Vivo Foundation

Vivo Foundation operates as an invitation-only private trust that does not accept unsolicited grant proposals. Founded in 2021 with a $206.7 million founding gift from Medline Industries president Andrew J. Mills and his wife Nancy Mills, the foundation has built a focused, curated portfolio of Chicago-area nonprofits rather than running open application cycles. Understanding this architecture is the essential starting point for any organization seeking Vivo funding.

The foundation's giving philosophy centers on sustained, multi-year partnerships. Analysis of the top 50 grantees shows virtually every organization received exactly 3 consecutive grants — a deliberate 3-year cycle reflecting the Co-Trustees' preference for continuity and compounding impact over one-time investments. Anchor relationships include University of Chicago Education Lab ($1.625M across 3 years), Illinois Action for Children ($1.4M), Noble charter schools ($758,400), Braven ($757,000), and Youth Guidance ($750,000) — all established organizations with deep Chicago roots and strong evidence bases.

Vivo favors organizations operating across two defined program pillars: Education (spanning early childhood through college and career success) and Health and Wellness (family support, mental health, healthcare career pipelines, violence intervention). Within Education, the foundation shows appetite for both systems-change players — research institutions, policy advocacy groups, backbone infrastructure organizations — and frontline direct service providers. This dual orientation suggests the Co-Trustees are deliberately building a portfolio that addresses structural causes alongside immediate needs.

Geographic concentration is a defining feature: 83.5% of all grants flow to Illinois-based organizations, with the Chicago Public Schools ecosystem and Lake County institutions forming the core. A selective set of nationally-scoped organizations (Braven, Onegoal, Posse) and DC-based policy groups rounds out the portfolio where they demonstrably benefit Chicago-area youth.

For organizations not already in the portfolio, the path to a Vivo grant runs through relationships, not applications. Executive Director Mara Botman and Grants Associate Halle Leganza engage with the Chicago education philanthropic ecosystem actively. Peer funder introductions — Chicago Community Trust, Pritzker Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, Duchossois Family Foundation — carry significantly more weight than any direct outreach. Organizations should invest in publishing clear, quantifiable evidence of impact, actively participate in network bodies like Forefront Illinois and the Chicago Public Education Fund, and cultivate relationships with existing Vivo grantees who can provide credible endorsements.

Since its 2021 founding, Vivo Foundation has scaled its grantmaking rapidly, emerging as one of the more active mid-sized family foundations in the Chicago region. Annual giving grew from $4.6M (75 grants, 2021) to $8.6M (105 grants, 2022) to $10.7M (129 grants, 2023), with 2024 tracking at approximately $10.5M across 130 awards — a 128% increase in total dollars deployed over three years. Giving has now stabilized in the $10–11M range against $183M in assets.

Across 339 recorded historical grants, the average award is $75,937. The foundation's stated range is $1,000 to $650,000. In practice, the largest anchor relationships compound to seven figures over a 3-year cycle — University of Chicago Education Lab received $1.625M across three grants, and Illinois Action for Children received $1.4M. For mid-portfolio grantees, the practical annual range appears to be $50,000–$300,000, with many organizations receiving disbursements of $75,000–$250,000 per year.

By sector (estimated from grantee analysis): - Education (early childhood through college persistence): ~70% of grant dollars - Health and Wellness (family supports, violence intervention, healthcare pipeline): ~20% - Civic engagement, arts, and community infrastructure: ~10%

By geography (339 total grants): - Illinois: 283 grants (83.5%) — the clear geographic core - District of Columbia: 8 grants (2.4%) — primarily national policy organizations - New York: 7 grants (2.1%) - Texas: 6 grants (1.8%) - Massachusetts: 6 grants (1.8%) - Florida: 5 grants (1.5%) — includes Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County - Pennsylvania: 4 grants (1.2%)

All 339 recorded grant purposes state 'to further the mission of the donee,' confirming that general operating support is the universal grant modality. There are no project-specific or restricted grants in the recorded portfolio — a significant advantage for grantees who can deploy this funding flexibly.

The foundation's $10.5M in net investment income (FY2023) nearly equals its $10.7M in total giving, making the endowment essentially self-sustaining at current payout levels. Total assets declined modestly from $198M (2021) to $183M (2024) as giving scaled faster than returns in 2022, but stabilized in 2023-2024.

Vivo Foundation sits within a cohort of mid-sized family foundations with assets in the $181M–$185M range, all categorized under Philanthropy & Grantmaking (NTEE T20). What distinguishes Vivo is its unusually focused programmatic strategy within a peer group that typically operates with diffuse, opportunistic giving.

Peer giving estimates apply a standard 5% payout to total assets; actual figures may vary. None of the four peer foundations maintain public-facing grant programs or websites.

Vivo stands out from its asset-size peers in three important ways. First, it has publicly disclosed two programmatic pillars and eight named sub-focus areas — rare transparency for a first-generation family foundation of this size. Second, its hyper-local Chicago concentration (83.5% of all grants to Illinois organizations) creates a legible community footprint rather than dispersed national giving. Third, its active scaling trajectory — growing from 75 to 130 annual grants in three years — signals a foundation in deliberate portfolio-building mode, not passive endowment management. For grant seekers, this means Vivo is a more predictable, legible funder than its comparably-sized peers: the geographic and programmatic fit test is unambiguous, and the ecosystem of existing grantees provides a clear map of relationship pathways.

Vivo Foundation was established in late 2021 when Co-Trustees Andrew J. Mills — president of Medline Industries, a privately held medical supply company with revenues exceeding $20 billion — and Nancy Mills made a founding gift of $206.7 million, essentially the full endowment in a single contribution. The foundation received no additional external contributions in FY2022 or FY2023, making it a single-gift endowment operating entirely off investment returns and principal.

Professional staff hired in the early years include Executive Director Mara Botman and Grants Associate Halle Leganza (confirmed in FY2023 990 filings). Both Co-Trustees receive no compensation, consistent with a closely-held family foundation where founders retain direct involvement in grant decisions. The foundation employs 2 full-time staff.

Grant activity has grown consistently: 75 awards (2021), 105 awards (2022), 129 awards (2023), and 130 awards (2024). The near-plateau between 2023 and 2024 suggests the foundation has reached its target active portfolio size. Notable grantee relationships include sustained multi-year support for major Chicago health systems — Rush University Medical Center ($750K over 3 years) and Northshore University Health System ($750K over 3 years) — alongside Comer Education Campus, Chicago Scholars, and a broad coalition of education infrastructure organizations.

No leadership changes, program pivots, or public announcements were identified in 2025-2026 web research. The foundation filed its most recent Form 990 on November 17, 2025, covering FY2024. Consistent with many first-generation family foundations, Vivo maintains a deliberately low public profile — a minimalist website, no press releases, and no social media presence beyond a LinkedIn page — prioritizing direct relationship-building over external communications.

The single most critical fact about Vivo Foundation is that it does not accept unsolicited proposals. The foundation is explicitly marked 'preselected only' in IRS records, and its website offers only a contact form — no portal, no published RFP, no guidelines or deadlines. Organizations that submit cold proposals or use the contact form to pitch programs will likely receive no response and may damage any future relationship prospects with this funder.

That said, deliberate ecosystem engagement can put your organization on Vivo's radar:

Prioritize network participation, not outreach. The grantee list reads like a roster of Chicago education philanthropy infrastructure — Network for College Success, Chicago Public Education Fund, Advance Illinois, Forefront Illinois. Active, substantive participation in these networks — attending convenings, joining working groups, sharing research — places your organization in the same rooms as Vivo staff without the awkwardness of cold outreach.

Build peer funder bridges. Cross-reference your current funders against Vivo's grantee list. Chicago Community Trust, Pritzker Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, and Duchossois Family Foundation fund overlapping portfolios. A warm introduction from a shared funder is substantially more effective than any direct contact.

Use their language precisely. Vivo's eight sub-focus areas are specific: 'early childhood education and care,' 'academic development,' 'experiential learning,' 'college and career access,' 'family supports,' 'mental health and wellbeing,' 'healthcare pipeline,' 'violence intervention.' Using this framing precisely in materials that may reach the foundation signals genuine programmatic alignment rather than generic fit.

Show 3-year readiness. When an introduction is made, demonstrate that your organization can deploy multi-year general operating support strategically and report on cumulative outcomes over a 36-month horizon. Lead with year-over-year outcome trends, not activity counts.

Target the right entry point. Grants Associate Halle Leganza handles portfolio administration; Executive Director Mara Botman manages senior relationships; Co-Trustees Andrew and Nancy Mills make final grant decisions. An introduction should be directed to Mara Botman via a trusted peer funder — not to the contact form.

Timing: Based on the FY structure and 990 filing cadence (November each year), grant reviews likely occur in Q3-Q4 (July through November), with disbursements in the following calendar year.