Jamie Dimon and his wife, Judith, donate $12 million to 12 HBCUs—betting they’re the ‘springboard to success’ for the next generation

Sydney Lake, Fortune

Jamie Dimon is well-known for his historic career as CEO of JPMorgan Chase, the world’s largest bank, and for his hot takes on the economy, work culture, and geopolitics. Less well known are his philanthropic efforts with his wife through their organization, the James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation. 

The foundation, which was established in 1996, doesn’t even have its own website, but according to ProPublica data, the private charitable organization donates millions of dollars each year to support education and economic mobility for young people. Its most recent 990-PF form (the annual tax and information document for private foundations) shows that in 2024 the organization paid out more than $9 million across organizations mostly focused on public schools and career advancement. 

On Aug. 20, United Negro College Fund (UNCF) announced the James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation had donated $12 million to 12 historically Black colleges and universities. The gift establishes the Dimon Fund to Advance Economic Opportunity and is part of UNCF’s $1.5 billion capital campaign. It will provide permanent endowment capital to the selected schools as part of their $5 million institutional match from UNCF’s pooled endowment fund. 

“Our system of HBCUs continue to serve as the springboard to success for thousands of students in pursuit of the American Dream,” Jamie and Judith Dimon said in a joint statement. “As the children of first-generation high school and college graduates, we were imbued with a thirst for knowledge and a drive to succeed—principles that we have passed on to our own children and that we wish to share with all the students at the selected HBCUs.”

The original article lists the recipient schools.

Many HBCUs began during the Black community during Jim Crow.

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