Contact Info
LANL Foundation
1112 Plaza del Norte
Espanola, NM, 87532
Phone: 505-753-8890
Fax: 505-753-8915
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About Us
Letter from the CEO and Board President
Dear Friends,
Like all foundations, large and small, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Foundation faced many hurdles in 2008. National and international social and economic challenges added a new level of complexity to fulfilling our mission in Northern New Mexico. With community needs at their highest levels, we see this difficult time as an opportunity for self-assessment and reevaluation.
The Foundation’s endowment, managed for the past 12 years by the University of California (UC) Treasurer’s Office with an average annual return of 11%, tumbled from a high of $67 million to $47 million at year’s end. In response, we have struggled to stretch our budget and adjust to this huge financial change. However, we believe that our sound endowment management plan will help protect our resources dedicated to supporting Northern New Mexico school districts. The management goals for our portfolio are to steadily increase payouts in perpetuity to area schools and continue to build equity in education.
During this time when many organizations were forced to close their doors and hundreds of local, well-paying jobs were eliminated, the LANL Foundation cautiously cut operating costs to help meet future community needs. Like all Americans, we continue to closely watch the market and hope for an economic recovery in 2009 and beyond.
In 2008, the LANL Foundation also experienced several positive changes and outstanding achievements. We awarded $2,824,535 in Educational Enrichment funding, $628,539 in Educational Outreach funding, and $143,500 in Small Grants supporting schools and nonprofits. Scholarships totaling $290,000 were awarded to 51 outstanding students in our region. We helped the counties of Rio Arriba, Los Alamos, and Santa Fe implement the First Born® Program to assist and educate new parents.
On a high note, building construction was completed and the LANL Foundation staff moved into its new headquarters in May. In addition to providing office space, the facility will serve as a needed community resource for years to come by offering meeting space to local nonprofits, schools, and government agencies.
April 11, 2008 was another proud day for the LANL Foundation. We received a Piñon Award for performance excellence from Quality New Mexico, a nonprofit organization that encourages and rewards quality in business, education, government and healthcare while promoting an economic climate to foster and enhance the prosperity of New Mexico’s citizens. The program uses the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria to evaluate and recognize those organizations that make serious commitments to the use of quality concepts and principles. This award is just the beginning of the Foundation’s quest for excellence as we continue to improve our quality standards and business practices.
One of the most notable events in 2008 was the retirement of our beloved Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM). In honor of his support for local communities and his 36 years of dedicated service in Washington, D.C., the LANL Foundation worked diligently to establish an endowed scholarship in his name. We hope to endow a $10,000 scholarship (four-year $2,500 award) annually in each of the seven Northern New Mexico
counties. The annual banquet was dedicated to Senator Domenici, and the event’s proceeds in addition to donations from the corporate and private sectors helped raise $667,484 toward a $1.4 million goal for new scholarships.
In 2008, the Foundation also laid the groundwork for a new strategic plan to set the course for future work. The Board of Directors and staff are to be commended for their creativity, vision, and shared contributions to this dynamic planning process. The new strategic framework strengthens
our goals as we refocus and renew our commitment to the communities of Northern New Mexico. The LANL Foundation strategic plan is now proudly posted on our website.
