Moody Foundation pledges $1B to Texas education
The Moody Foundation has pledged $1 billion toward Texas education over the next 20 years, one of the largest gifts by a private foundation in state history.
Through the foundation’s new M-Pact Fund, the organization will distribute approximately $20 million annually to educational institutions and qualified non-profits. An open request for proposals will help foundation leadership identify recipients in key target areas: early childhood learning and post-secondary education.
“Both ends of that barbell are where we can make the most impact,” Ross Moody told the Chronicle. “The idea really came from my sister, daughter and I, three trustees of the foundation, through an extensive search and refresh of our mission statement to build a bigger, brighter future for all Texans. Education has the ability to transform the lives of these kids and the communities where they live.”
Since its inception in 1942, the Moody Foundation has pledged and awarded more than $2 billion in grants to statewide organizations. Over the past decade, the foundation has given more than $500 million to educationbased organizations and institutions in Texas. Some recent gifts, within the past five years, are included in the M-Pact Fund’s $1 billion commitment.
In 2019, the Moody Foundation gave $130 million to the University of Texas at Austin to construct a new basketball arena and events venue, which opened in April 2022 and was named the Moody Center. An additional $100 million commitment that year funded Southern Methodist University’s Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies.
In 2021, the Moody Foundation gave $100 million to Rice University to build a student center and fund student opportunities, the largest single gift toward the student experience in the school’s history, according to Rice University. Part of the gift funds a scholarship for undergraduate business students named for Robert Moody, who died last month. The scholarship provides financial support for internships, competitions, travel and wellness programs.
Ross Moody said that a $50 million commitment in 2013 for UT to establish the Moody College of Communications set the current pace of giving. The donations have primarily functioned as endowments — until now.
“Historically the foundation has been more reactive. Moving forward we’re going to take a more proactive approach to grant-giving in the educational space,” he said. “We’re developing a series of programs where we will reach out to schools and universities and ask them to submit to us grant applications describing their needs.”
The Moody Foundation has a track record for supporting collegiate-level institutions. With the M-Pact Fund, trustees aim to invest in early childhood development, too.
“Are we getting kids kindergarten ready? We’re looking at the metrics already in place to give opportunities, so they’re not showing up on day one not having any classroom experience or socialization with other children,” Ross Moody said. “We’re going to look at everything, including moving the needle on graduation rates, getting students hired in jobs that can support them, and eradicating student debt, in some cases. We want to improve student life, experiences and opportunities for kids that did not have these opportunities in the past.”
There may be an informal network of foundation grant recipients, although a long-term goal of the M-Pact Fund is to form official partnerships to spark collaboration.
“Previous gifts have had positive results, but they’ve existed in a silo. We’re connecting our grantees to prompt sharing of information that maybe didn’t exist in the past and make sure they’re talking,” Ross Moody said. “At the end of the day, education is something my sister, daughter and I are very excited about. It’s one interest we have in common, and we are committed to putting our money where our mouth is and making those resources available to everybody.”
The Moody Foundation is a charitable trust in Galveston, a legacy of William Lewis Moody Jr., a prominent Galveston businessman who founded what is now Moody National Bank.