Mission:
To help create a society that values young people and enables them to reach their full potential. The William T. Grant Foundation pursues this goal by investing in research and in people and projects that use evidence-based approaches. Its primary focus areas are youth development, systems affecting youth, and the public's view of youth.

Purpose of Site:
Launched in October 2001, the foundation's site provides a forum to learn about youth development research, funding opportunities, and resources related to the mission of valuing young people and helping them reach their full potential.

Background:
William T. Grant, who made his fortune building a chain of stores, created the Grant Foundation in 1936 to focus primarily on social science research with the aim of realizing "the enrichment of life, with a primary interest in people and in their adjustment to the world in which they live." The foundation supported research at Harvard University during most of the 1940s and again in the 1960s and 1970s that examined understanding why some young people succeeded while others did not. It also supported research on preventive mental health and evaluation for children and adolescents. Early grant recipients included Dr. Benjamin Spock, Dr. Anna Freud, and Dr. Jane Goodall.

Renamed the William T. Grant Foundation after Grant's death in 1972, the organization has continued to fund important research on youth. In the 1980s, it focused its efforts on the transitions that young people face, notably the transition through puberty to adolescence and from school to work. In the 1990s, it began focusing more of its efforts on underserved young people in America and addressed youth violence in schools.

Home Page:
The site welcomes visitors with several colorful photographs of smiling young people underneath a toolbar with links to the About Us, Active Grants, Funding Opportunities, News, Resources, and Contact Us areas. In addition, the home page features foundation news items with links to full stories, a keyword search tool, facts and stats, a featured grantee, and links to youth coverage by National Public Radio. Finally, a prominently featured link in the top left corner of the page leads to a feedback section for comments about the Web site.

Outstanding Feature:
The Active Grants part of the site includes information from all of the foundation's funding areas. Along the left side of the page are links to a complete list of grantee organizations in alphabetical order, a list of grantee contact names, and a list of funded projects. The main body of the Active Grants page includes featured grants and comprehensive search tools that allow users to look for grantee organizations, individual grant contacts, grants awarded in a specific field of study, grants that focus on a particular age range, grants by demographic focus, and more.

Honorable Mention:
Under the Resources section of the site, the foundation is developing an online library of links to articles, publications, organizations, speeches, and working documents covering a range of issues. The search tool for the area allows users to search by keyword, as well as by resource type and topic area. To build its collection quickly and efficiently, the foundation has invited visitors to the site to share their resources, and the site provides a form for adding links.