Bedford Falls Foundation

Bedford Falls Foundation operates as a relationship-driven, invitation-only funder built on a singular personal mission. Bill Conway Jr. — co-founder and co-chairman of The Carlyle Group — and his late wife Joanne Barkett Conway started this work in 2013 with the explicit goal of removing financial barriers to nursing education and addressing the national nursing workforce shortage. Since 1997 the foundation has distributed $499 million, with 53% directed to nursing education, 37% to health and human services in Washington, D.C. and Nashua, NH, and 10% to other strategic initiatives.

The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. It identifies prospective grantee institutions proactively, selecting partners whose program quality, student demographics, leadership stability, and strategic vision align with its mission. Organizations interested in initiating a conversation may email info@bedfordfallsfoundation.org to request an introductory meeting — but this is the exception, not the rule. The vast majority of grants flow to institutions the foundation has already targeted.

Successful grantees share several defining characteristics. The foundation explicitly evaluates: net price (what students actually pay), average graduation debt at graduation, NCLEX pass rates, program accreditation and reputation, sustainable enrollment growth capacity, and leadership continuity. Schools that make nursing education genuinely affordable — not merely nominally accessible — and that serve students with demonstrable financial need draw the most attention. The 2025 grantee list includes multiple regional public universities and minority-serving institutions (App State, Morgan State, ECU, UMMC Jackson), alongside flagship research schools (Ohio State, Villanova, University of Iowa).

Relationship progression takes months. The foundation team invests substantial time in due diligence before extending a formal proposal invitation. Once invited, organizations access a dedicated grantee portal to complete and submit their proposal. Grants are structured as multi-year commitments — typically four to five years — for current use, allowing institutions to build programs sustainably rather than managing year-to-year uncertainty.

First-time applicants should understand that this philanthropy is deeply personal: every funded scholarship program carries the Conway name. Institutions that communicate the human impact of a grant — specific student stories, measurable reductions in graduation debt, identifiable career outcomes — resonate more powerfully than abstract mission statements. Think of this funder as an operating partner, not a check-writer.

Bedford Falls Foundation's grants are large, multi-year institutional commitments — this is not a small-grants program. Across 31 documented grants in public filings, the average award is $2.06 million and the median is $2.0 million, with individual awards ranging from a floor of $250,000 to a maximum of $14 million (typical_grant_size from IRS data). The standard structure is a total commitment disbursed over four to five years.

Annual giving has been highly variable due to large batch commitments: $1.83M (2011), $1.73M (2012), $9.51M (2013), $4.70M (2014), $6.06M (2015), $14.73M (2019), $20.99M (2020), $35.28M (2021), $3.81M (2022), $11.22M (2023). The 2021 spike to $35.3M reflects a wave of large institutional commitments. With assets reaching $95.1M in 2023 — up from $63.1M in 2022 — following a $53.6M contribution infusion in FY2023, the foundation is well-capitalized for continued expansion. By 2025, nursing-specific annual giving had reached $59M, up from $5.2M in 2013.

Grant size tiers observed in practice: - Flagship scholarship partnerships: $2M–$9M (Ohio State $2M, Villanova $9M, ECU $2M, UMMC $2M, UI Iowa $3M, UIC $2.1M, Belmont $2M) - Mid-tier scholarship programs: $1M–$1.6M (App State $1M, Morgan State $1M, KU $1.6M) - Innovation/pilot grants: $250K–$500K (Vanderbilt $250K, Duke $250K)

Historic DC-MD-VA concentration from grantee records: Catholic University of America $25M (nursing scholars), Johns Hopkins $9M (spine surgery + nursing), University of Maryland Baltimore $6.8M, Trinity Washington $6M, UVA Health $6M. Combined, DC-area universities received $52M+ of the $63.9M in documented historical giving. However, 2025 data confirms an aggressive national expansion — grants now span NC, OH, TN, MS, IA, IL, KS, and MD outside the DMV.

Smaller legacy giving exists in arts and media: Kennedy Center $2.8M (artistic programming), WETA $1.7M (public broadcasting). These reflect an earlier giving period and appear to have been deprioritized as the nursing mission scaled.

Bedford Falls Foundation sits in a cohort of family foundations with approximately $175–177M in assets classified under NTEE T22 (Philanthropy & Grantmaking). Among these peers, Bedford Falls is distinguished by its programmatic focus, scale of annual giving, and public transparency.

Among this peer cohort, Bedford Falls stands out on every dimension that matters to prospective grantees. Most peers operate as family offices with no public-facing program descriptions, no stated evaluation criteria, and no pathway for unsolicited inquiry — they are effectively closed to outside engagement. Bedford Falls, by contrast, publishes specific evaluation metrics, describes its two program tracks in detail, and provides a direct email contact for introductory conversations. Its single-sector focus (nursing education) is also highly unusual — peer foundations in this asset tier typically distribute across multiple unrelated causes. The foundation's 2025 giving pace ($59M in nursing alone) dwarfs what similarly sized peers are likely deploying annually, making it one of the most active grantmakers in the nursing education space nationally.

2025 has been Bedford Falls Foundation's most active year on record by a wide margin. The foundation announced at least 12 major nursing education grants between February and August 2025, representing estimated total new commitments of $30M+ in a single year.

Key 2025 milestones: - February 2025: $9M to Villanova University M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing — the largest gift in that college's 100+ year history — for scholarships and academic support. - April 2025: $2M over four years to Ohio State University, creating the Joanne and William Conway Nursing Scholarship for 200+ BSN students, plus a student success navigator position. - May 2025: $2M over five years to East Carolina University for a medic-to-nurse accelerated BSN pathway for military veterans — an innovative program type new to the foundation's portfolio. - May 2025: $1M to Appalachian State University for 40+ Conway Scholars plus wraparound student support. - Summer 2025: $3M to University of Iowa; $2.1M to University of Illinois Chicago; $2M to Belmont University; $1.6M to University of Kansas (~175 undergraduate scholarships); $1M to Morgan State University. - July 2025: $250K Innovation Grant to Vanderbilt University for a workforce retention pilot. - August 2025: $2M to University of Mississippi Medical Center creating 167 full BSN scholarships.

Executive Director Elizabeth Minnigh leads foundation operations. Bill Conway Jr. serves as Trustee alongside his family. All officers report $0 compensation in 990 filings, consistent with a lean family-office structure where the founders remain personally engaged.

The single most important thing to understand about Bedford Falls: the foundation finds institutions, not the other way around. That said, there is a concrete set of actions that positions your school for discovery and introductory conversation.

Optimize your public-facing metrics first. The foundation explicitly evaluates net price, average graduation debt, NCLEX pass rates, accreditation status, leadership stability, and sustainable growth capacity. Before any outreach, ensure these figures are favorable, current, and prominently accessible on your school's website and in accreditation reports. A school with deteriorating NCLEX rates or high graduation debt will not survive preliminary due diligence regardless of mission alignment.

Lead with your student population story. Review the 2025 grantee list: App State, ECU, Morgan State, UMMC Jackson, Belmont. These are not elite research universities. They are schools serving first-generation students, students from high-need areas, and students who would not otherwise access nursing education. If your program serves a comparable population, that is your primary differentiator. Quantify it: average family income, Pell Grant eligibility rate, first-generation percentage.

If emailing (info@bedfordfallsfoundation.org), keep it to three to four paragraphs. Introduce your program, name your service area's nursing shortage context with a specific statistic, present two or three key institutional metrics (NCLEX pass rate, net price, graduation debt), and request a 30-minute exploratory conversation. Do not attach a proposal, budget, or full case for support at this stage.

Think in four-to-five year partnership terms. Prepare a specific program design before any conversation: how many students per year, at what annual scholarship amount, with what measurable outcomes at year one, three, and five. Vague aspirations are less compelling than concrete financial projections.

Do not propose direct student scholarships. All Bedford Falls grants flow through institutional programs. Individual students, academic departments, or hospital foundations applying directly are ineligible.

For H&HS organizations in DC or Nashua, NH: The same email contact applies, but competition is steeper and the geographic restriction is firm. Your organization must be a 501(c)(3) public charity addressing basic needs or sustainable employment. Lead with the specific gap your organization fills and your track record of measurable outcomes.

Be patient and persistent. The foundation may identify your institution through press coverage, peer referrals, or nursing workforce data before you ever reach out. Maintain a visible public presence in nursing education advocacy.