Bridging a Legacy
A 30-Year Longitudinal Impact Study of The Lenny Zakim Fund
Preface from the Lenny Zakim Fund
In 1995 after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable form of bone marrow cancer, Lenny Zakim chose to spend the time he had left focused not on himself, but on his community. With the support from a group of his friends, supporters, and admirers, Lenny founded The Lenny Fund (later renamed The Lenny Zakim Fund, LZF) to support “under the radar” grassroots nonprofits and their leaders in underserved, under-resouced communities throughout eastern Massachusetts.
Thirty years later, Lenny’s founding belief that communities know what they need still drives everything we do. As an early practitioner of trust-based, community-driven philanthropy, we are proud of the authentic relationships we’ve built and nurtured that have empowered our work supporting grassroots organizations and their leaders to advance social, racial, and economic justice.
These relationships are the foundation of Lenny’s legacy, and they have also been a challenge for LZF as an organization: how do you talk about impact that’s fundamentally relational, not driven by dollar figures? Ben Echevarria, an LZF board member, former grantee partner, and now co-chair of our Community Investments Committee, put it simply: “LZF taught me how to be an ED.” Ben went on to lead several other nonprofits and mentor many more new executive directors. That’s the kind of impact that doesn’t show up in a grant total.
In 2025, we commissioned a 30-Year Longitudinal Impact Study, led by Julia Gittleman and Rae Negron, to better understand and articulate LZF’s impact, not only on the organizations we’ve partnered with but also on Greater Boston’s nonprofit and philanthropic community. Beyond the more than $14 million in grants LZF has given to 435 grassroots organizations since 1996, what this study reveals is that our deepest impact lives in the stories and testimony of our grantee partners, their leaders, like Ben, and hundreds of others who’ve built something lasting because LZF believed in them early on and supported their continued growth.
As the current and incoming executive directors of The Lenny Zakim Fund, we are pleased to share with you LZF’s 30-Year Longitudinal Impact Study report. LZF’s relational approach to impact is even more needed and relevant today, as we face growing inequities and a fraying of the connections that hold communities together. Thanks to the words of our grantee partners that you will read in the coming pages, we remain optimistic and committed to our vision for a more just and equitable world where communities thrive because of the contributions and leadership of grassroots organizations.
Lenny started a revolution of thought and spirit when he founded this Fund. We hope you’ll join us in carrying it forward.
Allison E. Picott
Executive Director
Tiffany Lau
Deputy Director &
Incoming Executive Director
Report Highlights
The Lenny Zakim Fund’s 30-Year Longitudinal Impact Study reveals five major themes from the analysis of survey responses, interviews, and historical grant data.
Finding #1
Trust-Based, Relationship-Centered Philanthropy Is the Foundation of LZF’s Impact and Multi-Year Funding is Transformative.
Finding #2
Early-Stage and Grassroots Organizations Depend on LZF in Ways No Other Funder Replicates.
Finding #3
Capacity Building Is Among LZF’s Most Valued Contributions, Especially When It Is Personalized.
Finding #4
LZF’s Community and Network Building Is Inseparable from Capacity Building and Creates Lasting Value.
Finding #5
LZF’s Field Leadership is Highly Valued and is an Opportunity for Change.
Taken together, they offer a comprehensive picture of what makes LZF distinctive, what its grantee partners value most, and where opportunities for growth and deepened impact lie. The findings of this study documents about what trust-based, relationship-centered philanthropy produces when practiced with consistency over decades. It empowers organizations that grow into thriving community institutions.
In addition, this study is an invitation to consider how LZF can sustain and deepen what it has built by developing clearer impact measures, by strengthening the transitions that grantee partner organizations navigate as funding relationships evolve, and by stepping into the field leadership role that its thirty-year track record has earned.
Key Survey Statistics
93% said LZF helped their organization become successful
89% said they had become more sustainable as a result of LZF funding
89% reported that their staff gained knowledge that allowed them to work more effectively
78% said as a result of participating in LZF capacity building activities, their leaders feel more confident, supported, and empowered to care for the communities they serve
73% have been able to build lasting connections with peers through the LZF community
We Are Better Together Warren Daniel Hairston Project (funded 2020-2024) connects and heals women and girls affected by homicide and incarceration to prevent the cycles of violence
and victimization.
Introduction
For thirty years, The Lenny Zakim Fund (LZF or The Fund) has occupied a distinctive position in the philanthropic ecosystem of Greater Boston.
LZF has functioned simultaneously as a capacity-building funder, a community convener, and an intermediary practicing trust-based, community-centered philanthropy in sustained partnership with grassroots social justice and human service nonprofits. In a funding landscape often characterized by short grant cycles, restrictive requirements, and limited access for the smallest organizations, LZF has consistently done something different: it has shown up for the organizations that other funders overlook, and it has stayed.
LZF’s work with grassroots organizations is organized around three united areas of activity. Through its grantmaking, The Fund has directed more than $14 million to 435 organizations over three decades, prioritizing early-stage, under-resourced nonprofits working on social, economic, and racial justice in eastern Massachusetts. Through capacity building, LZF has offered grantee partner organizations access to legal support, leadership development, skills training, and individualized coaching that builds lasting organizational strength. And through community building, LZF has cultivated a network of peer relationships among grassroots organizations that extends beyond individual grant cycles. In addition, LZF engages in the 4th area of field building through its collaborations with philanthropic partners and donors.
This study arrives at an important moment. As LZF celebrates its 30th year, the organization is engaged in active reflection about its impact and future. Three strategic priorities are driving this work: building organizational visibility, developing more concrete impact measures, and contributing to the broader philanthropic dialogue as a thought leader and field-builder. This report is an account of what LZF has built, grounded in the voices of the people who have experienced it directly.
Founder Lenny Zakim pictured with a representative from Young Graffiti Masters (funded 1997-2000) at an early Awards Ceremony.
Background and History of The Lenny Zakim Fund
The organization that would become The Lenny Zakim Fund was established in 1995 as The Lenny Fund, named in honor of Lenny Zakim, the civil rights leader and longtime New England director of the Anti-Defamation League. Six years later, in 2001, the organization was renamed The Lenny Zakim Fund to fully reflect his legacy and values.
The Fund’s growth over three decades has been significant. In 1996, LZF awarded its first grants, a total of $49,752 distributed to 11 nonprofit organizations. By 2025, that number had grown to more than $650,000 awarded to 53 organizations in a single year. Across the full 30-year span, LZF has made grants totaling more than $14 million to 435 grantee partner organizations, with the average grant per organization growing from $4,500 in 1996 to $12,456 in 2025.
The Fund’s programmatic scope also expanded over time. Beginning in 2007, LZF offered capacity building services to grantees through pro bono legal support provided by the law firm DLA Piper. In 2009, LZF launched The Lenny Zakim Fund Leadership Forums, providing structured learning opportunities for nonprofit leaders. That same year, LZF launched its Young Leadership Group, deepening its commitment to community building and the development of the next generation of civic leaders.
LZF’s mission is to listen to those most impacted by inequity and provide the funding, essential resources, and support they need to create lasting change.
The Fund pursues this mission by developing deep relationships and building bridges among people and communities to advance social, economic, and racial justice. Its vision is a more just and equitable world where communities thrive because of the contributions and leadership of grassroots organizations.
“In addition to providing the program with funds and in-kind gifts to help us sustain and expand activities, The Lenny Fund also helped to dramatically increase the program’s visibility, helped us to leverage matching funds, and put us in contact with people and institutions to which the teens would not normally be exposed.”
-Young Graffiti Masters
33 Arch Street, 26th Fl. | Boston, MA 02110 | (617) 406-5945 | office@thelennyzakimfund.org
The Lenny Zakim Fund is a tax-exempt, 501(c)3 organization under the IRS. | EIN 04-3485146