The Dr. Norman C. Francis Endowment for Racial Equity is the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s leadership grantmaking fund in the area of racial equity. The fund honors Dr. Norman C. Francis, a native of Lafayette, Louisiana, who was the first Black student at Loyola University of New Orleans and later became Xavier University's first Black and lay president, serving forty-seven years from 1968 to 2015. Dr. Francis’ work as an educator, academic, and civil rights leader has had a profound impact on our city, region, and country. Following Dr. Francis’s service as chair of the Louisiana Recovery Authority after Hurricane Katrina, President George W. Bush honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

In November 2020, the Foundation launched the Greater Together Fund for Racial Equity and has since distributed over $3.5 million to nonprofits leading the fight for racial justice in our region and working to build wealth in the African American community. Since launching the fund, the Foundation has made large, sustained investments in a number of nonprofits leading on racial equity whose work has scalable local, regional, and even statewide impact.

In 2024, the Foundation announced it would make racial equity work a permanently priority by establishing the Dr. Norman C. Francis Endowment for Racial Equity with a goal to raise $2.5 million, which would ensure that the Foundation can increase its grantmaking by $100,000 or more annually to the nonprofits on the front lines, doing the work to create a more just and equitable world for us all in the name of one of the most visionary leaders in New Orleans history, Dr. Francis. Since the Foundation announced this endowment in 2024, it has raised more than $1.28 million. The Foundation would like to acknowledge our lead donors, First Horizon and Hancock Whitney Banks—who both generously gave in 2024 each to get this campaign started.

In August 2025, the Foundation announced a $250,000 challenge grant to the Dr. Norman C. Francis Endowment, encouraging other in our community to participate in raising these critical funds. Not only can you make a gift here, but we also invite you to make a pledge to the Endowment. Please use the above pledge form if you would like to send us a check, make a gift of assets, or a grant from your donor-advised fund. Our Philanthropy Team will follow up with you.