THE FOUNDATION IN BRIEF
THE FOUNDATION’S ORIGIN AND PURPOSE Since the Erling-Persson Foundation was formed in 1999 it has made more than 250 donations totalling SEK 3.6 billion. The long list of recipients includes Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm School of Economics and Fryshuset.
In 1947 Erling Persson established the company that has developed into the global H&M Group we know today. The Erling-Persson Foundation was formed in 1999, in memory of his many achievements in retail and enterprise, financed by donations from the Persson family. The family is passionate about entrepreneurship as a positive force in society, so supporting education in this area was a natural initial focus for the Foundation. Before long two more areas were added, aimed at equipping society better for the future: support for research and for the development of children and young people. To stimulate new thinking and new solutions the Foundation stresses the importance of meetings and collaboration, so it likes to support interdisciplinary ventures and projects that link together different sectors of society. The Foundation’s commitment to the projects supported is based on confidence that the project owner has the capability to expand the boundaries of our shared knowledge and understanding, and a sure and certain belief that knowledge changes and improves lives. More than 250 donations have been made to date, with the Foundation having given SEK 3.6 billion to causes that benefit society. The largest single donation so far, around SEK 400 million, was made to Karolinska Institutet in 2010 to enable the building of the Aula Medica – a 10,000 square metre complex providing excellent facilities for both research and education. Various entrepreneurship courses have together received around SEK 700 million, with Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm School of Entre
preneurship and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) major recipients. A donation of SEK 75 million from the Foundation also enabled the start of education and research in fashion studies, with the Centre for Fashion Studies now well established at Stockholm University. In the scientific field, research into type 1 diabetes is the area where the Foundation has made its largest contribution, amounting to around SEK 400 million to date. Significant support has also been given to research in areas such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, antibiotic resistance and neurological disease. Fryshuset was the first children’s and young people’s organisation to receive support for its a ctivities from the Foundation. So far, its projects have received funding from the Foundation totalling around SEK 170 million, helping Fryshuset to develop into a h ighly valued centre for children and young people within sport, knowledge, leisure activities and more. Organisations for children and young people have together received nearly SEK 350 million. At the end of 2021 donations to the three focus areas were distributed approximately as follows (in SEK): 50 percent to research, 40 percent to education and 10 percent to children and young people.
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