The Legacy Foundation · Est. 2006
Opportunity is rarely scarce.
Access to it is.
Seven programs put young people and emerging artists in rooms that were not built to expect them — and stay long after the door opens.
The Legacy Foundation is a New York charitable house of seven programs, built on one conviction: talent is everywhere. Access is not.
Est. 2006 · New York
The programs
Seven programs.
One conviction.
Each one meets a different kind of closed door, and each states plainly who it serves.
Seat Forward
An empty seat is someone's first night out.
The Gentleman's Club
Young men, surrounded by mentors who stay.
The Creative Trust
Protect the work. Protect the person.
Legacy Library
Books, on the blocks where books are scarce.
Wild Windows
A window to the living world, open to everyone.
Life Skills Learning
The life skills school doesn't teach.
Legacy Heart Health Initiative
Know the pattern. Take the next right step.
The curtain rises either way. Who sees it is up to you.
Send a seat forwardA letter from the Chairman
On the first chapter, and what comes next.
I incorporated The Legacy Foundation in 2006, in law school, around a simple belief. Access to the right opportunity, at the right moment, can change what someone believes is possible for their own life. That belief still shapes every decision we make.
I remember a phone call early on. A teacher I'd never met, telling me about one of her students. She wasn't asking for anything specific. She just wanted us to know he existed. I have come back to that call again and again in the years since. It taught me that this work begins with the people who decide to call on someone else's behalf. The Foundation isn't here to be asked. It's here to listen for those calls, and to make sure they don't go unanswered.
For nearly fifteen years, we acted on that belief directly. After the pandemic, we paused to reassess. In 2026, we return with seven programs built to work together, opening doors at the points where they matter most.
The donors and partners who step in now will help shape what we become by 2030.
Anthony Clemenza
Founder & Chairman of the Board
Est.2006
501(c)(3) public charityEIN: 20-4557510Candid Platinum 2026
Every organization named here has a current relationship with the Foundation. We say what each one is, and nothing beyond it, on our supporters page.
The ask
Every door on this page was opened by a decision like yours.
A gift funds the seat, the mentor, the shelf of books, the hour of counsel. A partnership builds a program with us and reports what it built. Both begin here.