What Philadelphia Nonprofits Should Know About the Angelakis Family Foundation
/ Alyssa Ochs
the Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the local institutions receiving Angelakis Family Foundation support. Photo: ESB Professional/shutterstock
Editor's note: This article was revised and updated on 9/1/2021.
As we’ve reported in the past, the Comcast Foundation has a strong presence in Philadelphia, giving many grants to local groups throughout the city. But this corporate foundation isn’t the only way the media company is connected to Philadelphia’s philanthropy scene. Some of its current and former executives are active donors in the city.
A case in point is Michael J. Angelakis, who recently served as Comcast’s vice chairman and chief financial officer, a role in which he handled many of the strategic, financial and administrative matters for the company. But while Angelakis has moved on to become the chairman and CEO of Atarios, he stills serves as a senior advisor to Comcast Corporation’s executive management committee. He has also established a family foundation to engage in local philanthropy.
Angelakis and his wife Christine formed the Angelakis Family Foundation in 2005 and have strong preferences for locally based Pennsylvania organizations. They are based in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, an affluent suburban community about 12 miles northwest of the core downtown of Philadelphia. Lately, the couple, through their foundation, has been supporting local needs in the fields of education, the arts, youth, health and human services. Meanwhile, occasional funding is set aside for Greek causes, religious purposes, and environmental endeavors. As you can see, funding areas are pretty broad, but thus far, the Angelakis couple has been mostly sticking to big-name, well-established groups around town.
For example, the list of past Angelakis Family Foundation grantees includes Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Foundation. Angelakis grants also tend to have a strong personal connection. The couple supports Babson College, which they both attended, and where Christine Angelakis serves on the board. They support the University of Pennsylvania, where the couple’s son graduated, and also William Penn Charter School, where Christine serves as a board member, as well.
In the past, the couple has give away over $850,000 per year. However, in a recent year, that giving total was only a little over $36,000. Overall, the grant range thus far has been anywhere between about $150 and $250,000 per award. Most of this funding is in the form of operating support, with a few scholarships in the mix.
Unfortunately for local grantseekers in the Philadelphia area, the Angelakis Family Foundation does not have a website or make itself particularly accessible to grantseekers. Furthermore, the foundation indicates in its tax records that it only makes contributions to pre-selected organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests.
Michael and Christine Angelakis serve as the sole trustees of the foundation, which has no paid employees as staff members. To learn more about this funder, check out IP’s full profile of the Angelakis Family Foundation.
Related:
