Grantmaking foundation in Pittsburgh, PA. Program areas: workplace safety, education, end-of-life pl
01/31/2025
We are delighted to announce the promotion of John Lozecki to Program Officer at the McElhattan Foundation!
John joined the Foundation in 2023 as Associate Program Officer for Education, bringing nearly two decades of expertise in out-of-school time (OST) learning and community-based positive youth development. Since then, he has built strong, authentic relationships with grantees and partners that have enhanced and strengthened our grantmaking efforts.
Notably, John led the strategy development for the Foundation’s new grantmaking focus, which aims to expand and ensure access to high-quality OST opportunities while strengthening OST systems. He has also played a key role in designing key Foundation initiatives and processes, further shaping our impact in the field. John represents the Foundation at the national level as a member of the Steering Committee of the Grantmakers for Education Out-of-School Time Impact Group.
In his new role as Program Officer, John will continue to oversee the Foundation’s grantmaking in OST, advancing our mission and deepening our support for the communities we serve.
Please join us in congratulating John on this well-deserved promotion!
01/15/2025
Big News! The McElhattan Foundation website is live!
Check out our new mission: “Bring Us Bold Ideas.” Apply for grants anytime with our new rolling application process and explore resources to help visionary nonprofits drive change.
Visit mcelhattan.org to learn more about our focus areas and how we can shape the future together.
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The McElhattan Foundation was established in 1994 and for many years served as the charitable arm of Industrial Scientific Corporation, which was founded by K.E. McElhattan and his son, Kent McElhattan. It supported nonprofits on the local and national level.
When Industrial Scientific was sold in 2017, the foundation began operating as the McElhattan Foundation. Many family members contributed to the Foundation's endowment, enabling it to increase its grantmaking budget beginning in FY 2019.
Workplace Safety
The Foundation's interest in preventing death and serious injury in the workplace stems from the family's company, Industrial Scientific Corporation, which manufactures life-saving gas-monitoring devices. The McElhattan family is deeply committed to ending death on the job by 2050, and we expect the majority of our grant budget will be dedicated to this effort. We are especially interested in innovative safety technology, including virtual and augmented reality.
Education
The McElhattan Foundation will support nonprofit initiatives that help underserved populations access high-quality educational opportunities that would otherwise not be available to them and, once enrolled, to complete those programs.
We believe education is key to breaking the intergenerational poverty cycle and creating a workforce capable of supporting 21st-century industry.
Access to excellent educational opportunities is often limited by factors beyond a student’s control. We’d like to widen that path.
We are open to applications from public, private, and charter schools; preschool and child-care programs; educational afterschool and summer programs; trade academies; two- and four-year colleges; life-skills training centers; and adult mid-career retraining programs.
We acknowledge that helping students access educational opportunities is not enough—it’s important for students to complete a program in order to reap its full benefits. We will therefore also fund initiatives that, for example, help single mothers find reliable childcare while they are in school.
We will support programs in Pittsburgh, Franklin, and Knox, PA.
We are not seeking to fund:
Equipment purchases, staff training, or capital campaigns, unless they are tied to a specific program that addresses what we’ve outlined above.
Mentorship programs that are not focused on helping students enter and/or complete post-secondary education or training.
Palliative Care
Everyone should have access to affordable, high-quality palliative care. We're interested in, among other things, training more hospice workers, finding solutions to longstanding quality-of-life issues like pressure sores, and efforts to improve awareness of and access to palliative care.
Community Development in Knox & Franklin, PA
The McElhattan family's roots are in Knox and Franklin, PA, and we would like to see those communities thrive. We aim to support locally-led initiatives that improve residents' job opportunities, health, safety, and general quality of life.
Applications are accepted exclusively online at mcelhattan.org.
A list of upcoming deadlines can be found here.
Our board of directors meets in November and May to approve grant applications.
