly Achievement Award and initially amounting to per year for four years, to encourage Philadelphia

parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...

students to continue their education in Catholic high schools. To provide perspective, annual Catholic high school tuition for the 1993-1994 school year was . Also in 1993, the Foundation provided grant support to Allentown College for their purchase of Brisson Seminary, required to accommodate expanding enrollment. In 1999, the College dedicated their chapel as Connelly Chapel in recognition of this support. The Connelly-Delouvrier Scholars Program was established at

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

in 1999 and is designed to provide financial assistance for one semester for a "select group of academically talented students" to study abroad. According to Villanova University's website, "The Connelly-Delouvrier International Scholarship is open to students in good standing in the University Honors Program (3.33 cumulative GPA) and to students who are Presidential Scholarship recipients."

Notes and references

External links

The Official website of The Connelly Foundation
{{Authority control 1955 establishments in Pennsylvania Educational foundations in the United States Organizations established in 1955

History

Activities and programs

See also

Notes and references

External links