Great Bay Foundation
Since 1998, the Great Bay Foundation has supported over 60 nonprofit organizations, in five New England states, in such areas as human services, economic development, health care, and education. We have sought to create social change through investments in revenue generating initiatives, which have ranged from a furniture manufacturer that employs people with disabilities to a catering business that trains economically disadvantaged and unskilled workers in culinary arts, and from a maple sugaring operation that trains at-risk youth to a nonprofit that helps struggling individuals and families access reliable, affordable transportation.
Over this time period the foundation has been guided by a set of principles developed by its original founders. Those principles include effecting social change through innovation, encouraging self-sustainability in the work of organizations, and fostering self-reliance in the lives of individuals.
The Board of Directors continues to be guided by the founding principles but we have made the determination that social enterprise will no longer be our core area of focus. Over the next year we will be undertaking a process in which we will determine how we can best apply the resources of the Foundation in these turbulent and difficult times.
During this transition the Board will consider grant requests only in response to an invitation from the Foundation. This will allow us to most efficiently consider and fund requests while at the same time we define our future vision.
We have greatly enjoyed our time as funders in the innovative and ever evolving field of social enterprise and will always value the relationships we have developed with our grantee organizations and the dynamic, committed social entrepreneurs who lead them. We’re grateful to these organizations and individuals for their important work and wish them continued success in the future.
Great Bay Foundation
111 Commercial Street, Suite 201
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: 207.899.2820
Fax: 207.899.2927
Email: info@greatbayfoundation.org