Founded | 1996 |
---|---|
Founder | Stavros Niarchos |
Type | Charitable |
Focus | Arts and culture, education, health and medicine, and social welfare |
Location | |
Area served
|
Global |
Method | Grants, funding |
Website | snf.org |
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation was established in 1996 to honor Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos.
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) is an international philanthropic organization which makes grants in the areas of arts and culture, education, health and medicine, and social welfare. The SNF funds organizations and seeks out projects that exhibit strong leadership and sound management and are expected to achieve a broad, lasting and positive social impact. The foundation actively supports projects that facilitate the formation of public-private partnerships as effective means for serving public welfare.
The foundation's board of directors includes:
The foundation has staff in Athens, Greece; Monte Carlo, Monaco; and New York City, New York, United States.
Since 1996, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation has committed grants totaling more than $1.57 billion, through more than 2,800 grants to nonprofit organizations in 111 nations around the world.
The foundation’s largest single gift ($796 million / €566 million) is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), in Athens, a project which includes the construction and complete outfitting of new facilities for the National Library of Greece and the Greek National Opera, as well as the creation of the 170,000 m² Stavros Niarchos Park. The SNFCC is designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano.
The SNFCC is a testament and a commitment to the country's future, at a critical historical juncture and the SNF's aspiration is that it will act as an engine of educational, cultural and economic stimulus, essential under the current circumstances.
The SNF, concerned with the continuing socio-economic crisis in Greece, announced in January 2012 a grant initiative of additional $130 million (€100 million) over three years to help ease the adverse effects of the deepening crisis, while in October 2013, the foundation announced a new long-term initiative, Recharging the Youth, to help create new opportunities for Greece’s younger generations, committing an additional $130 million (€100 million) to help the future prospects of young people, who are severely impacted by critically high unemployment rates.