Foundations

Foundation partnerships are vital to furthering the KaBOOM! mission of a great place to play within walking distance of every child. With your support, we are battling the play deficit by mapping, building, and advocating for great places to play across the country. To learn more or discuss opportunities for collaboration on infrastructure, research or advocacy projects, please contact Jeannette Fournier, Director of Foundation Relations at (650) 375-1050 ext. 312 or jfournier@kaboom.org.

We’ve worked with a number of foundations on a variety of projects in different regions. Here are some examples:

The Abell Foundation

The Abell Foundation is partnering with KaBOOM! to increase Baltimore’s commitment to play, including deployment of Imagination Playground equipment.
 

Annenberg Foundation

With the support of the Annenberg Foundation, KaBOOM! is raising the profile of play, and empowering existing entities to increase access to and quality of playspaces in Los Angeles County through its Playful City USA program. The Playful City USA program provides cities and towns with a framework for action, paving the way for communities to open and improve their playspaces toward community cohesion and child health and wellness. The program also facilitates knowledge sharing, exchange of best practices, grants, and fellowship opportunities
 

The Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation

The Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation provided generous support to deploy one set of Imagination Playground with Play Associate training to the Mother Rice pre-school of the KCAA Pre-Schools of Hawaii. The pilot project will observe positive changes in play and learning habits amongst students with different play experiences, traditions, and language abilities as a result of the introduction of new “unstructured” play components and teacher training.
 

The Lisa and Douglas Goldman Foundation

The Lisa and Douglas Goldman Foundation is helping to increase play opportunities for San Francisco’s most vulnerable children by funding a collaborative mobile playground project with San Francisco Parks and Recreation, Growing Up For Good and KaBOOM!.
 

W. K. Kellogg Foundation

The W. K. Kellogg Foundation helped us to promote the healthy development of children by empowering the New Orleans community to create volunteer-built playgrounds that meet ADA accessibility guidelines.
 

John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation supported 13 KaBOOM! playgrounds and 14 Imagination Playground grants to communities in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Florida, and Washington, D.C. The foundation also supported our grassroots efforts to rally communities to come out and play with our Play Days program.
 

Kresge Foundation

The Kresge Foundation is supporting a research project on joint-use agreements, which are a proven tactic for municipalities to increase access to play spaces while lessening the financial and legal burdens on the city and partnering community organizations.
 

The Ludwick Family Foundation

The Ludwick Family Foundation is helping KaBOOM! to bring play to vulnerable children in Southern California by deploying Imagination Playgrounds to four different child-serving organizations. The project also addresses the need for teacher or care-giver training on the importance of unstructured play for young children by providing Play Associate training to adults at each site. Play Associates "stage manage" play by setting up and stepping back.
 

The A. L. Mailman Foundation

The A. L. Mailman Foundation provided unrestricted support to KaBOOM! to further our vision of a great place to play within walking distance of every child.
 

The Tarsadia Foundation

The Tarsadia Foundation brought together family and friends to build a playground at the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation Santa Ana Pre-School. The Build Day both built a playground to serve hundreds of local pre-school aged children in the neighborhood and provided a venue for passing on philanthropic values to the Tarsadia Foundation junior members.