Credit: Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History/D Finnin /© AMNH

About the Foundation

The Charles Hayden Foundation seeks to promote the mental, moral, and physical development of children and youth in the metropolitan area of New York and the City of Boston, with an emphasis on high school through post-secondary success. Our focus is on those institutions and programs serving youth most at risk of not reaching their full potential, especially youth in low-income communities.

Program Support Grants

Program Support grants are focused on efforts to help youth develop the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in school and lay the foundation for satisfying and productive lives. Priority is given to programs that demonstrate caring, consistent, long-term relationships between youth and youth agency staff.

  • Improve and expand community-based programs offering underserved school-aged youth educational, social, and recreational opportunities in the non-school hours (after-school, evenings, weekends and summers).
  • Support schools with a demonstrated ability to graduate underserved students who subsequently attend and are equipped to succeed in high performing high schools, colleges, and universities. The Foundation’s focus include charter schools in existence for at least two full operating years in New York City; Boston, Massachusetts; and Newark, New Jersey. In addition, the Foundation provides support to independent and parochial schools for improving educational programs at individual schools that predominately serve underserved students.