The Audax Charitable Foundation, launched in 2021, aims to propel local grassroots, nonprofit organizations in the Boston and San Francisco communities.
The Audax Charitable Foundation (“ACF” or “the Foundation”), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operated by Audax Private Equity, reached a key milestone this year, and has now awarded commitments to more than 50 local charities in Boston and San Francisco since its launch in 2021. As part of its Fall Funding cycle, ACF awarded new commitments to four first-time grantees and six existing ACF grantees.
“When we formalized our giving strategy, we started with a mission to positively impact the communities where we operate and support charitable causes that reflect the passions of our employees,” said Young Lee, Partner and Co-President of Audax Private Equity. “We’re incredibly proud of the Foundation’s growth and its reach across Boston and San Francisco, and the enthusiasm of the Audax team – in running the Foundation, in nominating and selecting the charities we support, and in engaging directly with ACF grantees – makes this milestone especially meaningful.”
ACF’s commitments are spread across four core focus areas: Education, Healthcare, Social Support & Services, and Arts & Cultural programs. To be considered for selection, each organization must be nominated by Audax employees and after a thorough and competitive vetting process, is ultimately selected by a rotating committee of Audax team members.
The ACF commitments take the form of multi-year grants awarded as part of the Foundation’s spring and fall funding cycles, as well as smaller one-time grants to help scale less-resourced charitable organizations or address more immediate-term needs. From the start, ACF’s giving strategy has primarily focused on multi-year grants to provide grassroots organizations with financial predictability, encourage strategic planning, and facilitate deeper engagement between grantees and Audax employees.
“We look to support organizations where we believe our funding can drive a more pronounced impact,” added Audax Private Equity Partner and Co-President Keith Palumbo. “And by targeting local nonprofits, it can open the door for our employees to volunteer directly with ACF grantees or facilitate other ways to engage through our Service Days, Lunch ‘n Learn programming, or collaborative partnerships such as our annual clothing and food drives.”
Among the new grantees receiving multi-year commitments are: BalletRox, which provides structured dance programs to integrate art and dance into the lives of underserved youth; the Ellie Fund, which provides free support services to breast cancer patients in Massachusetts; and Crossroads for Kids, which offers overnight summer camp and leadership programs for local students. ACF also awarded a one-time grant to the Carroll Center for the Blind.
Previous ACF grantees Bottom Line, The Food Drive, and Horizons for Homeless Children also received new multi-year commitments, while Women’s Lunch Place received an extension grant and Shooting Touch and the QT Library each received new one-time gifts as part of the fall funding cycle.
“It is incredibly inspiring to see the impact of the charities we support, and through engaging with the nonprofits, it positions us to experience first-hand the commitment of our grantees who are putting in the hard work to create positive change, every day,” added Pamela Martin, Senior Managing Director at Audax Private Equity. “We’ve also seen the engagement of our team, based on volunteer hours, grow every year. This reflects both the opportunities being made available and the enthusiasm of our team to support our grantees in other ways that go beyond funding.”
"We believe the best way to end hunger is to take care of each other, and the support of the Audax Charitable Foundation is helping The Food Drive do just that,” noted Jana Gimenez, co-founder and executive director of The Food Drive. “This grant will have a tremendous ongoing impact on our mission to feed our neighbors, and we’re incredibly grateful."
AUDAX PRIVATE EQUITY:
Headquartered in Boston, with offices in San Francisco, New York, London and Hong Kong, Audax Private Equity is a leading private equity platform focused on investing across the North American middle market. Our objective is to accelerate value creation through our Buy & Build strategy and the Audax Value Agenda™, a holistic framework that seeks to create, enable, and protect value across every stage of the investment lifecycle. As of March 2025, Audax Private Equity had $19 billion of assets under management and, since inception in 1999, has invested in more than 175 platforms and more than 1,400 add-on acquisitions. For more information visit www.audaxprivateequity.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251231135765/en/
By targeting local nonprofits, it can open the door for our employees to volunteer directly with ACF grantees or facilitate other ways to engage through our Service Days, Lunch ‘n Learn programming, or collaborative partnerships.
Contacts
Ken MacFadyen
media@audaxprivateequity.com
