2024 Grant Program 

The Community Endowment of Lexington (CEL), an endowed fund of the Community Foundation for MetroWest, promotes a spirit of philanthropic giving to support organizations that are working to create solutions for current needs and that are implementing new ideas to improve Lexington for the future. We encourage grant applications that bring innovative thinking to issues big and small.

The Community Endowment of Lexington is thrilled to announce that, in celebration of our 10th Anniversary of giving, we are expanding our 2024 grant program. This year we will be awarding up to $100,000 total in grants. In addition, individual grants will be funded up to $15,000.  We look forward to an exciting year of giving and to celebrating your extraordinary work throughout the Lexington Community.  Please consider applying!

Wooded area of fall trees with orange leaves. Blue sky with tall white church steeple emerging from trees.

Community Endowment of Lexington

Community Endowment of Lexington logo

The Community Endowment of Lexington enhances the quality of life for Lexington citizens. CEL awards grants to nonprofits and town agencies working in the areas of health and human services, arts and culture, the environment, and community building; provides ways for donors to give back and leave a legacy; and encourages innovative and collaborative solutions to issues facing Lexington, MA.

We were proud to present LexDoingGood, our first-ever event to connect the community with Lexington’s nonprofits and town agencies, October 22, 2022 at the Lexington Community Center. View the program book here, and join our mailing list to be notified about next year’s event.

About the Program

The Community Endowment of Lexington enhances the quality of life for Lexington citizens.

CEL awards grants to nonprofits and town agencies working in the areas of health and human services, arts and culture, the environment, and community building; provides ways for donors to give back and leave a legacy; and encourages innovative and collaborative solutions to issues facing Lexington, MA.

  • Angel Dance
  • Ken and Jane Ansin
  • Paula and Russ Antonevich
  • Elaine M. Ashton and Jarkko J. Hietaniemi
  • Pauline and Amos Benninga
  • Jean and Neal Birnberg
  • Lisa and Jeff Boehm
  • Elizabeth and Roger Borghesani
  • Elizabeth and Don Briggs
  • Deborah and David Brown
  • Suzanne and John Bruno
  • Carl and Suzie Byers
  • Alejandro Caro and Caroline Yang
  • Saeeda Carrimjee and Riaz Adamjee
  • Chinese American Association of Lexington
  • Ciccolo Family Foundation
  • Christina and Tim Cohen
  • Constance and Lewis Counts
  • Margaret Counts-Klebe and Skott Klebe
  • Judith and David Craver
  • Susan Culman
  • Ke Fang and Evan Fang
  • Finnegan Development
  • Jane Chen Fulop and Ric Fulop
  • Anne and Babak Ghayour
  • Christine and John Gordon
  • Kimberly and Michael Gruber
  • Kimya and Mike Harris
  • Shirley and Charles Hurwitz
  • Beverly and Peter Kelley
  • Trisha and Mike Kennealy
  • Ron and Alison Kermisch
  • Bob and Mary Etta King
  • Florence Koplow
  • Anne Kubik and Mike Krupka
  • Stephanie and David Lawrence
  • Lexx Restaurant (2004-2019)
  • Xinwei (Christine) Lin and Jianxin Gao
  • Kimberly Hensle Lowrance and Rob Lowrance
  • Dr. Yuci Ma, Specialist in Orthodontics
  • Stacey and David Mann
  • Innessa Manning and Karthik Ramanathan
  • Leslie and Colin Masson
  • Joy and Duncan McCallum
  • Roberta and Tony Messina
  • Stephanie and Michael Mitzenmacher
  • The Moodys
  • George and Beth Murnaghan
  • Corinne and Tim Noyes
  • Allison Mnookin and Cory Olcott
  • Evelyn and David Peterman
  • Cecilia and Jeff Porter
  • Sara and Greg Poulos
  • Gretchen and Christopher Reisig
  • Robert Rotberg
  • Amar and Deepika Sawhney
  • Susan Schiffer and James Barsoum
  • The Sheth Family
  • Mary Ann and Pierre Sorel
  • Victoria and Don Sullivan
  • Yike Tang
  • Yolanda and Brooks Taylor
  • Donna and Robert Vigoda
  • The Walsh Family
  • Nancy and Chris White
  • Linda and Richard Wolk
  • The Yan/Meng Family
  • Judith and Albert Zabin
  • Leslie and Sam Zales
  • The Zhu Family
  • Anonymous (3)

CEL Community Board

A group of local Lexington residents form the CEL Community Board. These local residents represent the different demographics of our town, and together raise the funds for grantmaking in Lexington and decide on the most impactful grants for our community.

Ann, and her husband, David Sheehan are originally from Minnesota and moved to Lexington in 1997, after Ann completed her doctorate in clinical psychology at Boston University. They have two sons; a junior at Lexington High School and a junior at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Professionally, Ann trained and worked in the Greater Boston area through Harvard Medical School and The Cambridge Hospital, concentrating in child and adolescent psychology, with an academic focus on the topic of resiliency. Over the past decade, she has been involved in numerous community non-profit organizations. She currently serves as: a Board Member and Communications Chair, the Cary Memorial Library Foundation; an Advisory Board Member for the Lexington Education Foundation (past Co-President and past Vice-President of Communications); and she is pleased to be a member of the Governance and Grant Review Committees for the Community Endowment of Lexington. Ann has also been involved in numerous local and state political campaigns, both chairing and working in communications and strategy. A member of Ateliers 28 & 29 at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Ann has exhibited her photography locally at Cary Memorial Library and the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society, as well as the DeCordova Museum in Concord, the Arlington Center for the Arts and the Atelier showcases at the Griffin.

Lisa Boehm is a senior marketing communications, project management and development practitioner who has worked in the high technology, higher education, and non-profit sectors. Most recently, she worked at Harvard’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health as a project and grant manager.

Since moving to Lexington with her family in 1998, she has been involved in the Lexington community. She was the Community Relations Board Member for Community Nursery School, Membership Chair and then President of the Bridge PTA; Vice President of Communications and a Corporate Outreach Officer with LEF; Board Member and MICCA Co-Chair for FOLMADS; and the Chair of Pilgrim Congregational Church’s Christian Education Committee as well as spearheading outreach projects for underserved populations. She also participates in Lex Pride’s Faith Liaisons Coalition.

She was Co-Chair of the YES for Lexington phone banking and get out the vote program, and Co-Chair of Michelle Ciccolo for State Representative and Scott Bokun for School Committee’s Social Media Team. Three years ago, she co-founded Bridge Action Network for Democracy, an advocacy group addressing local, state, and national policy issues, including election reform.

She has a bachelor of fine arts from BU, a masters in business communications from Emerson College, and has been working part time on a masters of business administration from UMASS Boston.

Her husband, Jeff is the global marketing lead at a 3D printing company. Their son, Sammy, is a graduating senior at LHS who is heading to Connecticut College in the fall to study public health and join their NESCAC league Men’s Soccer Team. Their daughter, Chloe, graduated from Colby College and is in a PhD program at Colorado State University.

She enjoys gardening, singing, swimming and fitness, writing, and social justice advocacy.

Elizabeth Brach, Ph.D. and her husband Jose Marcal moved to Lexington in 1983 and have had 4 children go through the Lexington Public Schools, for all or part of their educations.  Elizabeth is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and holds a Ph.D. in Child Development from Tufts University.

Following years of clinical practice, she started her own company as a federally certified woman owned small business, Brach Evaluation and Consulting, LLC. She worked as a grant-writer, project developer, and evaluation consultant to universities and non-profits to support federal or state reporting requirements on their funded projects.  Most projects that she worked with addressed educational equity issues relating to gender, race, and ethnicity in school districts and state educational agencies.  Clients also included federally funded magnet schools, statewide mentoring initiatives, and family support programs.

Serving on the Outreach Committee for the past 3 years has been a wonderful opportunity to learn about and support local initiatives that benefit the Lexington Community.

Clerk

Thomas Brennan is a partner at Posternak, Blankstein & Lund, LLP in the Corporate Department specializing in venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, and smaller public companies. Mr. Brennan has been a Lexington resident since 2008 where he lives with his wife and two school aged daughters. He is the President of the Lexington High School Field Hockey Boosters and has been a Town Meeting member 2015-2018.

Yifang Gong has been a Lexington resident for 20 years. He raised two children, both going through Lexington public schools. In March 2021, He became a town meeting member and joined the Town Celebration Committee in April. From the beginning of 2022, he joined the board of CAAL. He came to the US 30 years ago as a student studying jet propulsion. He has worked in academia and industry for over 20 years and co-founded a company in China more than ten years ago. He became a member of the outreach committee of CEL in fall 2021. He is active in the grant review process and reaching out to Chinese and other Asian communities. In his leisure time, he enjoys cooking and gardening.

Valued CEL Community Board Member

Valued CEL Community Board Member

Jennifer Lawrence has been a Lexington resident for 19 years. She joined CEL’s Grant Team and Outreach Committee last year. This is her second grant cycle. Jen’s three children went through the Lexington Public School system, graduating from Bowman, Clarke and LHS (#3 graduates this June). Much of her volunteer experience in town has centered around children. She co-founded and ran the Preschool PTA’s (now LexFUN) Annual Consignment Sale for several years, as well as the Bowman School’s annual Passport to the World international fair. She co-led LHS’s Little Lex debate tournament for two years and recently served as chaperone for LHS’s Model UN Team during the NAIMUN conference in Washington, DC. Jen’s work experience has centered around corporate and product strategy, helping consumer companies create innovative products and deliver customer-centered experiences. Last year she pivoted to the nonprofit space and secured a long-term consulting contract with a mental health nonprofit, helping guide their strategic planning process and implement their new strategic plan.

Roberta has been a Lexington resident most all her life and on the Board of Community Endowment of Lexington since 2016 where she has served as chair of the Outreach Committee. Her professional experience includes a career in public education and corporate Human Resources as well as her own organizational development, team and leadership consulting and coaching practice. She holds a Masters Degree in Educational Counseling and Career Development from the University of California and a certificate in coaching from The Hudson Institute of California. She has been a board member of several not for profit organizations including the North Suburban YMCA where she led the strategic planning process and PEER Servants serving on the Executive Committee. She has been a volunteer for Minuteman Senior Services and currently volunteers as a docent for Mount Auburn Cemetery.

Valued CEL Community Board Member

Judy moved to Lexington in 1988 with her husband and daughter. She has been an active volunteer in the Lexington public schools serving in leadership roles on a variety of boards and committees. She has a BA in Anthropology and a MEd in Museum Education. Her background includes developing and managing programs for museums and higher education.

Co-Chair

Mary Ann is a lawyer, with expertise in corporate finance and corporate governance. She has previously worked as Junior Partner at Hale & Dorr (now WilmerHale), and as an associate at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, both in New York City and as special US counsel at Ashurst, London, England. Mary Ann holds a B.A. from Brown University and earned her law degree at the University of Michigan Law School, and she is a member of the New York State bar. She currently serves as Trustee and Vice-Chair of the Board, as well chair of the Committee on Trustees, of the International School of Boston in Cambridge, where her children have attended. She has served on the ISB Board for 8 years. Mary Ann also previously served as President of the Lexington Newcomers’ Club. Mary Ann and her husband Pierre have been residents of Lexington for 11 years, and they really enjoy the community and the rich history of Lexington. They have three children, the oldest of whom attends Lexington High School.

Jillian Tung, M.D., M.P.H. has extensive nonprofit and volunteer experience, including: Lexington Semiquincentennial Commission (Lex250) – Music & Arts Representative; Lexington Council for the Arts, Co-chair; Boston Symphony Orchestra, including the Board of Advisors, Culture Assessment Steering Group, Steering Committee, Advisors Experience Council, Co-chair, and Boston Individual Giving Council; Lexington Symphony, Board of Directors; Friends of Lexington Music, Art & Drama Students (FoLMADS), including President, Board member, and Publicity Coordinator; and Lexington Field & Garden Club.

LexDoingGood 

We were proud to present LexDoingGood, our first-ever event to connect the community with Lexington’s nonprofits and town agencies, October 22, 2022 at the Lexington Community Center. View the program book here, and join our mailing list to be notified about next year’s event.

CEL Makes Life in Lexington Better

Since 2013, CEL has awarded over $400,000 to 44 nonprofits and town agencies serving Lexington.

Where Our Funding Goes

Community Building

27%

 

Environment

18%

Arts and Culture

25%

 

Health and Human Services

30%

Competitive

Pie graph representing 73%

We fund ongoing projects and new initiatives, including pilot programs.

Capacity

Pie graph representing 17%

We underwrite infrastructure building, helping our grantees meet their missions and achieve their goals.

Discretionary

Pie graph representing 10%

During the pandemic we funded programs to prevent food insecurity and support the arts.

Annual Competitive Grant Program

CEL’s 2023 grant application process opens in January 2023 and applications will be due in March 2023. 

Capacity Building Grant Program

Helping nonprofits invest in themselves and strengthen their organizations for sustainable growth, including initiatives for infrastructure building, strategic planning, staff training, and more.

CEL launched its Capacity Building program in 2019, with support from the Ciccolo Family Foundation. Subsequent support for this initiative has come from the generosity of CEL’s donors.

Each autumn selected previous CEL grantees are invited to apply to this program, and awards are announced in December.

Grantees

Discretionary Grant Funding

In times of need CEL responds by providing discretionary funding.

In 2022, CEL funded grants from its discretionary fund to two organizations: CALex received a grant to help underwrite a series of banners, featuring notable Asian Americans in celebration of AAPI Heritage Month that hung in the town center and Cary Memorial Library. CAAL received funding to support A Bridge Across: Celebration and Promotion of Asian Culture and History, a series of events focused on Asian culture through activities related to art, food, and history during the AAPI Heritage Month and beyond.

In 2021, CEL offered emergency assistance to three organizations. Supportive Living, Inc. received a grant to provide mental health counseling and education to staff and residents in their long-term care facilities. The Munroe Center for the Arts received funds to build structurally-sound tents for outdoor visual arts programming. Food Link also received a grant for food rescue and delivery in Lexington.

Grantees

Frequently Asked Questions

The Community Endowment of Lexington (CEL) was established in 2013 by Lexington residents as an initiative to build a permanent endowment to strengthen our community. CEL enhances the quality of life for Lexington citizens. CEL awards grants to nonprofits and town agencies working in the areas of health and human services, arts and culture, the environment, and community building; provides ways for donors to give back and leave a legacy; and encourages innovative and collaborative solutions to issues facing Lexington, MA.

CEL is an endowed fund of the Community Foundation for MetroWest. As such, it is a permanent, steady source of funding for the town of Lexington. Each year, spending is limited to a designated percentage of the endowment, leaving the rest to build for the future.

The Community Endowment of Lexington supports nonprofits and town agencies working to create solutions for current needs and implementing new ideas that will improve Lexington now and in the future.

You may make a gift to the Community Endowment of Lexington by check, stock, mutual fund or real estate, or through a donor advised fund or private foundation. The staff at Community Foundation for MetroWest can work with you and your financial adviser to review various planned giving options. All gifts qualify for the maximum tax benefit offered.

Donate to Lexington

The Community Endowment of Lexington is an endowed fund of the Community Foundation for MetroWest, which is a 501(c)(3) public charity and is fully tax-exempt. The tax ID is 04-3266789. There are a number of ways you can make a donation

Transfer Securities

Please contact Mary Crowley via email or (508) 647-2260 if you are interested in transferring assets to the Foundation.

Thank you! We appreciate your support.