The Peter Kiewit Foundation began in 1979 with a $150 million endowment as a private, independent, philanthropic trust. Peter Kiewit wanted to invest in organizations and communities that demonstrate the ability and desire to help themselves. He frequently referred to a three-legged stool metaphor, with funds from the applicant and its immediate support group as one leg, funds from the larger community as the second leg, and funds from philanthropy as the third leg. He believed that this balanced support ensured “ownership” of the project by those who would need to sustain it into the future. After thoughtful and strategic consideration, the Peter Kiewit Foundation made the decision to sunset in 2030.
“The foundation has been a key leader in building the downtown urban core, the Riverfront, the Omaha Convention Center, the baseball stadium, the Luminarium, the Holland, and the Steelhouse. The investments we made catalyzed Omaha’s economic growth and success,” said Wendy Boyer, the executive director of the Peter Kiewit Foundation.
The Peter Kiewit Foundation Engineering Academy is one of Boyer’s personal favorite programs. It’s a need-based scholarship program which covers living expenses, tuition, books, and fees, and is focused on helping women advance in the engineering field. The program helps 40 students a year, and can have 180 students on the scholarship at one time. That scholarship will go on perpetually and won’t be affected by the foundation’s sundown…