Announcing Griffin Catalyst, Ken Griffin's Civic Engagement Initiative
Building on Citadel Founder's Decades of Philanthropic Leadership, Griffin Catalyst to Fund High-Potential, Action-Oriented, Evidence-Driven Solutions to the World's Greatest Challenges
Initiative Encapsulates Griffin's Approach to Civic Engagement and Outlines Six Key Priorities: Education, Science & Medicine, Upward Mobility, Freedom & Democracy, Enterprise & Innovation, and Communities
MIAMI, Sept. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Griffin Catalyst, the new civic engagement initiative that encompasses the philanthropic and community impact efforts of Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin, has launched.
With a focus on identifying critical areas of need and delivering meaningful and scalable results that transform lives and better our communities, Griffin Catalyst encapsulates Griffin's approach to civic engagement and provides the first comprehensive look at his six key areas of focus: Education, Science & Medicine, Upward Mobility, Freedom & Democracy, Enterprise & Innovation, and Communities. Through a newly launched website, it also highlights the impact of Griffin Catalyst partners and showcases their work to preserve and expand the American Dream.
"Having experienced the power of the American Dream in my own life, I am committed to ensuring that everyone in our country has the freedom and opportunity to pursue their dreams," said Ken Griffin. "Through Griffin Catalyst, I look forward to continuing this work, tearing down barriers and advancing solutions in the pursuit of improving people's lives."
In recent years, Griffin has provided more than $2 billion to support efforts that expand opportunity and improve lives at scale. This new initiative extends his deep commitment to the enduring ideals of freedom and equal opportunity and reflects his strategic approach to tackling the world's greatest challenges by advancing innovative, data-driven, and timely solutions.
Griffin has long been dedicated to the idea that, in America, all individuals—regardless of background—should be able to pursue their dreams. In service of that objective, Griffin Catalyst focuses its efforts in six areas that Griffin is most passionate about, including:
- Education: Unlocking the transformative power of education by expanding access to high-quality instruction and equipping students with the tools they need to pursue their dreams. Recent activity in this area includes:
- Propelling the dramatic expansion of Success Academy, one of the most effective public charter school networks in the nation; accelerating post-pandemic learning recovery through efforts that have expanded access to personalized instruction; opening the doors to world-class institutions through historic gifts that have supported thousands of low-income and first-generation college students at Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and Miami Dade College; and bringing data literacy, computer science, and problem-solving skills to a far wider group of students across the country.
- Science & Medicine: Identifying and investing in early research and timely solutions across the scientific spectrum that have transformational potential to drive progress for current and future generations. Recent activity in this area includes:
- Pioneering a breakthrough in treating Parkinson's disease (PD) that has the potential to transform care for six million people around the world; leveraging big data to solve medical mysteries, improve outcomes, and save lives; and advancing the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 to save hundreds of thousands of lives during the pandemic.
- Upward Mobility: Promoting pathways to opportunity—and breaking down barriers to achievement. Recent activity in this area includes:
- Convening public and private partners to provide free high-speed broadband access to over 400,000 low-income students across Chicago and Miami; supporting national initiatives aimed at closing the internet affordability gap for more than 18 million households across America; and bringing advanced data and management techniques and leadership training to police departments to improve policing and reduce violent crime.
- Freedom & Democracy: Strengthening American freedoms and promoting civic engagement. Recent activity in this area includes:
- Defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought through a non-partisan national campaign; bringing effective and engaging learning tools about the U.S. Constitution to students across the country; restoring the Lincoln Memorial; and making a rare, original print of the U.S Constitution available for hundreds of thousands of visitors at the Crystal Bridges Museum.
- Enterprise & Innovation: Advancing dynamic solutions to challenging problems through innovation and entrepreneurship. Recent activity in this area includes:
- Supporting entrepreneurs developing and scaling technology to address urgent environmental challenges and unleashing innovation by providing grants to startups addressing pressing community challenges in climate, health, housing, transit, and more.
- Communities: Increasing the stability, resiliency, and vitality of communities by providing support in times of need and enhancing public spaces and inspiring cultural institutions so that people have not only a safe place to live but also an opportunity to thrive. Recent activity in this area includes:
- Providing scholarships enabling talented Ukrainian students whose education has been interrupted by war to study at top institutions around the world; safely repatriating 800 Americans from Wuhan, China at the start of COVID-19; providing millions of meals to Chicago families facing food insecurity during the pandemic; funding disaster preparedness and resiliency in Miami; supporting construction and expansion of The Underline's pedestrian and cycling paths linking the diverse communities of the Miami metropolitan area; and making transformative gifts to world-renowned cultural and science institutions in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, and Florida to expand access for families and children and ensure those institutions have the resources to thrive and innovate for decades to come.
Working within these areas, Griffin Catalyst will partner with visionary leaders and teams who are game-changers in their fields, make strategic investments in high-potential initiatives with the power to transform lives, and mobilize public and private resources to drive impact at scale.
About Griffin Catalyst
Griffin Catalyst is the civic engagement initiative of Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin, encompassing his philanthropic and community impact efforts. Tackling the world's greatest challenges in innovative, action-oriented, and evidence-driven ways, Griffin Catalyst is dedicated to expanding opportunity and improving lives across six areas of focus: Education, Science & Medicine, Upward Mobility, Freedom & Democracy, Enterprise & Innovation, and Communities. For more information, visit griffincatalyst.org.
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