About the Yawkey Foundation

The Yawkey Foundation is a proud partner of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), helping to bring to life a literature, film, and science-focused series that highlights ocean exploration, conservation, and more. The Foundation's commitments to the environment and wildlife conservation stem from Tom Yawkey’s deep appreciation for nature and passionate desire to protect our natural resources. Tom, an outdoorsman and longtime owner of the Boston Red Sox, preserved more than 20,000 acres of shorefront, woodlands, marshes, and more in Georgetown, South Carolina.

After the passing of Tom Yawkey in 1976, the land was bequeathed to what is now the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to be maintained as an area for conservation and research. The land, which is now the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center, was expanded to 24,000 acres by Jean Yawkey, Tom Yawkey’s wife, and continues to be supported by the Yawkey Foundation as it has since Tom’s death. Today, the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center is home to hundreds of species of wildlife and is a habitat for migratory birds, alligators, and endangered species, like the loggerhead sea turtle.

Upholding the Yawkey’s rich legacy of quietly and consciously giving back to those who need it most, the Yawkey Foundation invests in impactful nonprofits that provide resources, opportunity, and dignity to the vulnerable and underserved. While wildlife is one of its core areas of giving, the Yawkey Foundation is also focused on health care, education, human services, youth and amateur athletics, and arts and culture. To date, the Foundation has awarded more than $530 million in charitable grants to organizations in the Boston, Massachusetts and Georgetown, South Carolina areas.