Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust awarded nearly $25 million in grants during its recently concluded 2026 fiscal year, supporting local nonprofits and community partners in strengthening quality of life for the people of Maricopa County, Arizona.

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Dr. Alberto Ríos, Steve Zabilski, Dr. Judy Mohraz.

25 Years of Piper Fellows

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of the Piper Fellows program, which provides outstanding nonprofit leaders with extensive, self-designed professional development opportunities. A Piper Fellowship offers the potential for up to $90,000 in grant funding to a Fellow’s organization.

“We invest in people. We invest in leaders,” said Steve Zabilski, president and CEO of Piper Trust, “not simply to become Piper Fellows in order to improve themselves or even their organizations, but also for their commitment to improve our community.”

The Piper Fellows program was created by the Trust’s inaugural CEO, Dr. Judy Mohraz, who believed in the possibilities of supporting our nonprofit leaders in a way that put them first, when they often think of themselves last. Dr. Mohraz was recognized at the announcement of the 2025 class of Piper Fellows. Dr. Alberto Ríos, Arizona’s inaugural poet laureate, read “The Art of Believing,” which he wrote to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of the Piper Fellows program—the poem is dedicated to Mohraz. View the reading of the commemorative poem via the video below.

Piper Trust—Art of Believing VIDEO

Ríos is director, regents’ professor, and chair of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University. Mohraz has served on Piper Trust’s Board of Trustees since 2012.

A total of 131 Piper Fellowships have been awarded since the program’s inception in 2001.

Fiscal Year 2026 Grants

During fiscal year 2026 (for the period covering April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026) Piper Trust awarded more than $24.7 million in support of local nonprofits and programs.

Among these were $1 million grants awarded to six of Arizona’s largest colleges and universities to advance their higher education missions in Maricopa County ($6 million total awarded in August 2025).

The following outlines published grantmaking by the Trust’s core areas. View grants awarded in 2026 and all years dating back to 2000 via the online Grantmaking History search tool.

TRUST-INITIATED GRANT AWARDS—TOTAL: $15,529,415

Trust-Initiated Grantmaking: grants conceived by the Trust or in partnership with other philanthropies/organizations; these grants are often unique long-term investments that carry broad impact. Following lists the breakdown of Trust-initiated grants by core funding area.

Arts and Culture—Total: $1,960,566

Children—Total: $2,657,220

Education—Total: $6,483,164

Healthcare—Total: $1,728,000

Older Adults—Total: $286,000

Religious Organizations—Total: $783,171

Other—Total: $1,631,294

For further context, the $15.5 million in Trust-initiated grantmaking includes pools of funding directed to special grantmaking categories this past fiscal year such as:

Arts and Culture Experience Grants—Total: $350,000

A philanthropic collaboration initiated by Piper Trust and Stardust Foundation, Arts and Culture Experience grants were jointly awarded to 47 Maricopa County arts and culture organizations (October 2025) timed for the holiday season. Grants provided organizations with an unexpected funding boost as a means for them to help welcome more community members through their doors, especially those who may be less likely to attend due to financial or transportation challenges.

Homelessness Prevention—Total: $1,500,000

Trust-initiated grants provided in collaboration with other philanthropies and partners focused on homelessness prevention; the Trust awards grants to organizations engaged in eviction prevention and housing stability efforts targeting workers earning low-incomes and older adults with fixed incomes. To optimize the use of housing and homelessness resources in the community and support family stability, Piper Trust seeks to decrease the rate of people becoming homeless due to an immediate financial hardship. A recent story by Catholic Charities Arizona discusses how an unexpected setback can quickly threaten a family’s stability—and how temporary assistance can save a move to homelessness.

Materials Resource System/Gifts in Kind Efforts—Total: $600,000

Trust-initiated support to expand a collaborative effort designed to efficiently receive, store, and distribute high-quality and new donated essentials to individuals and families in Maricopa County through a collective of nonprofits. Organizations currently leading this effort include Stardust Nonprofit Building Supplies, Delivering Dreams Arizona, Nourish Phoenix, and St. Vincent de Paul.

Piper Fellows Program—Total: $920,000

A Trust-initiated program, the 2025 Class of Piper Fellows is comprised of 13 nonprofit leaders with each organization awarded $30,000 to support the Fellows’ respective self-designed, professional development plan; each organization is also awarded $10,000 to support related board/staff development. Upon completion of their Piper Fellowships, Fellows’ organizations are eligible to apply for a $50,000 Organizational Enhancement Grant. The 2025 Piper Fellows are: Jolyana Begay-Kroupa, CEO, Phoenix Indian Center; Jennifer Caraway, founder and CEO, The Joy Bus; Debbie Castaldo, president, Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation; Richard Crews, director of strategic impact, Keys to Change; Latrice Hickman, COO, Copa Health, Inc.; Lloyd Hopkins, founder, Million Dollar Teacher Project; Shonna James, president and executive director, Shemer Arts Center; Tracy Leonard-Warner, executive director, Ryan House; Jaclyn Pederson, CEO, Feeding Matters; Valentina Restrepo-Montoya, executive director and CEO, Arizona Legal Women and Youth Services; Nate Rhoton, CEO, one-n-ten; Eric Spicer, CDO, Arizona State University Foundation; and Michael Zirulnik, PhD, assistant vice president of university relations, Creighton University.

RESPONSIVE GRANT AWARDS—TOTAL: $6,053,000

Responsive Grantmaking: application-based grants proposed by a nonprofit working in partnership with a Trust program officer; these grants support nonprofit programs or projects that align with the Trust’s defined grantmaking. Following lists a breakdown by core funding area.

Arts and Culture—Total: $988,000

Jazz in Arizona, Inc. ($375,000) • Phoenix Chorale ($283,000) • Phoenix Conservatory of Music ($230,000) • TheaterWorks ($100,000)

Children—Total: $1,225,000

Arizona Centers for Comprehensive Education and Life Skills ($250,000) • East Valley Children’s Theatre ($150,000) • Encircle Families ($275,000) • Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona ($150,000) • Hope Women’s Center ($100,000) • Open Table, Inc. ($300,000)

Healthcare—Total: $1,165,000

Advance Community ($195,000) • Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Foundation ($225,000) • Circle the City ($410,000) • Prisma Community Care ($175,000) • Valle del Sol, Inc. ($160,000)

Older Adults—Total: $400,000

Arizona Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired ($400,000)

Religious Organizations—Total: $2,275,000

Care Portal ($250,000) • The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix ($950,000) • The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Phoenix ($1,000,000) • Valley Beit Midrash ($75,000)

Financial Report FY2025 is Now Available

Piper Trust’s Annual Financial Report includes full, audited financials and grant award totals for the Trust’s 2025 fiscal year (April 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025). On a cash basis, grants and Direct Charitable Activities (DCAs) were more than $26 million and totaled more than $58 million over the two-year period. These outsized grantmaking payouts continue to reflect the Trust’s deep commitment to providing the community with additional supports in a post-pandemic environment. DCAs are programs/projects initiated by Piper Trust that often support long-term investments, collaborations, or targeted efforts focused on solving specific challenges.

About Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust:

Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust supports organizations that enrich health, well-being, and opportunity for the people of Maricopa County, Arizona. Since it began awarding grants in 2000, Piper Trust has invested more than $775 million in local nonprofits and programs. Piper Trust grantmaking areas are healthcare and medical research, children, older adults, arts and culture, education, and religious organizations. For more information, visit pipertrust.org| Facebook | LinkedIn | X.

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“We invest in people. We invest in leaders,” said Steve Zabilski, president and CEO of Piper Trust, “not simply to become Piper Fellows in order to improve themselves or even their organizations, but also for their commitment to improve our community.”