UNCF Announces Historic $12 Million Gift from The James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation to Strengthen HBCU Endowments and Expand Pathways in Healthcare and Education

Gift will strengthen financial sustainability at 12 UNCF member institutions while expanding economic mobility for the next generation of educators and healthcare professionals

Washington, DC, Aug. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UNCF announced The Dimon Fund to Advance Economic Opportunity, a historic $12 million gift from The James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation to strengthen the long-term sustainability of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Established as The Dimon Fund to Advance Economic Opportunity within UNCF's $1.5B capital campaign, the gift will provide permanent endowment capital to 12 selected UNCF member schools as part of their $5 million institutional match within UNCF’s pooled endowment fund. Recipient schools were selected for the strength of their leadership and governance and for their proven record of preparing educators, nurses and other healthcare professionals. These are high-demand fields in which HBCUs consistently deliver outsized outcomes for first-generation and underrepresented students. A number of the selected schools also have distinctive cross-institutional collaborations including credit-transfer partnerships in health-related disciplines that shorten the distance between classroom and career launch, a national model for building talent pipelines at scale.

By growing endowments, The Dimon Fund to Advance Economic Opportunity will help strengthen institutional balance sheets, expand capacity for long-range planning and secure research, academic and infrastructural capital.

Together, UNCF and The Dimon Foundation share a conviction that combating inequity requires more than access to quality post-secondary education. It requires durable institutions with the resources to ensure every student can succeed and ascend.

The following UNCF member institutions will each receive $1 million in permanent endowment capital through The Dimon Fund to Advance Economic Opportunity:

Benedict College (Columbia, SC), Dillard University (New Orleans, LA), Edward Waters University (Jacksonville, FL), Huston-Tillotson University (Austin, TX), Jarvis Christian University (Hawkins, TX), Johnson C. Smith University (Charlotte, NC), Miles College (Fairfield, AL), Oakwood University (Huntsville, AL), Shaw University (Raleigh, NC), Stillman College (Tuscaloosa, AL), Tuskegee University (Tuskegee, AL), and Voorhees University (Denmark, SC).

The commitment affirms the Dimons’ longstanding focus on and support of economic mobility for young people. Theirs is a philanthropic approach that favors systemic, scalable solutions that lead to concrete improvements in young people’s lives. Jamie Dimon is Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and previously served on UNCF's board of directors.  Judy Dimon is President of The Dimon Foundation where she leads a strategic grantmaking portfolio focused on bolstering and improving career connected learning for students in grades 9 through 14 in New York City public schools.  The gift to UNCF complements The Dimon Foundation’s efforts to strengthen the transition from high school to college to high demand careers.   

“Our country’s future and strength depend on our young people. Our system of HBCUs continue to serve as the springboard to success for thousands of students in pursuit of the American Dream.  As the children of first-generation high school and college graduates, we were imbued with a thirst for knowledge and a drive to succeed—principles that we have passed on to our own children and that we wish to share with all the students at the selected HBCUs.  We are honored to help UNCF strengthen the long-term financial viability of these critical schools of higher learning,” said Jamie and Judy Dimon.

This partnership was cultivated under the leadership of Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, UNCF president-in-residence and co-chair of UNCF's capital campaign.

“I am enormously grateful for this generous donation and the unwavering support of HBCUs by Jamie and Judy Dimon. Their gift is both a vote of confidence and a catalyst,” said Dr. Cole. “By accelerating endowment growth, this commitment from The Dimon Foundation will strengthen the financial position of these vital institutions and expand their capacity to make long-term decisions benefitting students, faculty, and the broader communities they serve as they prepare the teachers who awaken young minds today and the healers who will mend our communities, tomorrow.”

“In more than eight decades of this work, UNCF has proven a simple truth: our institutions endure, and they lift generations as they go. The James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation understands that permanence is its own form of power. By choosing to build endowment rather than fund a single moment, Jamie and Judy Dimon have given our member institutions something rare and lasting. They have given them the freedom to govern with confidence, to plan for decades, and to keep faith with more students who walk through their doors. On behalf of the board, I am proud and profoundly grateful," said Milton H. Jones Jr., chair of the UNCF Board of Directors.

The gift advances a central priority of UNCF's $1.5 billion capital campaign: strengthening the long-term financial sustainability of its member institutions by building permanent endowment capital. That vision, championed by UNCF President and CEO Dr. Michael L. Lomax, reflects the organization's belief that strong institutions create lasting opportunity.  

“At UNCF, we have long believed the strongest way to expand opportunity is to strengthen the institutions making opportunity possible. Endowments create permanence. Permanence creates independence. Independence creates the freedom to innovate, to lead, and to serve generations of students. Jamie and Judy Dimon have embraced that vision, and their investment will strengthen the future of HBCUs in the years to come,” said Dr. Lomax. 

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About The James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation
The James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation was created in 1996 to pursue scalable, sustainable solutions to systemic obstacles impeding the economic success of young people and families.  In 2022, the Foundation launched its most ambitious endeavor by helping to scale FutureReadyNYC (FRNYC), a public–private partnership designed to measurably close the gap between New York’s labor market demand for skilled talent and the lack of clear “rungs within reach” for high school students preparing for 21^st century careers. Working directly with NYC Public School, industry partners, and key non-profit intermediaries, including higher education, the Foundation seeks to systemically improve how students are introduced, prepared, and advised to pursue careers of their choice.  By 2030, FRNYC will enable at least 100,000 public high school students to graduate with in-depth career-connected experiences that set them up for future employment in high growth, high opportunity sectors in New York and beyond. 

About UNCF
UNCF is one of the nation’s largest and most effective supporters of higher education and serves as a leading advocate for college-bound students. Since its founding in 1944, UNCF has raised more than $6 billion to support students' access to higher education, provide scholarships and strengthen historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Each year, UNCF awards more than 13,000 scholarships to more than 10,000 students totaling more than $64 million. The scholarships support students attending more than 600 US-based colleges and universities including 36 UNCF-member HBCUs. Through its efforts, UNCF has helped generations of students to get to and through college. We believe a college education plays a vital role in strengthening the pipeline of leaders and professionals who advance our society. Our logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and our widely recognized trademark is, ‟A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”^® Learn more at UNCF.org or for continuous updates and news, follow UNCF on Instagram.

Roy Betts
UNCF
2407033384
roy.betts@uncf.org