Before he passed away, Mr. Jones told his nephew John T. Jones, Jr., that he hoped Houston would one day have an outstanding center for the performing arts. As Houston Endowment’s president, John Jones went before the City Council in 1962 and offered to build and donate a downtown performing arts hall. Just the week before, Houston Endowment had donated land to the Alley Theatre for a new building. Mr. Jones explained to the Council, “We hope to help the whole area culturally with these gifts.” Four years later, the Jesse H. Jones Center for the Performing Arts opened to great acclaim and began the area’s transformation into a thriving arts destination.

At the time, Houston Endowment owned and operated major buildings and businesses developed by Jesse Jones in Houston, Fort Worth and New York City. In response to the Tax Reform Act of 1969, and under Howard Creekmore’s management as president, the foundation began selling the businesses and buildings and investing the proceeds in securities. The sale of the Houston Chronicle for $415 million to the Hearst Corporation in 1987 completed the process.

In 1990, H. Joe Nelson III became Houston Endowment’s fourth president, the first who had not worked with or known Jesse Jones. Jack S. Blanton was elected board chair at the same time, and he and Nelson modernized Houston Endowment. Computers replaced ledger books; the foundation moved into larger and more efficient space; and the professional staff was developed and expanded as assets grew, nearly doubling by the time Nelson retired in 2005. Blanton had stepped down in 2003, and Milton Carroll, D. Kent Anderson, L. E. Simmons and Anthony Hall followed him in succession as chair.

Larry Faulkner, who became president in 2006, has advanced the Joneses’ legacy by continuing to improve Houston Endowment’s ability to respond to the ever-changing needs of the community it serves. The foundation has rigorously examined its grantmaking activities and enhanced its ability to identify and support organizations that deliver sustainable and observable results for the greater Houston community. This effort has also enabled the foundation to more clearly convey to grantseekers the community benefits it hopes will be realized from its donations. In addition, an online Grant Management System has been implemented to improve procedures and to assure effective relationships between Houston Endowment’s staff and the nonprofit organizations serving greater Houston.

Since Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones established Houston Endowment in 1937, the foundation has evolved, but the intention of the board and staff throughout the years to support and improve education, human services, health, arts and culture, and the environment for the people of the greater Houston area has not changed. Over time, Houston Endowment has contributed more than $1.4 billion ($2.5 billion in current dollars) to fulfill the Joneses’ vision of a vibrant community where the opportunity to thrive is available to all.