Message from the President

	Carl E. Axelrod, Esq., President,  Brown Rudnick Charitable Foundation Corp.

The Brown Rudnick Charitable Foundation Corp. was established as a non-profit entity in August 2000 through the generosity of the partners of Brown Rudnick Freed & Gesmer, the predecessor to the present firm of Brown Rudnick LLP.  Today, thanks to the ongoing support and enthusiasm of current Brown Rudnick attorneys, the Foundation continues to expand its geographic reach. 

The Foundation’s mission is to improve inner-city education.  During the past six years, the Foundation has awarded dozens of grants to non-profit organizations in Boston, Hartford, New York and Providence.  Through the Brown Rudnick Center for the Public Interest, we have often been able to provide pro bono legal assistance or volunteer support for these grant initiatives, as well.

We are a relatively new Foundation, but we have already made a difference in the lives of many children.  And we have only just begun.

About the Charitable Foundation

The Foundation seeks to improve inner-city education in the communities where the law firm of Brown Rudnick has its offices.  It pursues its mission by enlisting the energy and interests of volunteers – mostly Brown Rudnick employees – and pairing them with opportunities and resources to create positive social change in their working communities. Through the Foundation’s financial support and the volunteer efforts of the Firm's lawyers and non-lawyers alike, partnerships with Foundation grant recipients strive to make a significant difference in each of the communities where the Firm is located and which the Foundation serves.

The Foundation is governed by an elected 17 person Board of Directors. The Brown Rudnick Center for the Public Interest provides legal, managerial and administrative support for the Foundation, and the Center's Executive Director, Al Wallis, serves as the Foundation's Executive Director without additional compensation .

The Foundation has two principal grant programs, both focused on improving inner-city education for the communities of Boston, Hartford, New York and Providence.

The Foundation’s Relationship Grants are awarded annually based upon the many proposals received in response to the Foundation's request for proposal (RFP.)  The RFP is announced on this website and in the Center’s periodic e-newsletter (sign up to receive the newsletter.) These grants seek to create a relationship with a non-profit grant recipient organization which ideally includes a financial contribution, pro bono legal involvement and volunteer opportunities.

The Foundation’s Community Grants are smaller grants, capped at $2000, designed to address a one-time, tangible, immediate need.  Proposals must come from those on the "front lines" of education - the kind of need that those with funding authority don't appreciate or don't have the resources to make a priority.