Colcom Foundation is an anti-immigration

private foundation A private foundation is a tax-exempt organization not relying on broad public support and generally claiming to serve humanitarian purposes. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private foundation in the U.S. with over $38 billion ...

established in 1996 by

Cordelia Scaife May Cordelia Scaife May (September 24, 1928 – January 26, 2005) was a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-area political donor and philanthropist. An heiress to the Mellon-Scaife family fortune, she was one of the wealthiest women in the United States. Her p ...

, a

Mellon family The Mellon family is a wealthy and influential Americans, American family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The family includes Andrew Mellon, one of the longest-serving U.S. Treasury Secretaries, along with prominent members in the judicial, bankin ...

heiress. The Foundation is one of the main sources of funding for the anti-immigration movement in the United States. Several of the groups funded by the Colcom Foundation have been designated as

hate groups A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other designated sector of society. Accord ...

by the

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...

(SPLC), including American Border Patrol, the

Center for Immigration Studies The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) is an anti-immigration think tank and a SPLC designated hate group. It favors far lower immigration numbers, and produces analyses to further those views. The CIS was founded by historian Otis L. Graha ...

(CIS), and the

Federation for American Immigration Reform The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) is a non profit, anti-immigration organization in the United States. The group publishes position papers, organizes events, and runs campaigns in order to advocate for changes in U.S. immig ...

(FAIR). The foundation also focuses on

population control Population control is the practice of artificially maintaining the size of any population. It simply refers to the act of limiting the size of an animal population so that it remains manageable, as opposed to the act of protecting a species from ...

environmental conservation *Environmental protection Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, w ...

, and civic and environmental projects, especially in the

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

area where it is based.

Anti-immigration advocacy

The Colcom Foundation is one of the main financial supporters of the anti-immigration movement in the United States, providing more than $150 million to such groups since 2005. According to IRS documents, in 2016 58% of the money that Colcom gave went to anti-immigrant groups. In 2017, more than 80% went to anti-immigrant groups. Several of the groups funded by the Colcom Foundation have been designated as

by the

(SPLC), including American Border Patrol, the

(CIS), and the

(FAIR). In 2020, immigrant rights activists launched a campaign to discourage Pittsburgh-area civic and environmental groups from accepting money from the Colcom Foundation. Several organizations, including Group Against Smog and Pollution (GASP), Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project, and American Rivers, subsequently severed their ties to the foundation.

Civic and environmental projects

Grants have supported projects such as the planters throughout Downtown

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

hard-to-dispose waste, conservation of Sycamore Island in the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...

, matching funds to activate Pittsburgh’s downtown streets in the Paris to Pittsburgh Project,

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

studies in the

Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , )—often referred to locally as the Mon ()—is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in North Cen ...

, revolving loan fund enabling

land trust Land trusts are nonprofit organizations which own and manage land, and sometimes waters. There are three common types of land trust, distinguished from one another by the ways in which they are legally structured and by the purposes for which th ...

s to rapidly consummate vital

land conservancy Land trusts are nonprofit organizations which own and manage land, and sometimes waters. There are three common types of land trust, distinguished from one another by the ways in which they are legally structured and by the purposes for which th ...

projects, Marcellus Environmental Fund to assess and address risks of shale drilling, Mt. Washington land conservation, Tribute to Children monument honoring

Mister Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...

, Kids Zone at the

Three Rivers Regatta The Pittsburgh Three Rivers Regatta, named for the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers at Pittsburgh, is an annual motorboat and river festival held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The festival was first held in 197 ...

, support for the

2009 G20 Pittsburgh summit The 2009 G20 Pittsburgh Summit was the third meeting of the G20 heads of state/heads of government to discuss financial markets and the world economy. The G20 is the premier forum for discussing, planning and monitoring international economic ...

, completing a bridge for bicyclists on the

Great Allegheny Passage The Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) is a rail trail between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cumberland, Maryland. Together with the C&O Canal towpath, the GAP is part of a route between Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C., that is popular with through ...

near Pittsburgh, curatorial salaries for the

Carnegie Museum of Natural History The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as CMNH) is a natural history museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1896. Housing some 22 millio ...

, and matching funds to renovate the fountain at historic

Point State Park Point State Park (locally known as The Point) is a Pennsylvania state park on in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River. Built on land acqu ...

References

External links

Colcom Foundation
{{Authority control Conservation and environmental foundations in the United States 1996 establishments in Pennsylvania Organizations established in 1996 Anti-immigration politics in the United States