For Boston Foundation's Lee Pelton, now is the time to make an impact
With $1.7 billion in assets, The Boston Foundation is a multifaceted organization, Pelton told the Globe in a recent Bold Types interview with reporter Janelle Nanos, and it's using all its tools to 'meet the moment.' In the last several months, the Foundation has
'We're different than most foundations in the breadth of what we do,' he said. 'Grantmaking is a part of what we do, but it's only a tiny fraction. We convene, we bring people together. We advocate, and we spend a lot of time in the community meeting community needs and listening to the community.'
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And among the most urgent crises, he said, has been responding to the needs of community organizations experiencing a pullback in funding for emergency food benefits.
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'I'm appalled at this mean-spirited federal administration that would deprive hungry people of food by cutting their access or diminishing their access,' Pelton said. To respond, the Foundation raised $1 million from donors to support the Greater Boston Food Bank. An additional $500,000 will be awarded to other local and regional food organizations.
Lee Pelton in 2021, when he took the top job at The Boston Foundation.
Erin Clark/Globe Staff
'The secret sauce for us is that we're able — our community is able — to catalyze additional dollars" quickly to respond to urgent needs, Pelton said. 'Our hope is that our community will contribute even more.'
The Boston Foundation also conducts research on issues critical to Boston's future, and uses those findings to inform its advocacy and grantmaking. 'An important aspect of the Boston Foundation is this wonderful research center called
One striking example, he said, was the foundation's work on the housing crisis. As Boston Indicators has been
'We're working with the Massachusetts Housing Partnership on a down payment assistance program that will help families who might not otherwise be able to afford to actually get into [homes],' he said. 'If we invest $25 million in the down payment assistance program for 500 families, we can create [between] $155 to $170 million of asset growth equity over the next ten years. And that's wealth that's not only for those individuals and families, but it's intergenerational because it will be passed on.'
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Pelton says the legacy of the Foundation has been being there for Bostonians at critical moments and helping them improve their status in life. But it's also about helping neighborhoods move forward too.
Standing outside the Bruce C. Bolling Building in Nubian Square, Pelton recalled arriving in Boston from Kansas nearly 50 years ago to attend graduate school at Harvard University. During the summer, he used to take the Number 1 bus from Cambridge to work in a coat factory in Roxbury. As he wandered the neighborhood one recent afternoon, he marveled at the changes underway, and said he's proud of the work the Foundation is doing to support a renaissance there.
Lee Pelton spoke on stage at the Mass Black Expo 2023: Building Black Wealth in the Commonwealth.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
'I could not have imagined, first of all, that I would be back here as the president and CEO of the Boston Foundation,' he said, grinning.
Pelton pointed around the square at various projects sprouting up: The Jazz Urbane nightclub is under construction. The Franklin Cummings Tech Center is moving in nearby, relocating its campus from the South End. The Haley House Bakery Cafe is reopening soon with affordable housing units stacked above it. He said the Foundation will have a hand in supporting each of these endeavors.
'To come here and help revitalize this very important part of Boston,' was a personal mission for him, Pelton said, but one that couldn't have happened without the resources of the Foundation. 'The important thing to remember, we're in the center of Boston,' he said. 'Symbolically it is, I think enormously important.'
After Pelton earned his PhD at Harvard, he went into academia and eventually climbed to serve for a decade as president of Emerson College. That experience offered him unique insight into the challenges his alma mater is facing today, he said.
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'Alan Garber has been just absolutely heroic. The way in which he has stood up and spoken out against this, really outrageous, mean-spirited actions that the federal administration has taken against higher education,' he said. 'This is a time to be strong. This is the time to speak out and to speak up. And for those presidents and those institutions that don't, shame on them.'
Assessing the gauntlet of challenges facing the city, Pelton believes the Foundation can use its levers to help navigate the uncertainty.
'We've had other moments in our history that were really challenging. And this is one of them,' he said. 'I have great faith in this city. I have great faith in the people who live in this city.'
It may take a while for uncertainty to subside, he said. 'But it won't be forever,' he continued. 'And of course we'll be stronger for it.'
Janelle Nanos can be reached at
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