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 its first Black 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 2020, the Foundation established the “Greater Together Fund for Racial Equity,” which raised and granted over $3.3 million to nonprofits working to dismantle unjust systems and build wealth in the Black community.

Since launching the Fund, the Foundation has made large, sustained investments in a number of nonprofits leading in racial equity whose work has scalable local, regional, and even statewide impact. In 2024, the Foundation recognized the need to make grantmaking in the area of racial equity a permanent part of its strategy, and the Dr. Norman C. Francis Endowment for Racial Equity was established with initial gifts from two major local banks, First Horizon and Hancock Whitney.

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.