The Shirley Foundation, based in the United Kingdom, was established in 1996 by Dame Stephanie Shirley CH, who gave a substantial endowment to establish a charitable trust fund. The foundation ranked in the top 50 of grant giving foundations in the UK and was 'spent out' in 2018. [1]
Major awards have been given as follows: £15m has been given to the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and the Oxford Internet Institute. Over £50m has been given for autism spectrum disorders. [2] [3] including setting up three charities: Autism at Kingwood founded in 1994 (support services); Prior's Court Foundation founded in 1999 (education) [4] and Autistica founded in 2004 (research) which together employ over 1,000 staff. The foundation also founded Autism Cymru charity (1999-2011); the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Autism (1999); the National Autism Project (2014-2019); [5] the National Autistic Taskforce (2017-); and supported the Patrick Wild Centre; Autism Together; The Autism Research Centre and many others (70 autism projects in total).
Shirley, Lady Porter, styled between 1991 and 2003 as Dame Shirley Porter, is a British politician who led Westminster City Council in London, representing the Conservative Party. She is the daughter and heiress of Sir Jack Cohen, the founder of Tesco supermarkets. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1991 by John Major after delivering victory in Westminster for the Conservatives in the 1990 elections, but was stripped of this title in 2003.
Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organisation. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Cancer Research UK conducts research using both its own staff and grant-funded researchers. It also provides information about cancer and runs campaigns aimed at raising awareness and influencing public policy.
Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild,, is a British peer, investment banker and a member of the Rothschild banking family.
The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research, combining social and computer science to explore information, communication, and technology. It is an integral part of the University of Oxford's Social Sciences Division in England.
The National Autistic Society is the leading charity for autistic people and their families in the UK. Since 1962, the National Autistic Society has been providing support, guidance and advice, as well as campaigning for improved rights, services and opportunities to help create a society that works for autistic people.
Dame Vera Stephanie "Steve" Shirley is an information technology pioneer, businesswoman and philanthropist.
Alder Hey Children's Hospital is a children's hospital and NHS foundation trust in West Derby, Liverpool, England. It is one of the largest children's hospitals in the United Kingdom, and one of several specialist hospitals within the Liverpool City Region, alongside the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool Women's Hospital, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, the Walton Centre, Mersey Regional Burns and Plastic Surgery Unit, and Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.
Big Give is a non-profit, charitable website that enables donors to find and support charity projects in their field of interest. It was founded in October 2007 by Sir Alec Reed CBE. His son James Reed became Chair of Trustees in 2019.
Legatum Limited, also known as Legatum, is a private investment firm, headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Legatum is a partnership that uses its own funds to invest globally. The firm also invests in activities to promote entrepreneurship and free enterprise as well as anti-slavery, health and education initiatives.
GiveWell is an American non-profit charity assessment and effective altruism-focused organization. GiveWell focuses primarily on the cost-effectiveness of the organizations that it evaluates, rather than traditional metrics such as the percentage of the organization's budget that is spent on overhead.
Candid is an information service specializing in reporting on U.S. nonprofit companies. In 2016, its database provided information on 2.5 million organizations. It is the product of the February 2019 merger of GuideStar with Foundation Center.
Adrian Sargeant is a British academic who is co-founder and co-director of the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy. He is an adjunct professor of Philanthropy at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University where he was the first Visiting Robert F. Hartsook Chair in Fundraising. Sargeant is also an Adjunct Professor of Fundraising at the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
Mohamed bin Issa Al Jaber (Arabic: محمد بن عيسى الجابر, romanized: Muḥammad bin ʿĪssā al-Ǧābir, born in 1959 is an Arab businessman.
Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England.
Autistica is a UK based charity engaged in funding and campaigning for research on autism and related conditions. Its research strategy is focused on improving the understanding of mental health, physical health, language and epilepsy in autism.
Holden Karnofsky is an American nonprofit executive. He is a co-founder and Director of AI Strategy of the research and grantmaking organization Open Philanthropy. Karnofsky co-founded the charity evaluator GiveWell with Elie Hassenfeld in 2007 and is vice chair of its board of directors.
Sir Paul Martin Ruddock, is a British businessman, philanthropist and patron of the arts. He is a co-founder and a former CEO of Lansdowne Partners. In addition he is a former Chairman of the Victoria & Albert Museum and Chairman of the University of Oxford Endowment.
Autism Cymru was Wales' national charity for autism with offices in Cardiff, Wrexham, and Aberystwyth. The charity was established in May 2001 through an initial 3-year grant provided by The Shirley Foundation. The founder chair of the Trustees was Dame Stephanie Shirley of the Shirley Foundation.
Zagoriy Foundation is a Ukrainian charitable foundation that develops the culture of charitable giving in Ukraine and provides support to non-profit organizations. Other areas of the Foundation's operation are educational and research projects aimed at improving the efficiency of the charity sector.