Our Impact

Posse Foundation

Founded in 1989, Posse is one of the most comprehensive college access and youth leadership development programs in the United States. Posse has achieved unprecedented success by building small, supportive, multicultural teams of scholars who together attend partner colleges on four-year, full tuition leadership scholarships. Posse recipients have achieved a 90% college graduation rate, and are making a meaningful impact on their campuses. After supporting Posse Boston for over two decades, a unique opportunity at Posse’s National Annual Dinner presented itself. The Lynch Foundation publicly announced a challenge grant to the audience, expressing a final call of urgency, as part of a campaign to help Posse establish an endowment fund. The funds were matched that evening. The success of the campaign triggered additional gifts from Sallie Mae to establish a $20 million endowment fund. Since then Posse has expanded to 5 new cities and support over 6,300 schools. The Lynch Foundation has continued to provide annual support to Posse Boston, creating opportunities for 800 scholars who have earned over $106 million in merit scholarships to Posse’s partner colleges for the past 20 years.

Lynch Family Skatepark

The Lynch Family Skatepark, located under the Zakim Bridge in Cambridge, was the first major capital project for the Charles River Conservancy (CRC). Famous sculptor Nancy Schon came up with the idea for the skatepark after realizing that some of her sculptures at Copley were being damaged because there was no place for the local skateboarding community to perform their sport. In 2000, Schon teamed up with CRC to build a skatepark to provide a place in the city for local skaters to enjoy. Carolyn Lynch was immediately drawn to the project after hearing about it in 2004. In the same year, the Lynch Foundation provided a challenge grant—becoming one of the first funders for the project. Carolyn personally made phone calls and wrote letters to local philanthropists to garner support the skatepark. In November 2015, The Lynch Family Skatepark officially opened. The skatepark is the largest park on the East Coast, and provides a haven for thousands of skateboarders, in-line skaters, and bmx riders.

Boston Schoolyard Initative

Founded in 1995, as a public-private partnership, Boston Schoolyard Initiative (BSI) brought together city agencies, community groups and private donors to renovate, revive and rehabilitate school playgrounds throughout the city. During its 18 year history, BSI reclaimed 130 acres for learning and play, planted 200 trees, installed 100 plant beds and 75 play structures, and improved outdoor spaces for 30,000 students each year. BSI also generated an unprecedented base of knowledge about the preservation of recreational spaces in urban settings. The Lynch Foundation joined BSI’s Funders Collaborative in 2007, as BSI prepared to enter its 7th round of renovations. The Foundation made a multi-year commitment and Katie Everett joined the Funders Collaborative to focus on completing the final 29 schoolyards in the city. The public-private partnership model that made BSI possible created a strong precedent for collaboration between public agencies, private foundations, and communities. It highlighted how an initiative focused on an important community need could complete its intended goal and transition its core functions to existing partner organizations without extending its lifespan beyond its original mission.

Harvard Medical School: Systems Biology

Harvard Medical School started the first ever Department of Systems Biology in 2003. For over a decade, the program has been developing and supporting an emerging approach to medical research by incorporating concepts from biology, computer science, physics, chemistry, and engineering. HMS believes that the foundation they are building in systems biology will lead to dramatic progress toward treating and curing the world's most devastating conditions, including: cancer, neurodegenerative disease, heart disease, stroke and psychiatric disease. The Foundation has provided support to the Systems Biology program since its inception. In 2003, the Foundation provided a start-up grant that supported the recruitment of key faculty, and in 2008 the Lynch Fellows Program was created to provide annual support to students in the Ph. D. program. Since then, the Lynch Foundation has provided support to two students each year through the Lynch Fellows Program. Now, over 120 of the program’s alumni lead their own laboratories in institutions across the world.

Renew International

Renew International fosters spiritual renewal in the Catholic tradition by empowering individuals and communities to encounter God in everyday life, deepen and share their faith, and connect faith with action. The Lynch Family and The Lynch Foundation have supported Renew International for over 25 years, both Carolyn and Peter participated in Renew’s international service trips to Nigeria and India. Peter and Carolyn also worked with Renew to bring ARISE: Together in Christ to the Archdiocese of Boston. ARISE is a three-year parish centered process of spiritual renewal. ARISE has engaged 90 parishes in the Archdiocese in Boston, with over 9,800 participants. In 2000, The Lynch Foundation helped Renew establish their endowment fund. After attracting investments from over 30 additional donors, the fund is now valued at $3.59M

Lynch Leadership Academy

Inspired by her father, who was a high school principal, Carolyn Lynch set out to create a principal leadership training program to strengthen leadership among early to mid career school leaders. In 2010, the Lynch Foundation made its largest gift to form the Lynch Leadership Academy (LLA) held at Boston College. LLA offers a unique cohort model to about 25 highly motivated and mission driven Fellows from parochial, charter and districts schools in Greater Boston. LLA is the only principal leadership program in the country to draw fellows from across all three sectors of education. Since its launching in 2011, LLA has become a nationally recognized model for training urban school leaders. To date, the Academy has graduated 118 fellows from 113 different schools. LLA fellows and alumni currently educate more than 50,000 students in the Greater Boston Area across all three school sectors.

Trustees of Reservations

For 126 years, The Trustees of Reservations have been dedicated to preserving the ecological, cultural, and historic character of Massachusetts’ landscapes. The Trustees care for nearly 25,000 acres of land, including 70 miles of protected coastline. A horticulturalist herself, Carolyn Lynch took a special interest in the Trustees’ gardens located at the Crane Estate in Ipswich, MA where the gardens contain a world renowned plant nursery. In 2013, the Trustees began a 5-year $25M cultural resources campaign to restore their public gardens to their original state, establish a signature volunteer program, and create education programming. A part of the Foundation’s strategic giving to support history and culture, The Lynch Foundation provided a gift to the Crane’s Estate endowment in 2014 to provide maintenance and ensure the garden is preserved for future generations to enjoy.

InnerCity Weightlifting

InnerCity Weightlifting (ICW) serves the 1% of youth responsible for the overwhelming majority of violent crimes in Boston. The organization equips these youth with the skills and training needed to become certified personal trainers, increase their social capital, and significantly decrease the likelihood of their participation in crime in the city. ICW intentionally brings together clients and trainers from opposite socio-economic backgrounds to shift perceptions and develop positive relationships providing the students new networks and access to new opportunities. An early funder of ICW, The Lynch Foundation has worked closely with CEO and Founder John Feinman since inception. In 2012, the Foundation provided a capacity building grant, and in 2015 made a 3-year commitment to help them open their Kendall Square location and expand to additional locations in the city of Boston.

Partners In Health

PIH was founded in 1987 to deliver healthcare to the residents of Haiti’s mountainous Central Plateau region. PIH’s mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. Since its founding, PIH has expanded to serve 18 countries with 11 priority programs in Child Health, Cancer and Chronic Diseases. The Lynch Foundation funded PIH’s research to discover new ways to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in 1995 in the shantytowns of Lima, Peru. Due to this `research, PIH was able to cure and prevent further TB transmission—saving millions of lives. In 2010, the Foundation provided a grant to support PIH’s work in Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating January 2010 earthquake that killed over 250,000 people and left 1.5 million homeless. The Lynch Foundation has provided support to PIH for almost 25 years, helping them serve nearly 7 million people worldwide.

InnerCity Scholarship Fund

InnerCity Scholarship Fund (ICSF) provides students within the Greater Boston area the opportunity to attend a Catholic school. Catholic schools provide students with a stable community environment in which they can cultivate their minds, their spirituality, and their relationship with others. As Chairman of ICSF, Peter Lynch has raised more than $125 million in partial scholarships for over 25 years for children living in the inner city of Boston. In 2000, The Lynch Foundation made a contribution to ICSF to create an endowment fund. That contribution was matched by an anonymous donor in recognition of Peter Lynch’s leadership and dedication. From the investment made in 2000, ICSF has distributed over $3 million in scholarships to more than 2,300 students.

Historic Boston

Historic Boston Incorporated (HBI) was founded in 1960 as a rescue mission focused on revitalizing historic buildings and structures throughout the city of Boston. In 1993, HBI developed the Steeples Project to preserve and maintain Boston’s active religious congregations. The Steeples Project was a competitive dollar-for-dollar matching grant program for the preservation, planning, major repairs, and exterior lighting projects for Boston’s historic houses of worship. HBI and The Lynch Foundation believe that urban religious properties are crucial landmarks for communities. With the support of The Lynch Foundation, The Steeples Project awarded grants to repair and preserve 51 congregations in the city. The revitalization project has had an impact far beyond those who come to worship; it has defined neighborhoods, created a sense of place, and houses social service programs that strengthen and sustain the shared bonds of Boston communities.

Historic New England

Historic New England is the oldest and largest regional heritage organization in the nation. They share New England’s history through collections, publications, exhibitions, museum properties and archives that document more than 400 years of history. Historic New England operates 36 historical sites throughout New England, including over 1,200 acres of green space. The Lynch Foundation has supported Historic New England for over 25 years, and it was the first organization Peter Lynch was board member of. In 2011, the Foundation provided a grant to Historic New England in order to continue the preservation and expanding collection of New England’s history for future generations.

Impact by the Numbers

Over 25

$14,356,489

$17,755,419

$36,661,115

3,339

$7,711,981

Impact by Location

Types of Grants

Impact in Stories