Fellows

Welcome



Thank you for your interest in the Barr Foundation, and welcome to our website.

Barr hired its first staff in 2000. Since then we have worked to advance a vision of a vibrant, just, and sustainable world with hopeful futures for children.  As we reflect on Barr’s first decade and step forward into the next, our dependence on and gratitude for the work of our grantees is uppermost in our minds.

Barr grantees are an uncommon lot. From the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative to the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance to the Huntington Theatre, they work tirelessly on issues as divergent as early childhood development, energy efficiency, and Boston’s artistic soul. What these organizations have in common are highly skilled, committed, hard-working staffs, volunteers, and leaders, who often make great personal sacrifices – financial and otherwise – to achieve their missions. 

In order to thrive, these nonprofits have to navigate a capital market that can be highly unpredictable and, at times, even undermine their capacity to achieve their missions. With a penchant for supporting new programs, new buildings, and scale, foundations sometimes unwittingly leave organizations overextended and undercapitalized. When a foundation changes its strategies, it only adds to the angst. Government funding further contributes to the instability by underpaying for services. Fortunately, many nonprofits are led by mission-driven leaders, who deftly navigate this landscape, delivering results far beyond what seems possible. When foundations are at their best, we make time to listen to such leaders, to learn from them, and to build relationships with them. The Barr Fellows Program, which began in 2005, represents our signature effort to do just this. 

As you explore our site, you will find information about our strategies, our grantmaking, and what we are learning from our work. You will also discover ways to share what you find with others in your network. As always, we welcome your guidance and insights. And we look forward to another decade of community building and fellowship.

With appreciation,

Pat Brandes, Executive Director

  • Pierre Imbert

  • Building Energy Asset Labeling Pilot Program

  • Hyde Square Task Force Operating Support

  • Boston Green Academy

  • Measuring Greenhouse Gases Across the Transportation Sector

  • Parent University Language Expansion

  • Redesign and Reinvest Strategic Implementation Support

  • Boston Energy Efficient Hotels Program

  • Orchard Gardens K-8 School Core Community Partnerships

  • School Choice Community Engagement Process

  • Great Neighborhoods Initiative

  • Boston Chinatown Library Pilot

  • Margarita Muniz Academy Pre-Launch Planning Year

  • City of Boston Bike Share Initiative

  • The Massachusetts Cultural Database Project

  • Huntington Theatre Company Working Capital Reserve

  • K-12 Summer Learning Initiative

  • Placemaking, Public Spaces, and Quality of Urban Life

  • Road to Opportunities Initiative

  • Campaign to Create a Center for Arts & Technology

  • Jumpstart Expansion in Boston’s Circle of Promise

  • Circle of Promise Family Economic Stabilization Program

  • Boston Health Care Clean Energy Project

  • Energy Efficiency for All

  • Sustaining Massachusetts’ Leadership in Energy Efficiency

  • Institute for Nonprofit Management Community Fellows Program

  • Support for the Boston United for Students Coalition

  • Culture for Change Initiative

  • Global Warming Solutions Project Action Network

  • Communicating the Urgency for Action on Climate Change

  • Community-Based Education Solution

  • Expanded Learning Time in the Dever-McCormack K-8 School

  • Renew Boston

  • Arts Boston Strategic Plan

  • KickStart Business Model and Operations

  • One Acre Fund Agricultural Development

  • Matheux Watershed Rehabilitation Program

  • Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Fund

  • Acumen Energy Fund

  • Diversity Fellowship Program

  • English Language Learner Teacher Leadership Development in Boston Public Schools

  • Tamil Nadu Integrated Parent Engagement

  • Dudley Street Neighborhood School Pre-Launch Planning Year

  • Thrive in 5 Operating Support

  • Early Education for All Campaign

  • Clean Energy Initiative

  • Up-Schools Pre-Launch Planning Year

  • Nonfprofit Finance Fund Financial Management Program

  • Out in Your Neighborhood Program

  • Mirebalais National Teaching Hospital’s Solar Energy System

  • Climate Justice Transportation Strategies

  • Transit-Oriented Development Rating System

  • Parent Literacy Ambassadors Program

  • Youth Policy Initiative

  • Challenge for Sustainability Program

  • New Details and Typical Grants from Barr’s Global Grantmaking Pilot

  • Great Neighborhood Spotlight

  • From Boston to Haiti

  • Announcing New Arts Grantees

  • Tackling the Economic, Environmental, and Social Sides to Sustainability

  • Barr Announces Awards to 15 Boston Arts Organizations Under New Grant Program

  • From Boston to Haiti – A Barr Fellows Learning Journey

  • Squaring Circles

  • One Reality Bender’s Vow to Give Up on Chicken-Flotation Devices

  • Christi Tritton

  • Tanya Jones

  • New Budget Calculator Asks You to Show the T How to Find $160 Million

  • Barr Foundation seeks a Senior Program Officer for Arts and Culture

  • Talking ELL’s in BPS

  • New and Refined Directions for Early Education at Barr

  • Come Together Right Now…

  • More Racing to the Top in Massachusetts

  • All Things not Being Equal: Equity, Race, and Metro Boston

  • New Theory of Change, Strategic Narratives, Logic Models

  • New Report Says It’s Worth Reaching the Hard to Reach

  • The OPPORTUNITY City on a Hill

  • Beyond Silver Bullets, the Levers for Change

  • New Strategy Graphic

  • First Deep Look at Costs AND Benefits of Northeast Cap-and-Trade Program Shows it a Clear Winner

  • Request for Concept Papers for New Arts Program in 2012

  • Occupying a Larger World

  • Fueling Up for a New Conversation about Transportation Financing in Massachusetts

  • Better Living Quarters

  • Barr Fellow at the White House

  • The Business Case for Walkability

  • A Big Leap for Quality in Early Education

  • Massachusetts Unseats California as National Leader on Energy Efficiency

  • Request for Concept Papers from Mid-Sized Arts Organizations

  • I Might Not Qualify, But How About my Network?

  • Barr Fellows Making Hyperlocal News

  • Helping by Not Helping

  • Emerging Plan for Boston Takes Aim at Link Between Zip Code and Destiny

  • Out of the Debate and into the Making of GREAT Neighborhoods

  • The Time for Risk and Reinvention

  • When a rising tide doesn’t lift all boats

  • Mixing “Potent Cocktails for Transformation”

  • Three Barr Fellows Named Among State’s Top Innovators

  • Honoring a Leader in our Midst

  • Thank you for riding the T…

  • A First Quarterly Perspective for 2011