James S. McDonnell left St. Louis a huge legacy by starting McDonnell Aircraft here in 1939. Forty-two years after his death, his descendants have decided to do more for their hometown.
The , founded by 鈥淢r. Mac鈥 in 1950, has spent several decades funding research in human cognition and complex systems.
The foundation鈥檚 board, made up of two sons and seven grandchildren of the founder, has decided to change direction. Instead of funding academic science around the world, its future grants will focus squarely on St. Louis. It will support regional causes including economic mobility, workforce development, science and math education and the life sciences.
Alicia McDonnell, a granddaughter of Mr. Mac, said the board spent two years rethinking its mission. Susan Fitzpatrick, a respected biochemist and neuroscientist who has been the foundation鈥檚 president since 2015, announced that she would retire in 2022, and the time seemed right for a new approach.
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鈥淪t. Louis is where we鈥檙e from and where we grew up,鈥 Alicia McDonnell said. 鈥淪t. Louis is where my grandfather chose to come and build his company. We鈥檙e very emotionally attached to it and proud of it.鈥
The foundation has $590 million in assets, according to its , and it gives away about $20 million a year.
Jason Hall, chief executive of business and civic group Greater St. Louis Inc., said the move fills a gap left when another prominent family, the Danforths, wound down their foundation more than a decade ago. Besides launching the Danforth Plant Science Center, the Danforth Foundation backed Great Rivers Greenway and a host of other civic initiatives.
鈥淭his is massive,鈥 Hall said of the McDonnells鈥 decision. 鈥淵ou have to do a lot of things right to grow as a region. You have to have a strategy, a structure and you need civic capital to seed worthwhile projects.鈥
He said the McDonnell Foundation could be to St. Louis what the Lilly Endowment is to Indianapolis or the Heinz Endowments are to Pittsburgh. Other wealthy St. Louisans, such as Enterprise Rent-A-Car鈥檚 Andrew Taylor and World Wide Technology鈥檚 David Steward, are generous backers of regional causes, but the structure of a foundation makes it a reliable source of funds.
鈥淵ou know how much is given out every year; it鈥檚 long-term capital,鈥 Hall said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e a civic entrepreneur you know a foundation has an application process. It encourages good ideas to come forward.鈥
In Indianapolis in 2020, the gave the Urban League $100 million to address racial gaps in education, employment, housing and health. It also allocated $2.8 million to the region鈥檚 chamber of commerce for a data project.
The Lilly Endowment is far larger than the McDonnell Foundation, so the numbers will be smaller in St. Louis. Alicia McDonnell, though, is eager to help the community where all but one of the foundation鈥檚 directors live.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have huge assets so we can鈥檛 change the world, but we do see some areas where we could partner with other organizations and make a difference,鈥 she said.
In some ways, the foundation鈥檚 new mission is an applied version of its old one. It will go from studying how humans learn to asking what skills St. Louis employers need, and from examining complex systems such as climate and health care to bridging the region鈥檚 geographic, racial and economic divisions.
鈥淪t. Louis is one big complex system,鈥 Alicia McDonnell said. 鈥淭here are some challenges, but ones we feel we can be helpful in addressing.鈥