2020s

Recognizing the extraordinary challenges facing communities as a result of COVID-19, we began making grants to aid the pandemic response. We also made it possible for organizations we support to repurpose funds from existing grants to address pandemic-related needs. While the majority of this grantmaking, which totaled more than $9.6 million through 2021, aimed to help people in our hometown of Flint, we also provided some support nationally and internationally.

In the wake of the Flint water crisis, Mott brought together five media outlets (four based in Michigan and one in Canada) to enhance coverage of the Great Lakes and increase awareness of critical issues that affect access to safe, affordable drinking water. The independent, nonprofit outlets — Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal — form the award-winning Great Lakes News Collaborative. In an era of shrinking newsrooms, the outlets work together to produce and expand in-depth reporting of water-related challenges and promising solutions. While Mott provides funding for the Collaborative — a total of nearly $2.3 million through 2025 — the news outlets operate without editorial oversight or influence by the Foundation.

Mizzen by Mott was launched in spring 2020 and introduced to the afterschool field in collaboration with the Mott-funded 50 State Afterschool Network. Mizzen offers engaging learning experiences, planning tools and pro tips from many top-tier content partners, including Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Pulitzer Center and PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs. Through grant support from Mott, all of this is offered — at no charge — to the out-of-school-time field.

Mizzen served as an essential resource for practitioners as they met children’s and families’ needs during the pandemic, with activities that providers could offer in person or virtually and that parents could do at home with their kids. Mizzen continues to expand its reach, providing afterschool programs and providers with high-quality resources and experiences that spark curiosity, joy and a love of learning among children and youth.

On May 11, 2016, the Mott Foundation announced we would commit up to $100 million in grants over a five-year period to help the city of Flint recover and rise from its water crisis. While we fulfilled that commitment ahead of schedule in June 2020, we continued to make related grants throughout the five-year period. That grantmaking totaled $116.7 million through May 11, 2021. Support for the Flint area continues to be the largest of Mott’s four grantmaking programs.

Mott Foundation grantees working at the national and state levels mobilized the afterschool field to educate policymakers about the critical role of out-of-school-time programs in helping students recover from pandemic-related learning loss. These efforts likely contributed to the largest-ever increase in federal funding for such programs through the American Rescue Plan — a total of more than $30 billion available via state and local education agencies to address learning loss and support comprehensive afterschool and summer enrichment programs.

On July 14, 2021, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced plans for the development of a new state park to be located along a three-mile stretch of the Flint River and within walking distance of the city center. The 230-acre recreational area will be the 104th state park in Michigan and the first in Genesee County. In 2022, the Mott Foundation made an $18 million grant to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint for a permanent endowment that will support the park’s operations and maintenance.

At the heart of the planned park is the 60-acre Chevy Commons. In 2017, the Foundation helped to launch an ambitious effort, led by the Genesee County Parks & Recreation Commission, that began transforming this former brownfield, as well as a two-mile section of the Flint River, into more natural and accessible public spaces. Mott support for the Flint River Restoration Project, which laid the foundation for the new state park’s development, totaled $5.1 million through 2019.

In addition to extensive green space, the new park will feature boat launches and an amphitheater and provide an array of other recreational opportunities. By helping to draw residents and visitors to the city, it’s expected to contribute to Flint’s economic revitalization.

At the close of 2021, the children’s savings account field in the U.S. surpassed a historic milestone, with more than 1.2 million children across the country having a CSA in their name. That number continues to increase, as does the field’s positive impact.

The Mott Foundation has supported the development of the CSA field since 2001, with grants for research, demonstration, technical assistance and implementation efforts. Along the way, Mott grantees have helped to drive growing interest and investment in CSAs, enabling more families to raise their children’s expectations for academic success and save for college or technical training.

As Russia’s hostile invasion of Ukraine continues unabated, we are mindful that, at its core, the conflict is a fight for democracy and democratic values. The Mott Foundation has supported civil society in the region for nearly 30 years. And since the February 2022 invasion, we’ve provided grants totaling $5.7 million to address humanitarian needs and bolster Ukraine’s civil society.

The Flint Center for Educational Excellence opened in April 2023 to bring together multiple educational initiatives to better serve Flint kids and families — no matter where the kids attend school. The organization leads six cooperative initiatives: community education, afterschool programming, the Flint Early Childhood Collaborative, the Network for School Excellence, the Flint Parent Collaborative and the Community Council on Education.

The Mott Foundation awarded over $10 million in grants in 2023 to launch and support initial operations of the Flint Center for Educational Excellence and continues to support operations and the organization’s six initiatives. The Community Foundation of Greater Flint was the fiscal sponsor for the organization until the center became an independent public charity in 2024.

The Mott Foundation granted $15 million to Michigan State University to support the launch of Rx Kids, an innovative initiative that provides direct cash payments to mothers in Flint during pregnancy and throughout the first year of a child’s life. The program began enrolling moms on Jan. 10, 2024.

Through Rx Kids, Flint families are “prescribed” a total of $7,500 in cash. This includes a one-time $1,500 payment to expectant mothers in midpregnancy, followed by $500 per month for the first year of a child’s life. All pregnant women and infants who are residents of the city of Flint are eligible for the program, regardless of the mother’s or family’s income, and families can spend the money in whatever way they think is best. It is the first citywide program of its kind in the United States.

As of Oct. 28, 2025, the program has provided more than $11.5 million to over 2,100 families. Since its founding in Flint, the program has expanded to Kalamazoo, Pontiac and the Eastern Upper Peninsula.

A new tax-and-spending law passed by Congress in July included a plan to put $1,000 into an investment account — known as a Trump Account — for every baby born in the U.S. between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028. The national pilot program is an important milestone in the asset-building movement. Programs providing children’s savings accounts in cities and states across the country have long been guided by the work of Mott grantees, including the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis, University of Michigan, and the city and county of San Francisco.

Since the 1990s, the Mott Foundation has supported the CSA field through pilot programs, research and advocacy. Research shows that CSAs contribute to increased high school graduation rates, higher college enrollment and stronger pathways to economic mobility — particularly among children from low- and moderate-income families.