Mattel Children's Foundation

Overview
The Mattel Children's Foundation was established in 1978 and is a separate charitable organization incorporated as a nonprofit public benefit corporation. Since its inception, the Mattel Children's Foundation has focused its strategic grantmaking on one major objective: Improving the lives of children in need. The Mattel Children's Foundation has developed partnerships with exemplary nonprofit partners that demonstrate this ideal through both compassionate outreach to children and strong financial accountability.

Since 1978, the Mattel Children's Foundation has played together with thousands of charitable organizations and positively impacted millions of children. Over the years, the Foundation has funded new technologies, after-school activities, literacy projects, and programs to promote the health of children around the world. We continue that commitment today with programs that include our Signature Partners and international grantmaking activities.

Thirty years ago, the Mattel Children's Foundation was created with a vision of making a meaningful difference in the lives of children in need around the world. The Foundation has funded thousands of organizations during its history and supported millions of children through grants to charitable organizations serving youth. Over the years, the Foundation has funded technology, health care, literacy, girls empowerment, and international programs.

The Foundation has supported a number of programs over the years, including:


Mattel Family Learning Programs: Computer learning labs for underserved children in the US, Hong Kong, Mexico and Canada.


Helping Kids Grow: Supporting mobile clinics to provide preventive healthcare to low-income children.


Hand in Hand: Supporting partnerships of parents, schools and communities.
The Foundation's current grant making programs include:


Domestic Grantmaking supporting healthy lives and active play, literacy, girls empowerment and joy for children in need.


International Grantmaking impacting children in need in 40 countries.


Matching Gifts for Mattel employees in support of youth-focused charities and disaster relief.


Global Scholarships to children of Mattel employees in 13 countries.

The Mattel Children's Foundation currently has six Signature Partners: the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA; Special Olympics, which created a Young Athletes Program involving over 3,500 children worldwide just last year; Save the Children, which expanded its literacy programs through new community programs in multiple countries and built four new schools in Mali and Malawi; the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) through which over 60,000 toys were donated to its more than 200 member organizations; the Children Affected By AIDS Foundation (CAAF), which granted funding to 21 organizations serving AIDS orphans throughout Latin America and the Caribbean; and Make A Wish Foundation globally supports smiles on the faces of children facing life-threatening illnesses.