MetLife Celebrates 50 Years of Community Impact through MetLife Foundation 

For half a century, MetLife Foundation has embodied MetLife’s commitment to building a more confident future.

The beginning

In 1976, MetLife leaders decided to create the Foundation for the simple yet powerful belief that the company could make a difference beyond its business alone. They saw that while many foundations responded to immediate needs, MetLife Foundation could help shape the future – by guiding society’s priorities in health, civic affairs, culture, economic betterment and education, and by finding new ways to address challenges before they became crises. It could also address the need for the private sector to innovate and exert leadership in matters of social consequence.

A year later, MetLife Foundation was established as an independent charitable organization and ever since has made significant contributions to strengthen communities where MetLife has a presence, setting out to be “innovative, creative and forward looking.”

The start of its legacy

Once established, the Foundation began making a difference in people’s lives and building its own legacy. In 1977, the first grants were made with more than $253,000 to 53 organizations focused on health, civic affairs, culture, education and economic development. Early grants supported nonprofits including the Police Athletic League, Fresh Air Fund and the New York Hospital Burn Center.

Over the next several decades, the Foundation would evolve and grow its efforts and focus areas to include financial education, job readiness, environmental causes, housing and well-being, eventually reaching over $1 billion in giving in 2023.

Along the way, it expanded the way it provided support, making impact investments with traditional grants to generate positive societal benefits for our communities. Since 1984, the Foundation has invested $92 million and was one of the first corporate foundations to use program-related investments, demonstrating the effectiveness of providing flexible financial support to mission-driven organizations while generating financial returns. A pioneer within philanthropy, the Foundation’s success also led MetLife to start making impact investments in 1994.

The future

As we reflect on the Foundation’s first 50 years, one thing is clear, MetLife Foundation remains true to its founding principles to be “creative, innovative and forward-looking.”

The creation of the Community Impact Grant Program, Volunteering with Purpose and focus on longevity and well-being are examples of this as they lead the Foundation to fulfill its original intention of “protecting new ideas and recommending new systems for our society.”

MetLife Foundation continues to celebrate the achievements of our employee volunteers and find new ways to connect employees with nonprofits through programs such as MetLife Skills for Impact that unites people around giving back through local and global volunteering.

Every milestone is a testament to the dedication of MetLife employees and nonprofit partners for their belief in building stronger communities.