The Webb Schools have received a $100,000 grant from the E.E. Ford Foundation to drive efforts to strengthen student, staff and faculty diversity. The foundation is dedicated to improving secondary education by supporting U.S. independent schools. Since its founding in 1957, it has awarded more than $125 million to more than 900 schools.

The Webb grant, announced in March 2021, was provided in January 2022 after the schools successfully raised more than $100,000 in matching funds. The grant will help fund Webb’s Director of Equity Office as well as programs and initiatives to boost community understanding and services centered on diversity, equity and inclusion. “We are deeply indebted to the E.E. Ford Foundation and our community of supporters for ensuring that Webb continues to grow and improve as an institution in service to our students,” Head of Schools Taylor B. Stockdale said.

E.E. Ford Foundation Executive Director John Gulla, in an email acknowledging the broad support Webb received in raising matching funds to secure the grant, said the Foundation’s team was impressed because “this reflects the community’s commitment to the goals of the initiative.”

This is Webb’s eighth and largest E.E. Ford grant. Previous grants, received from 1974 to 2005, helped to establish a Paleontology for Educators program, boost classroom technology, endow professional development for teachers, support construction of a library, endow scholarships and help fund construction of faculty homes.