The Coleman Foundation is a private, independent grantmaker focusing primarily on the Midwest. Foundation resources support education – with a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship; cancer care, treatment and research; and disability services.

In 1981, the Foundation began to question why individuals are encouraged to “get a job” rather than to create one. Since that time the Foundation has committed over $37 million to promote the option of self-employment, improve the quality of entrepreneurship education, and help create a new generation of business owners.

The Foundation has been an active advocate for raising the standards of cancer care in the Midwest. Funding of cancer care, including research, support services and treatment, was initially in response to a reality which touched the lives of the Colemans.

The Foundation supports various programs aimed at helping individuals with disabilities achieve self-determination, self-reliance, and self-respect.

The Coleman Foundation, with assets now exceeding $150 million, proceeds from the liberating spirit of the entrepreneurial business ventures which created the wealth that was initially placed into the Coleman Foundation trust. Since 1981, the foundation has granted in excess of $110 million to advance the concepts of self-reliance and self-determination, individual initiative and self-respect, and the liberating spirit of entrepreneurship.