The Don Wood Foundation: the manufacturer-endowed newcomer

Established 2018 — the newest of the city's major grantmakers

Origin and purpose: Don Wood, founder of 80/20 Inc. — the Fort Wayne maker of modular aluminum framing systems — established his foundation in 2018, originally as the 80/20 Foundation Trust; Input Fort Wayne's profile dates its beginnings to 2017. Its single-minded purpose, in its own statement, is to "radically lead the development and growth of the Next-Gen Manufacturing Workforce in Northeast Indiana": grants to nonprofits and educational institutions for career and technical education, STEM exposure, capital for labs and equipment, and convenings of the region's workforce-development players across twelve northeast Indiana counties. It sat at the table for the Community Foundation's ecosystem study — its president Susan Mendenhall served on the study's advisory committee — a sign of how quickly it joined the established funders' circle.

Scale, from the filings: The foundation's 2024 Form 990-PF records 88 grants totaling $8.9 million — at an average grant of about $101,000, the largest single-year grantmaking of any Fort Wayne family foundation in this section's record after Foellinger and English-Bonter-Mitchell — with a distributable amount of $11.6 million reported for 2024 under the private-foundation payout rules. Documented grants include $1 million to OrthoWorx in 2024 for middle- and high-school manufacturing career programming, and seed funding for the Whitko Career Academy in Whitley County.

Sources:

1. Don Wood Foundation (donwoodfoundation.org) and its published boilerplate (Greater Fort Wayne Inc., Regional Education Summit release, 15 September 2026) — established 2018 by Don Wood, founder of 80/20 Inc.; the manufacturing-workforce mission; Input Fort Wayne, manufacturing-sector profile, 2026 — the foundation "formerly known as the 80/20 Foundation Trust, began in 2017"; the Whitko Career Academy seed funding.
2. 8020 Foundation Trust, Form 990-PF 2024 (EIN 82-3518678), as compiled by Grantable — 88 grants totaling $8.9 million; distributable amount $11.6 million; OrthoWorx grant reporting, July 2024 — the $1 million award.
3. Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne, "Connected Community" (2023) — Susan Mendenhall of the Don Wood Foundation on the ecosystem study's advisory committee.