Charles Stewart Mott Foundation celebrates 100 years of giving for good
Mott launches 10-year strategic plan, will mark centennial with grants and events throughout 2026
Flint, Michigan — The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is celebrating a century of giving for good in its hometown of Flint and communities across the globe. The Foundation begins 2026 with a new 10-year strategic plan and a continued commitment to promoting a just, equitable and sustainable society.
“The Mott Foundation is proud that we’ve been here for 100 years, working alongside our hometown of Flint and with communities around the world, and partnering with businesses and governments at all levels to make good things happen,” said Ridgway White, president and CEO. “To all who have been and will be part of that work, I offer the Foundation’s deepest thanks.”
C.S. Mott was an early automotive pioneer and, to this day, the person who served longest on General Motors’ board of directors. In 1926, he endowed the Foundation that bears his name with an initial gift of $320,000 in GM stock. He had the foresight to establish the Foundation in ways that would allow it to adapt to changing times and needs while continuing to exist in perpetuity.
From 1926 through 2025, the Mott Foundation granted more than $4.4 billion to support charitable efforts. Adjusted for inflation, the figure would be more than $9 billion in today’s dollars.
In the first 10 years of its second century, the Mott Foundation will focus its work through four grantmaking programs — Flint Area, Youth Engagement, Environment and Civil Society. From 2026 through 2035, the Foundation intends to grant a total of up to $2 billion to support charitable efforts. Major areas of focus will include:
- Up to $370 million to support education in Flint, from early childhood through postsecondary education. This will include up to $100 million for school facilities.
- Up to $100 million to reduce childhood poverty in Flint.
- Up to $200 million to support youth engagement at the national level.
- Up to $100 million to advance one-water solutions — efforts to ensure clean, safe, affordable water for all from the source to the tap. This work will have both a Great Lakes and a national focus.
- Up to $40 million over 10 years to support access to justice globally.
The Foundation will announce specific centennial grants and community events in the coming days, weeks and months.
“Through times of peace and prosperity — as well as world wars, natural disasters and manmade crises — the Mott Foundation has been able to provide support to help communities chart their paths forward. We’ve provided grants for children’s hospitals, schools, afterschool programs, clean water, food banks, arts and cultural institutions, legal services and so much more. And we intend to continue doing this work for centuries to come,” White said. “At the Mott Foundation, we believe giving is here for good. And so are we.”
Visit mott.org/100 to read more from Ridgway White, learn about the Foundation’s history and the impact of its grantmaking over its first 100 years, hear from people who’ve been part of the work and see the Foundation’s new look.
Contact
- Kathryn Thomas
- P: 810-766-1734
- E: kthomas@mott.org
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