LaGrange CollegeABOUT US
Our Foundation
The Lettie Pate Evans Foundation invests in education and arts and culture to improve quality of life. We have awarded more than 1,000 grants totaling $475 million since inception.
Legacy of Mrs. Evans
Our grantmaking is inspired by the legacy of Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans, an extraordinary businesswoman and philanthropist. She was the wife of Joseph B. Whitehead, one of the original bottlers of Coca-Cola. When Mr. Whitehead died in 1906, Lettie Pate took over the family’s bottling and real estate businesses and steered them to great success. She joined the board of The Coca-Cola Company in 1934, becoming one of the first woman directors of a major U.S. corporation.
Mrs. Evans gave generously to organizations in Georgia and Virginia, where she lived with her second husband Colonel Arthur Kelly Evans. Local Coca-Cola bottlers followed her example by investing in their home communities, and both of her sons dedicated their fortunes to philanthropy by establishing foundations named for their parents. At her death, The Coca-Cola Company honored her thus: “Truly Mrs. Evans, by her life and example, made this world a better place within which to live.”
Berry College by Brant SanderlinAbout the Foundation
Mrs. Evans established the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation in 1945 and endowed it with her estate upon her death in 1953. Her will also established a restricted fund that provides annual support to 14 designated nonprofit organizations. The Evans Foundation serves as trustee of that fund. Over time, distributions by the restricted fund have made Mrs. Evans the top private donor to Berry College, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Tallulah Falls School, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Virginia Theological Seminary, Washington and Lee University and William & Mary.
The Foundation shares an office and staff with other Whitehead family philanthropies – the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation and the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation – as well as with the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation. This arrangement came about through the friendship between Mrs. Evans and Mr. Woodruff, longtime leader of The Coca-Cola Company, and allows us to jointly consider and administer grants for all four foundations.
The Evans Foundation focuses on giving in metro Atlanta and Georgia and makes occasional grants for organizations in Virginia that were supported by Mrs. Evans. In keeping with our founder’s giving interests, we invest primarily in education and arts and culture. Grants typically support one-time needs for organizations with strong leadership, a broad base of financial support, successful program outcomes, and the capacity to sustain work long-term.
Agnes Scott CollegeLeadership and Policies
Governance
The Lettie Pate Evans Foundation is governed by a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees, which sets policies and makes decisions regarding the Foundation’s operations, grantmaking, management, investments and governance.
Articles of Incorporation
Provides specific purposes for the Lettie Pate Evans Foundation as a Georgia corporation and private foundation.
Bylaws
Lists the rules that guide the Board of Trustees in managing the Foundation’s operations.
Statement of Principles
Serves as a guide for everyday professional conduct for the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and staff.