Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Driven by the promise of great ideas.
Mission
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation makes grants primarily to support original research and education related to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics. The Foundation believes that these fields—and the scholars and practitioners who work in them—are chief drivers of the nation's health and prosperity. The Foundation also believes that a reasoned, systematic understanding of the forces of nature and society, when applied inventively and wisely, can lead to a better world for all.
On the Nature of our Inheritance
We at the Foundation are profoundly grateful for the opportunity to use the wealth accumulated by Alfred P. Sloan to make our world a better place. At the same time, it is essential to acknowledge that the accumulation of such an industrial fortune required the disposition of massive natural and human resources. These include the labor of thousands of women and men who did not enjoy the privileges that we now do, the environmentally impactful extraction of raw materials around the globe, and the historical appropriation from its original inhabitants of the land on which those industries were built (as well as the land on which the Foundation’s headquarters currently sits). This complex inheritance imposes on us an inescapable responsibility to use our grantmaking assiduously in the service of the public good. We, the stewards of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, fully embrace this solemn responsibility and strive to reflect it in all the work we do.