THE MARY DUKE BIDDLE FOUNDATION 2023 A nnual Report
Message from Russell Bryan, Interim Chair
2024marks a turning point for The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation as we transition fully to new grantmaking procedures that we have been developing for several years. The changes follow an in-depth process of reflecting on our mission and listening to our nonprofit partners about the challenges they face in advancing vitality, creativity, and resilience in Triangle communities.
At this moment of growth and change, I have the privilege to serve as Interim Chair. I’m completing the Chair term of Ben Jones who is on sabbatical, returning in fall 2024. As the foundation’s longestserving trustee currently on the board (since 2004), I am deeply honored to have this opportunity.
As Ben has said, the foundation’s “why,” “where,” and “what” did not change after our self-examination. What’s different is the “how.” By putting less emphasis on funding short-term projects and more on supporting operations, we aim to strengthen our partner nonprofits. By increasing the length and size of our multiyear grants, we seek to enable nonprofits to plan further out, retain and in some cases add mission-critical staff, and reach their goals more effectively. They want to move the needle and ensure their organizations’ stability. We want to help them succeed.
Applying the principles of trust-based philanthropy, MDBF streamlined the application and reporting processes to reduce the burden of fundraising for partner nonprofits. We’d like to be “the wind in their sails,” not extra weight to carry. Going forward, we plan to deepen our relationships with nonprofit leaders and be a resource for them. This means we’re having more frequent informal conversations. Our trustees, already an active group, are even more hands-on than before.
During our review process, trustees and staff examined all aspects of our work. We reaffirmed our commitment to focusing on the fast-growing Triangle region and to supporting innovation. Our core grantmaking areas, established by Mrs. Biddle’s daughter Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans, also remain the same: the arts, pre-K–12 education, and Mrs. Semans’ beloved Duke University. We’re maintaining a few long-term relationships with organizations important to Mrs. Semans while deepening connections and creating new partnerships with some of the many excellent nonprofits in the region.
I love supporting what I call the “front doors” of Duke—activities that carry university resources beyond the campus walls and invite diverse audiences on campus. One example is the ongoing pre-K–12 tutoring initiative led by Duke’s Office of Durham and Community Affairs. Another was the three-year American Ballet Theater residency, which included a free performance for 700 Durham Public School students, DPS teacher training opportunities, and much more.
All of us are grateful to Allison Haltom and Lois Deloatch. They completed their terms in 2023 but are continuing in advisory roles for another year, serving on the allocations committee. I am pleased to welcome new trustees E’Vonne Coleman and Jacqueline Looney. As the former COO of Discover Durham and a longtime volunteer with local cultural organizations, E’Vonne knows Durham both broadly and deeply. Jacqueline recently retired from a 30-year career at Duke University, most recently as associate vice provost and senior associate dean for graduate programs in the Graduate School. Among other accomplishments, she pioneered the successful Sloan Scholars program to recruit and mentor minority PhD students in the sciences. I look forward to working with both Jacqueline and E’Vonne, who bring new insights to the board. We’re also delighted to add a new staff member, Program Associate Kathleen Collier. Previously she was Arts in Education Director at the North Carolina Arts Council. Change can sometimes cause uncertainty or have unforeseen effects. I encourage all our community partners who have questions or concerns to reach out to our excellent staff—Executive Director Mimi O’Brien, Kathleen Collier, or Executive Assistant Kathy Harrision. Your work enhances the quality of life in our communities, today and in the future. We’re here to help!
Trustees of The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation
Russell Bryan, Interim Chair
Joe Lucas, Vice Chair
Yomi Adigun, Treasurer
Jacqueline Looney, Secretary
George Biddle, Trustee
E’Vonne Coleman, Trustee
Ben Jones, Trustee
Kathleen Collier became the Program Associate at The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation in August 2023. Formerly she served as the Arts in Education Director at the North Carolina Arts Council where she managed the agency’s statewide arts in education and arts accessibility grant programs and initiatives. She has a M.A. from the University of Glasgow (UK) and a B.A. from Furman University (SC).
Staff
Mimi O’Brien, Executive Director
Kathleen Collier, Program Associate
Kathy L. Harrison, Executive Assistant
Contributors
Colleen Carrigan, Designer
Karen Kemp, Writer
2023 Grantmaking Overview | $1,591,000 Total
MDBF
awards most of our grants through three programs: Duke University, the Arts, and PreK-12 Education. In 2023, we also supported organizations addressing food insecurity and that connect with our history and broader nonprofit sector interests. We recognized retiring trustees and staff with grants to organizations important to them. And, as we have for the past several years, we honored the memory of long-time trustee James D. Semans.
Mrs. Biddle directed that at least half of grant funds be given to Duke University, which we do through an annual proposal process. For decades, most of the Duke awards have gone to the Arts: the Nasher Museum of Art, Duke Arts Presents, Arts & Health at Duke Hospital, the Duke Gardens, and the five Arts units with Trinity College: Art, Art History, and Visual Studies, the Cinematic Arts, Dance, Music, and Theater Studies. In addition, we have long made an annual grant for scholarships in the School of Medicine. In 2023, we also made a grant to Duke Libraries
Duke University Grants | $850,000
ONGOING SUPPORT PAID
Arts & Health at Duke, Durham
Duke Arts Presents, Durham
Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham
Nasher Museum of Art, Durham
School of Medicine–Medical School
$50,000
$70,000
$25,000
$115,000
$30,000 Scholarships, Durham
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, Durham $275,000
SUBTOTAL $565,000
NEW PROJECTS PAID
Duke University Libraries, Durham
for the Duke Family Papers Archiving project, a collaborative effort with The Duke Endowment, the Josiah Charles Trent Endowment, and the Mary D.B.T. Semans Foundation. We also supported a podcast, Unhealed: A Story of Memory, Racism, and a Teaching Hospital, administered by the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities & History of Medicine.
In 2023, we paused our regular open-submission grant programs in the Arts and PreK-12 Education as we prepared to transition to the new grant framework mentioned in the Chair’s Message. However, we didn’t stop making grants in these areas. We paid previous multiyear pledges in both the Arts and PreK-12 Education programs and we made a number of one-year grants to support our grantmaking goals—you will see these listed in the following pages. We also made grants to four arts organizations with which we have long-standing relationships and to support Big Night In for the Arts which benefits arts councils in Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Wake Counties.
$250,000
Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, $35,000 and the History of Medicine, Durham
SUBTOTAL $285,000
JARED LAZARUS
Clockwise from left: Arts & Health at Duke; American Dance Festival at Nasher Museum; Duke Arts Presents at Sarah P. Duke Gardens.
Arts Grants | $275,000
PAYMENTS ON PRIOR PLEDGED FUNDS PAID
Chatham County Arts Council, Pittsboro
Culture Mill, Saxapahaw
Diamante Cultural Center, Raleigh
Hillsborough Arts Council, Hillsborough
Northstar Church of the Arts, Durham
Raleigh Camerata, Apex
Raleigh Little Theatre, Raleigh
ShaLeigh Dance Works, Durham
Southern Documentary Fund, Durham
Triangle ArtWorks, Raleigh
SUBTOTAL
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
ARTS LEGACY GRANTS PAID
American Dance Festival, Durham $15,000
The Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, $15,000 Durham
Durham Arts Council, Durham
$25,000
UNC School of the Arts Foundation, $70,000 Winston Salem
SUBTOTAL $125,000
Pre-K–12 Education Grants | $296,000
PAYMENTS ON PRIOR PLEDGED FUNDS PAID
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Carolina, Inc, $10,000 Sanford
Chatham Education Foundation, Pittsboro
$10,000
Children’s Literacy Project, Durham $10,000
Communities in Schools of Wake County, $10,000 Raleigh
Empower Dance Foundation, Durham
Gigi’s Playhouse-Raleigh, LLC, Cary
Refugee Community Partnership, Carrboro
ONE-TIME ARTS GRANTS PAID
Big Night In for the Arts:
Chatham County Arts Council, Pittsboro
$10,000
Durham County Arts Council, Durham $10,000
Orange County Arts Commission, $10,000 Hillsborough
United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake $5,000 County, Raleigh
Chatham County Arts Council, Pittsboro $2,500
Durham Art Guild, Durham $5,000
Moonchild, a documentary film (fiscal sponsor $5,000 Southern Documentary Fund), Durham
Sloane: A Jazz Singer, a documentary film $2,500 (fiscal sponsor Clayton Cultural Arts Foundation), Clayton
SUBTOTAL $50,000
$10,000
$10,000
$10,000
The Center for Inquiry Based Learning, $10,000
Durham
TheGifted Arts Inc, Raleigh
$10,000
Walltown Children’s Theatre, Durham $10,000
SUBTOTAL $100,000
ONE-TIME PRE-K–12 EDUCATION GRANTS PAID
A+ Schools of North Carolina, (fiscal sponsor $25,000 North Carolina Community Foundation), Raleigh
Durham Children’s Initiative, Durham $25,000
Durham Public Schools Foundation, Durham $16,000
Hispanic Liaison of Chatham County, $5,000 Siler City
Kidznotes, Durham
$100,000
North Carolina Arts in Action Inc., Durham $25,000
SUBTOTAL $196,000
$100,000
Additional Grants | $170,000
FOOD INSECURITY GRANTS PAID
Chatham Outreach Alliance, Pittsboro
$10,000
Durham Technical Community College, $12,500
The Campus Harvest Food Pantry, Durham
Emanuel Food Pantry, Durham
$10,000
Inter-Faith Council for Social Service, $10,000 Carrboro
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, Raleigh
$12,500
NCCU Foundation, Food Pantry, Durham $12,500
Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church, Durham $10,000
Wake Tech Foundation, The Nest Food $12,500 Pantry, Raleigh
SUBTOTAL $90,000
Food
OTHER GRANTS PAID
Christ Church United Methodist, New York
$5,000
Duke Memorial United Methodist Church, $5,000 Durham
Irvington Presbyterian Church, Irvington $5,000
North Carolina Center for Nonprofits, Raleigh $5,000
Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham, $5,000 Durham
Triangle Capacity Building Network, Durham $25,000
SUBTOTAL $50,000
GRANTS TO HONOR STAFF & TRUSTEES PAID
Emanuel Food Pantry (Allison Haltom), Durham $5,000
Gregory B. Davis Foundation (Lois Deloatch), $2,500 Garysburg
Moving Forward Carolina Foundation $2,500 (Lois Deloatch), Greensboro
New Hope United Methodist Church $5,000 (Kathy Harrison), Roanoke Rapids
Senior PharmAssist (James D.B.T. Semans), $15,000 Durham
SUBTOTAL $30,000
Clockwise from left: Duke Office of Durham and Community Affairs; Moonchild documentary film; Chatham County Arts Council; UNC School of the Arts; The Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle. From left: Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Carolina; A+ Schools of North Carolina; Walltown Children’s Theatre. Emanuel Pantry.MissionPost, PMB #101 318 Blackwell Street Suite 130
919.493.5591 | www.mdbf.org
Our History
Mary Lillian Duke Biddle (1887-1960) was born in Durham, NC, the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah Duke. She graduated from Trinity College, later named Duke University in honor of her grandfather, Washington Duke. Mrs. Biddle developed an appreciation for the importance of philanthropy from her father, who was the guiding hand behind many of the Duke family’s charitable activities. Duke University, in particular, flourished in its early days thanks to the financial backing of her grandfather, father, and Uncle James B. Duke, who were successful entrepreneurs as well as philanthropists.
In September 1956, she established The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation. Mrs. Biddle directed that at least one-half of the foundation’s grants be made to Duke University and identified three churches as institutions important to her. Otherwise, she was intentionally broad in her directions to future trustees on how and where to distribute grants.
Mrs. Biddle valued the input and wisdom of her friends and trusted advisors, and, from the beginning, the foundation’s Board of Trustees has included family and non-family members. The foundation continues her practice of actively engaging members of the community to serve as trustees. Currently, the board is comprised of three family and four non-family members.
Mrs. Biddle’s vision for current and purposeful giving drives the work of the foundation’s trustees and staff.
Durham, NC 27701
Portrait of Mary Lillian Duke Biddle from the Duke Archives. All photos provided courtesy of their respective organizations.