The David Bohnett Foundation is a global private foundation that gives grants to organizations that focus on its core giving areas – primarily

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

area programs and

LGBT rights in the United States Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in the United States are among the most socially, culturally, and legally permissive and advanced in the world, with public opinion and jurisprudence on the issue changing significantly si ...

, as well as leadership initiatives and voter education,

gun violence prevention Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, and ...

, and animal language research. As of 2022, the foundation has donated $125million to nonprofit organizations and initiatives.

History

Immediately after selling his popular internet social-network company

GeoCities Yahoo! GeoCities was a web hosting service that allowed users to create and publish websites for free and to browse user-created websites by their theme or interest. GeoCities was started in November 1994 by David Bohnett and John Rezner, and ...

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...

in 1999,

David Bohnett David C. Bohnett (born April 2, 1956) is an American philanthropist and technology entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of the David Bohnett Foundation, a non-profit, grant-making organization devoted to improving society through social ...

turned his attention to activism. He created the David Bohnett Foundation, "a nonprofit grant-making organization focused on providing resources for organizations pursuing societal change and social justice through activism", with an initial endowment of $32million. According to the '' Los Angeles Times Magazine'', he "invests where he can actually improve lives, empower individuals and build viable communities in meaningful ways". To serve as executive director and strategist for his foundation he hired Michael Fleming, who had been a media leader for the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". ...

.Callahan, David
''Fortunes of Change: The Rise of the Liberal Rich and the Remaking of America''
John Wiley & Sons, 2010. pp. 86–90. In 2000, the foundation's first full year, it donated $2 million to LGBT organizations, AIDS services, gun control programs, and voter registration initiatives. Bohnett's initial grants included large donations to GLAAD, the Family Equality Council, and the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

.Foster, R. Daniel
"Net Worth"
''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

''. March 14, 2000. p. 25. A prime aim for Bohnett is to "create an environment which destigmatizes homosexuality", and to that end he has funded both national gay rights organizations and also local LGBT organizations and centers across the U.S. The nationwide LGBT centers he has funded and created include numerous LGBT CyberCenters – safe-haven

internet cafe The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a ''internetworking, network of networks'' that consists ...

s where LGBT young people and seniors, and disadvantaged, troubled, or closeted gays, can find support and resources, including computers and internet access. Bohnett created the first CyberCenter in 1998, and as of 2021 there are 58 David Bohnett CyberCenters in the U.S.

Grantmaking

The David Bohnett Foundation provides grants to outside nonprofit organizations and projects supporting several primary funding areas: The Fund for

, supporting a broad spectrum of

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. ...

al and civic programs;

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...

-related causes;

graduate school Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and st ...

leadership programs at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

;

voting rights Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

and registration initiatives; supporting

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

and

public policies Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

to reduce the impact of firearm violence; leadership training initiatives for political public service; and animal research and

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical th ...

Fund for Los Angeles

The David Bohnett Foundation Fund for Los Angeles provides support to local organizations that are working to better the civic and cultural lives of people living in

. These grants are made under the initiative of either David Bohnett or the David Bohnett Foundation. As of 2021, the foundation has disbursed over $72,000,000 to recipients of funding from the Fund for Los Angeles.

Fund for Los Angeles grant recipients

A selection of Fund for Los Angeles grant recipients includes:

LGBT community

Minnesota Anti Gay Marriage Amendment Protests 2

The David Bohnett Foundation supports organizations and projects using social activism to advance the rights of the lesbian, gay,

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, wh ...

, and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

(

)

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, villag ...

. The foundation also assists and promoted philanthropic organizations that foster positive portrayals of lesbians and gay men in the media. As of 2021, the foundation has disbursed over $24,753,000 to groups and organizations that strive to provide equal rights and protections for all LGBT people.

LGBT community grant recipients

A selection of LGBT community grant recipients includes:

CyberCenters

The David Bohnett Foundation has sponsored CyberCenters since 1998, with the first one established at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. Now there are CyberCenters across the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, in locations like

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures r ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. The David Bohnett CyberCenters are another major undertaking. Numbering 58 locations nationwide, they offer business, educational, research, and recreational opportunities to underserved LGBT communities via computer equipment and access to the Internet. As of 2021, the foundation has disbursed over $4,253,979 to recipients providing CyberCenters.

CyberCenter grant recipients

A selection of CyberCenter grant recipients includes:

LGBT leadership

The foundation has been a major and long-term supporter of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund,"Cyber Center Stage"
''

''. December 26, 2004. p. 49. especially its LGBT Leadership Fellows aimed at training LGBT leaders for state and local governments; as of 2020 the Bohnett Leaders Fellowship at the Victory Institute has sent over 150 LGBT leaders to the Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government program since 2002.Ocamb, Karen
"David Bohnett, philanthropist with a social justice mission"
''

Los Angeles Blade The ''Washington Blade'' is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. The ''Blade'' is the oldest LGBT newspaper in the United States and third largest by circulation, behind the '' Philadel ...

''. April 22, 2017. The David Bohnett LGBTQ Leaders Fellowship alumni have included

Kyrsten Sinema Kyrsten Lea Sinema (; born July 12, 1976) is an American politician and former social worker serving as the senior United States senator from Arizona since January 2019. A former member of the Democratic Party, Sinema became an independent in ...

, the first openly bisexual U.S. congressperson, and Annise Parker, one of the first openly gay mayors of a major U.S. city (Houston).Rojc, Philip.
"Inside Game: A Foundation Supports LGBTQ Leaders in the Halls of Power"
'' Inside Philanthropy''. September 9, 2017.

Leadership initiatives and voter education

The Bohnett foundation supports the development of the next generation of municipal leaders, through a variety of initiatives and grants. As of 2021, the foundation has disbursed over $9,023,678 to recipients and programs in its leadership initiatives.

Leadership initiatives

David Bohnett Foundation leadership programs

The foundation supports advances in

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public ...

through David Bohnett Leadership Fellows programs at universities. It funds graduate-school civic internship and leadership programs at:Voting and other political programs
. David Bohnett Foundation.Leadership Initiatives
''BohnettFoundation.org''. Retrieved October 27, 2015. *

Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy The Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, often referred to as the Ford School, is the public policy school at the University of Michigan. Founded in 1914 to train municipal administration experts, the school was named after University of Mi ...

at the

* John F. Kennedy School of Government at

* Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at

* UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs In other grants, in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, and

, graduate students receive positions in the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

's office, and the stipends and tuition of these David Bohnett fellows are paid for by the Bohnett Foundation.Wogan, J. B
"Big-City Mayors Tap Grad Students for Their Teams"
''

Governing Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the gover ...

''. January 22, 2015. These paid student interns have been involved in policy analysis and implementation, assisting speech writing, evaluating department heads, reducing homelessness, and other initiatives. Several former Bohnett mayoral fellows occupy management positions in the cities where they had interned, and in 2014

Stephanie Chang Stephanie Gray Chang is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Michigan Senate, representing the 1st district. She previously served in the Michigan House of Representatives in the 6th District, in the Michigan House of Represen ...

, a Bohnett fellow from the University of Michigan, became the first Asian-American woman elected to the Michigan state legislature.

David Bohnett Foundation Congressional interns

The foundation supports

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

and

Hispanic and Latino American Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spanish and/or Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include all Americans who identify a ...

student internships in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...

. In partnership with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, summer internships offer students a private look into the United States' democratic process. In a series of educational opportunities within the United States Congress, students are encouraged to explore diversity through

civic engagement Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to ...

, and build coalitions based on shared values, purpose and goals.

Voter education

The David Bohnett Foundation supports safe and secure elections, both during the voting process and after. They provide funding to projects that work to ensure fair elections, protect

, and raise the level of political discourse among all Americans, regardless of age,

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent, and consistent with the ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

or other diversities. The foundation supports projects working at local, state and national levels on a wide range of

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The r ...

initiatives, from preventing polling-place irregularities to research that helps assess obstacles that keep certain populations from having their votes counted. As of 2014, the foundation had disbursed over $4,500,000 exclusively to recipients working on voter education.

Voter education grant recipients

A selection of voter education recipients includes:

Gun violence prevention

The David Bohnett Foundation works with

makers, advocates and

activists Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

to reduce

gun violence Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, an ...

and promote gun violence prevention policies. Funding is provided to groups and institutions that educate and advocate on the effects of guns and solutions to reduce gun violence. As of 2021, the foundation has disbursed over $5,124,1509 to recipients working on gun violence prevention.

Gun violence prevention grant recipients

A selection of gun violence prevention grant recipients includes, but is not limited to:

Animal language research

The David Bohnett Foundation supports animal language research, funding of service animals and eliminating the

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exch ...

of endangered species. As of 2021, the foundation has disbursed over $2,049,088 to recipients working on animal language research.

Animal language research grant recipients

A selection of animal language research grant recipients includes:

References

External links

* {{Official website Foundations based in the United States Organizations established in 1999 Non-profit organizations based in California LGBT organizations in the United States 1999 establishments in California