News

Joyce Mourns the Passing of Founding Board Member Jack Anderson

Share

The Joyce Foundation mourns the passing of founding Board member and former Board Chair Jack Anderson, who died May 22, 2023 at age 92. Anderson is largely responsible for establishing the vision of the organization and building it into one of Illinois’ largest philanthropies and an influential steward of social and environmental initiatives in the Great Lakes region.

Anderson was co-chair of the Joyce Board of Directors from 1984-1987, Board Chair from 1987-2011, and an emeritus director since then.

“This is a tremendous loss for the Foundation. Jack was our North Star, the architect of our vision and funding initiatives, and a great champion of issues impacting the Great Lakes region,” said Joyce President & CEO Ellen Alberding. “He was a wonderful mentor. We are forever enriched by his leadership and determination to grow this institution into a formidable and evergreen presence in the Great Lakes and beyond."

John T. “Jack” Anderson, a graduate of DePauw University, Harvard Law School, and a U.S. Navy veteran, was one of the last links to Joyce Founder Beatrice Joyce Kean. Kean was the sole heiress to a family business who created the foundation in 1948 with a modest $2,000 gift to be used “for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, and educational purposes.” Anderson joined the Foundation’s Board of Directors in 1984 and was appointed a trustee of Kean’s estate upon her death in the early 1970s — when more than $100 million flowed from her estate into the Foundation, making it Illinois’ largest philanthropy at the time.

Anderson took a leading role in creating the Foundation’s signature initiatives; namely, pushing for regional and federal efforts to restore and preserve the Great Lakes. Among other roles, he served as a director of the Center for the Great Lakes, which Joyce created, and was a director on the Great Lakes Protection Fund. The two organizations pressed for Great Lakes protection policy and established an endowment to maintain the biological integrity of the ecosystem.

Anderson said in a 2018 interview that he realized the Foundation had a rare and important opportunity, as well as the resources, to “punch above its weight” in having substantive influence on policy and research regionally and nationally.

“There we were with a foundation that could do anything, and had over a hundred million dollars,” Anderson said. “We said, ‘What are we going to do with it?’ We didn’t want to be an organization where we just handed out money. We wanted to try to accomplish something.”

Tolerating risk and playing the “long game” on investments were also benchmarks of Anderson’s leadership. In 1993, as board chairman, Anderson decided to green light a proposal that launched the Foundation’s funding of research on gun violence at a time when few philanthropies were investing in it.

Over the next 25 years, Joyce invested more than $30 million in grants that yielded hundreds of scientific publications, influenced policy, and kept research alive when government funding evaporated. It also inspired attacks from the National Rifle Association and gun-rights activists and organizations.

“I like a little risk,” Anderson said in 2018, “and the controversy didn’t bother me, either.”

Said Jose Alvarez, current chairman of Joyce’s Board of Directors: “We would not be who we are or have the influence that we do without the steady, visionary and optimistic leadership of Jack Anderson, who always pressed us to do more and always knew that we could. We carry that ethos to this day as our work continues to impact lives for the next generation in the Great Lakes region.”

Joyce Foundation President & CEO Ellen Alberding with Jack Anderson.

About The Joyce Foundation

Joyce is a nonpartisan, private foundation that invests in evidence-informed public policies and strategies to advance racial equity and economic mobility for the next generation in the Great Lakes region.

Related Content

Webinar

Criminal Legal Expenditures and Public Safety Tradeoffs: New Evidence from the Great Lakes Region

During the webinar, researchers discussed findings from a new study that examines local government spending patterns and their connection to public safety outcomes, specifically suicide and homicide.

In The Media

Opinion: It's more important than ever to fund local journalism

Joyce’s Hugh Dellios, Journalism program director, discusses revitalizing local news—it's crucial to support trustworthy journalism, especially in areas like higher education, to ensure informed communities and smart decision-making.

Source
Crain's Cleveland Business

In The Media

Civic heavyweights push CPD to rethink community policing strategy

A new report by CP21 (funded by the Joyce Foundation) urges Chicago police to make community policing a core strategy, as civic leaders push for reform.

Source
Crain's Chicago Business

Webinar

Community Violence Prevention and Intervention: Insights from the Frontlines

During the webinar, UC Davis researchers discussed a recent paper exploring insights from CVI professionals in Sacramento, Baltimore, and Milwaukee, focusing on the causes of gun violence, challenges faced by CVI specialists, and key recommendations.

Policy Watch

High Stakes for Voters in Upcoming Wisconsin Election

Wisconsin voters will also be asked to weigh in on a statewide ballot issue in upcoming election.

In The Media

Commentary: Can nuclear energy help the Great Lakes region meet its clean energy goals?

Joyce's Marisol Becerra discusses clean energy goals in the Great Lakes region. While nuclear power is gaining traction, high costs and environmental risks persist. Renewables and grid upgrades remain the most viable long-term solution.

Source
Crain's Chicago Business

Webinar

Healthcare-based Screening and Violence Prevention Tools

Researchers from the University of Michigan and the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute discussed new findings that explore the role of two tools—SaFETy and Lock to Live.

In The Media

Philanthropy Has a Key Role to Play in Reimagining Public Safety

Quintin Williams, Joyce Foundation senior program officer, co-authors an article on supporting alternative and co-response programs for public safety, transforming emergency systems with non-police solutions that reduce risks and improve outcomes.

Source
Inside Philanthropy