Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA), has launched the Moderna Charitable Foundation to promote public health, access to quality healthcare and educational opportunities, particularly in underserved populations.
“We founded Moderna based upon the idea that we can make a transformative positive impact through our medicines, and the work of the Moderna Charitable Foundation will accelerate our efforts to improve health globally, particularly for those with inadequate access to health and medicine,” said Noubar Afeyan, Co-founder and Chairman of Moderna. “We established the Moderna Foundation to support organizations that share our commitment to bettering the lives of patients, and to addressing inequalities that have been highlighted by the pandemic. I look forward to all we accomplish together.”
“The Moderna Foundation is an extension of the positive societal impact we have made following the development of our COVID-19 vaccine and reflects our continued commitment to communities impacted by COVID-19,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “We are excited to extend our social impact and support the causes our employees care most about as we work relentlessly to improve human health with our mRNA technology.”
The Moderna Foundation was established by the Moderna Board of Directors, which approved an initial up-front endowment of $50 million. The Foundation and its grant program will focus on charitable programs with a particular emphasis on supporting local and global communities impacted by the pandemic, advancing scientific education and innovation, promoting public health and access to healthcare, and advocating for inclusion and diversity, the company said.
The Moderna Foundation announced approximately $5 million in initial grants to five local and global nonprofit organizations working to address these areas of need, including:
- Boston Medical Center’s Good Grief Program, to help meet growing demand for trauma-informed, culturally responsive therapeutic services for children who have experienced loss, such as the death of a loved one due to COVID-19
- Heading Home, to provide permanent, supportive housing for extremely low-income individuals in Cambridge, Massachusetts
- International Rescue Committee, to support infection prevention and control programs for improved and resilient health systems in West and Central Africa, particularly in countries that have been impacted by conflict
- Life Science Cares , to support nonprofit partnerships and programs fighting poverty and its effects in the Greater Boston Area
- Year Up, to support a workforce development program that closes the opportunity divide between young adults and companies across the U.S
“We are incredibly proud to have been able to play a role in fighting the global pandemic with our COVID-19 vaccine, but we know that there is so much more that needs to be done to address the pandemic’s longer term societal impact,” said Shannon Thyme Klinger, President of the Moderna Charitable Foundation. “The Foundation is another example of Moderna’s dedication to Corporate Social Responsibility. With programs designed to help people disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and the unprecedented disruption that has resulted from the pandemic, we look forward to supporting the Foundation’s partners to make a lasting impact in communities across the globe.”