Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation

In celebration of International Women's Day, we are proud to share a special video tribute highlighting the trailblazing women entrepreneurs in our portfolio. Their innovation, strength, leadership, and resilience continue to inspire us every day as they work to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. We are honored to support their solutions as they redefine industries and inspire future generations of leaders. Watch the video:

SIRUM, a DRK Foundation portfolio organization, is enabling the safe donation of unexpired medication to be redistributed as life-saving medicine to millions of people in need. To date, they have distributed over $295 million worth of prescription medication to more than 500,000 patients and expanded to Maryland last week to reach hundreds of thousands more people in need. SIRUM’s partnership with the State of Maryland will allow anyone with a Maryland mailing address facing high prescription costs to receive donated medicine through SIRUM’s Good Pill Pharmacy — regardless of their insurance status. Over 500 prescription medications are available for home delivery through Good Pill, most for just $2 per month. “Health care should be about making it easy for families to get the medications they need — not a complicated process of figuring out costs and coverage. SIRUM is proud to partner with the State of Maryland to make our pharmacy Good Pill a simple, affordable option for Marylanders to access prescription medicine,” says Kiah Williams, co-founder of SIRUM. “Maryland is already a national leader in making prescription drugs more affordable. We are now writing the next chapter in our work to ensure that no Marylander has to choose between life-saving medicine and basic needs such as food and housing,” says Gov. Wes Moore. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gysuANJ9.

We’re thrilled to announce DRK Foundation’s investment in Rural Behavioral Health Institute, and welcome Janet Lindow, PhD to the DRK portfolio. Why we’re excited: Rural Behavioral Health Institute (RBHI) is building a school-based mental health system to support the youth in rural America who struggle with mental health conditions, but lack access to the care they need. Their transformative program — Screening Linked to Care — rapidly identifies and connects students experiencing mental health challenges to same-day support, along with ongoing?care navigation to help them find longer-term services. RBHI’s program solves the logistical barriers rural youth face in accessing mental health resources by providing support where students already are: at school. ? RBHI has demonstrated remarkable impact on youth mental health, with successful evaluations across more than 42,000 students from over 100 schools spanning 70% of Montana’s counties since Fall 2022. RBHI is currently piloting their program in Georgia, Illinois, and Oregon, and plans to screen over 160,000 students annually by 2028. Learn more about Rural Behavioral Health Institute and their innovative approach to mental health care:?https://www.rbhi.org/

SolarAPP+, an organization new to the DRK portfolio, is accelerating access to clean energy in the U.S. by streamlining permitting for solar installation. Through their innovative platform, SolarAPP+ automatically checks residential solar project designs against local jurisdictional codes, and rapidly issues permits for compliant applications — supporting faster solar adoption while saving valuable time and resources for local governments, contractors, and households. To date, SolarAPP+ has processed more than 70,000 permits and has reduced project timelines by an average of three weeks. In 2023 alone, SolarAPP+ abated nearly 2 million tCO2 emissions and saved roughly $945,000 in household electricity costs. More than 250 local jurisdictions across 12 states already use SolarAPP+ to accelerate solar permitting. New Orleans recently joined this growing network as the first city in Louisiana to adopt SolarAPP+’s technology — underscoring the city’s commitment to accessible clean energy. “SolarAPP+ represents the type of innovative tool local governments need to achieve ambitious climate goals while reducing costs and saving staff time. New Orleans’ adoption is a major win for Louisiana and residents looking to move to clean energy technologies,” says Matthew McAllister, founder and CEO of SolarAPP+. “This platform will empower our community to embrace clean energy by simplifying the permitting process for solar installations, ensuring safety, and supporting the growth of sustainable jobs in the region,” says New Orleans Mayor La Toya Cantrell. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gNyvdKWH

We’re excited to see Wawira Njiru, founder and CEO of Food4Education, named a 2025 CNBC Changemaker. Wawira is the first and only African CEO on the Changemaker list, and is joined by 49 other leaders across sectors — health care, biotech, entertainment, and beyond — each recognized for their transformative impact on business and philanthropy. Driven by the vision that no child should have to learn on an empty stomach, Food4Education, a DRK Foundation portfolio organization, has built the first true path to feeding at least 250 million children across Africa through their innovative design for school meal programs. Using technology and smart supply chains, Food4Education sources produce from local farms to provide daily meals to students in Kenya at just $0.30 per serving — offering an affordable, scalable, and sustainable solution to help vulnerable children learn more effectively. Under Wawira’s visionary leadership, Food4Education has grown from serving just 25 students in one school to feeding 500,000 children in over 1,200 schools every day. Food4Education has served more than 93 million nutritious meals to date, and is on track to feed 1 million children daily by 2027. Congratulations, Wawira, and all of the Changemakers. Learn more about Wawira and her plan to feed the future: https://lnkd.in/gFkG3NyW

This week, the American Journalism Project, a venture philanthropy investing in local news to empower communities, announced a $25 million investment from Knight Foundation to accelerate the growth of nonprofit local news organizations nationwide. Since their launch in 2019, the American Journalism Project, a DRK Foundation portfolio organization, has raised more than $200 million for nonprofit news in partnership with local and national philanthropy, with their current portfolio of 50 grantees serving communities in 36 states. The new funding from Knight Foundation will provide growth capital and operational support to up to 60 nonprofit news organizations, expand their partnerships with local philanthropy to address news and information gaps, and launch the Knight Resiliency Lab at the American Journalism Project to strengthen the resilience of nonprofit newsrooms. “Nonprofit local news is the fastest-growing part of the local news industry, and this investment from Knight Foundation is a testament to its momentum. With Knight’s continued partnership, we’re not just supporting news organizations — we’re helping build a lasting, resilient future for local journalism. This funding will allow us to scale our impact, strengthen more newsrooms, and ensure more communities have access to the trustworthy local news they deserve,” says Sarabeth Berman, CEO of the American Journalism Project. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gc9kwgpJ?

Reboot Rx, a DRK Foundation portfolio organization, envisions a future where cancer patients worldwide have access to effective, low-cost treatment options that help them live longer and better lives. Using their AI technology powered by machine learning and natural language processing, Reboot Rx accelerates the cancer treatment development process by identifying generic drug candidates for repurposing in just weeks instead of years. Reboot Rx is introducing their first treatment option for prostate cancer into the standard of care, which costs patients as little as $50 per year. Their treatment has the potential to slow cancer progression — helping thousands of patients avoid or delay surgery and radiation, while saving billions in healthcare costs annually. “It’s not in the business model of pharmaceutical companies to develop low-cost drugs, so they just stay sitting on the shelf. And patients like my mom weren’t able to benefit from them. We’re so excited about the use of generic drugs that are so much cheaper. It’s a game changer,” says Laura Kleiman, PhD, founder and CEO of Reboot Rx on WFXT Boston 25 News. Watch the full feature: https://lnkd.in/ebc4JbuR

So glad that so many could join us for yesterday's Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation convening for Texas funders on the Value of Investing in Impact. We had a great group of funders and impact investors in the room together, where we talked about lessons learned about scale from the over 250 organizations we've invested in, heard from entrepreneurs (Wole Coaxum, Sarah J. Johnson, Aimée Eubanks Davis, Atif Javed, and Scott Moorhead) about their own paths to growth and the challenges that come along with it, and challenged the funders to think about how we can work together and provide deeper support to early-stage organizations solving our toughest challenges. Special thanks to Robert Steven Kaplan for spending the afternoon with us and lending us his wisdom, as well as Jennifer Sampson and Nicole Small for being part of it. And it was great to spotlight the three Texas-based organizations that we have brought into our portfolio as we've deepened our investments in the state: Child Poverty Action Lab (CPAL), Texas Water Trade, and Lone Star Justice Alliance. Our goal is to continue growing our support to the most innovative organizations in the state, so keep the ideas coming!

First Place for Youth, a DRK Foundation portfolio organization, is transforming the outcomes of young people aging out of foster care. Through their “My First Place” program, First Place for Youth combines robust housing support with case management, education and employment counseling, and healthy living skills assistance to successfully transition foster youth into self-sufficiency and responsible adulthood. The impact of the program speaks for itself: After their first year in My First Place, 97% of youth have found stable housing, 82% are enrolled in school, and 85% have secured employment.? First Place for Youth recently launched My First Place in Mississippi, signifying an important step forward in their effort to scale the program nationwide. “This is an opportunity for us to really start to transform the lives of young people who experience foster care. This is what every young person deserves across the country,” says Thomas G. Lee, CEO of First Place for Youth, on WDAM 7. Watch the full feature to learn more:

We are pleased to announce Mandy Price will join DRK’s leadership team as a Managing Director based in our Dallas office. With more than 18 years of executive experience, Mandy will play a lead role in sourcing new investments for the DRK portfolio and will work as an operating partner and board member for those organizations, helping them grow, build capacity, and achieve maximum impact. Prior to joining DRK, Mandy served as the co-founder and CEO of Kanarys?, a pioneering social enterprise backed by Google, Morgan Stanley, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest, HubSpot Ventures, and leading venture capital firms. Under her leadership, Kanarys became a market leader in AI-driven workforce analytics, digital transformation, and enterprise solutions, helping Fortune 500 companies leverage technology to create high-performing, inclusive workplaces. “Joining DRK is an extraordinary opportunity to collaborate with an unparalleled team dedicated to scaling transformative solutions,” says Mandy. “I look forward to leveraging my experience to support mission-driven entrepreneurs and help them build scalable, sustainable enterprises that drive meaningful change.” Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e_Sdwthb