Our new Funding framework

In 2001, the Trio board established the grantmaking framework which has effectively guided our giving for over 20 years, with the mission statement: “The Trio Foundation of St. Louis values community enhancement, fulfillment of human potential and ecological well-being. The Foundation expresses these values through supporting programs that promote independence, equality of opportunity, creativity, and environmental preservation.”

Over the last few years the Trio board undertook a planning and vision process to define a framework for Trio’s future grantmaking. The board is now putting the new framework in place that we hope will be even more responsive to community needs.

This process will take place over a few years, and will occur deliberately, carefully, and with respect for our current longtime grantees. We and the staff are committed to making changes thoughtfully and respectfully, and we will work with organizations that may no longer fit these new strategic goals to ensure a smooth transition to our new framework.

Trio will focus even more on increasing opportunity for everyone, particularly those who may experience discrimination in regard to their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and/or physical ability. In particular, we recognize the impact of racial discrimination in our community. Many of the problems Trio continually works to address through our giving will be unsolvable until racial equity is achieved.

We will also continue to strive to be empowering—creating opportunities for people to live up to their potential. Our work will be even more trust-based, collaborative, stressing the building of authentic relationships with all our partners and the community.

As we reaffirmed our values, purpose and goals, we also updated our mission statement to better reflect our vision for success:

The Trio Foundation of St. Louis values community enhancement, fulfillment of human potential and ecological well-being. The Foundation expresses these values through supporting programs and organizations that promote equity of opportunity, independence, equitable access to the creative experience, ecological preservation, and environmental justice.