The Michael J. Connell Foundation has made more than half of its grants to advance the cultural experience. Some of the more typical grants made in the past five years have included:
- Four separate grants to the Los Angles Philharmonic Association aggregating $400,000. The first of these grants assisted in the construction of Walt Disney Hall, where the orchestra is the principal tenant. The second provided seed money to start a new series of baroque music in the new hall. The third provided partial funding for concerts honoring Mozart's 250th birthday. The fourth provided funding for another barque concert series.
- A matching funds grant in the amount of $75,000 to enahance alumni support for the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasdena, California.
- Several grants to Community Television of Southern California aggregating $160,000 to develop scripts for a proposed new television series. Some of these grants are intended to be replenished and reused as productions are funded.
- Several grants to small local theatre groups to support productions.
Educational grants made by the Michael J. Connell Foundation have spanned a broad range of endeavors, but most recently have focused on programs designed to serve minorities or on the implementation of technology. A few of the more typical recent grants have included:
- A grant to the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication in the amount of $210,000 to support a program in public broadcasting, focusing on long term needs of public broadcasting, including the need for expanded and new sources of funding.
- Several grants aggregating $348,000 to Value Schools, an operator of two charter schools serving the downtown area of Los Angeles, to help defer the start up expenses associated with the opening of a grammar school and a high-school and to complete needed classroom improvements.
The Michael J. Connell Foundation has supported numerous environmental activities and continues to be very concerned over the deterioration of our environment and the effect of the deterioration on future generations. Recent grants addressing these concerns include:
- Four grants aggregating $150,000 to the Teller Wildlife Refuge in Corvallis, Montana for a stream and land restoration projects designed to restore over grazed land to native habitat.
- A series of grants aggregating $105,000 to Concerned Resources & Environmental Workers, a Ventura, California based group that employs youths, many of whom are "at risk", to work on fire prevention, land restoration, trail maintenance and other wilderness projects. These grants have gone to support individual projects and to expand office management capabilities.
Many of the recent grants made by the Michael J. Connell Foundation have supported research relating to afflictions associated with brain aging, including genetic and other disorders. Because the Foundation does not have the resources needed to support these costly efforts, most grants have provided seed money to support a program until it can access more significant funding resources. The foundation makes few grants in this area. However, when made, the grants tend to be somewhat larger than the average grants in other areas. The following describes the foundation's most recent significant grant:
- A $300,000 grant to the University of Southern California School of medicine to support a research Assistant Professor in the Department of neurological Surgery to pursue investigative efforts focused on the relationship of Alzheimer's disease and disorders of the brain circulation.
- A $240,000 grant to the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles to purchase specialized MRI equipment.
- A $100,000 grant to Miller Chidren's Hospital to support the capital campaign to build an upgraded facility complying with enhanced California Earthquake standards.
