Foundation empties coffers to fund Black paper in Baltimore

By ALEX DANIELS of The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Chronicle of Philanthropy

In a rare move for philanthropy, Adam Holofcener and his family emptied their foundation’s coffers and gave $1 million — nearly all the money it had left to give — to support Lisa Snowden-McCray’s dream: a free newspaper staffed by Black editors and writers in Baltimore to provide news primarily for the city’s Black residents. For Holofcener, the bold move was both an attempt to directly respond to the calls for racial justice after the murder of George Floyd by police in 2020 and to purge the family of gains it had made at the expense of Baltimore’s Black residents.