In 1967, when Ken Germeshausen first articulated his family's philanthropic philosophy, he said, “The welfare and continual progress of humanity depends upon our ability to use knowledge well...Invention and innovation have been at the heart of American growth and renewal, and we must look now to build a better future for all humanity.”

When the Germeshausens established the foundation, Ken's goal was to promote inventiveness and innovation in other people. Nancy Klavans is also guided by this goal while pursuing her own vision as president and trustee of the foundation.

The Germeshausen Foundation is interested in working with organizations whose leaders have new ideas and the entrepreneurial capacity to make those ideas succeed.

We seek to collaborate with grantees, building relationships that can evolve and grow. And we hope that our grants serve a strategic purpose, “signaling” other institutions to become involved and help the programs achieve their objectives.

In all of our grant-making, we wish to highlight and promote the idea of interconnectedness and interdependence. People-and nature-are very much interconnected in today's world. Meeting challenges and solving tough problems means understanding that and acting accordingly.