Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

The charity was founded in 1961 by Ian Fairbairn, a pioneer of unit trust investments, and was named after his second wife who was killed in World War II. Her sons, Paul and Oliver Stobart, were co-founders. The endowment gave the charity 33% of the shares in the M&G fund management company, and a regular income. This ended when M&G was sold to Prudential Corporation in 1999, but the sale allowed alternative investments that increased the income of the charity. ==Aims==

The foundation funds projects in the arts, education and learning, the environment and social change. The charity gives £20–40 million annually in grants or investments towards conservation work, community energy projects, national parks and biodiversity work. The charity initially funded projects to increase understanding and research in economics, as well as social welfare. an Esmée Fairbairn Junior Research Fellowship in Mathematics at New College, Oxford and the Esmée Fairbairn Chair of Finance at the London Business School from 1966 to 1976. In the 1970s the charity began to fund projects in the arts, environment and heritage as well. ==Administration==

As income from the charity's endowment and the number of grants grew in the 1990s, the number of trustees was increased and administrative staff were appointed. An investment committee was also required, after the initial endowment was sold. Since 2008 the charity has made some social investments. Past chairs were Jeremy Hardie from 2003 to 2007, and was succeeded by Caroline Mason. ==References==