Rooted in Family. Dedicated to Memphis.

The Hyde family philanthropic legacy dates back to 1961 when J. R. Hyde Sr. (Pitt’s grandfather) founded the J. R. Hyde Sr. Foundation. As a teenager, Pitt joined the board of Hyde Sr. Foundation where he learnt the family mantra: “to whom much is given, much is required”. The foundation operated successfully in Memphis for more than 50 years.

In 1992, Barbara and Pitt together created Hyde Family Foundation. Driven by a desire to work strategically and entrepreneurially, the foundation set out to build a better Memphis with bold ambitions and the collective power to achieve them. With a firm belief in the power of innovation, strategic leadership, and sweat equity, Hyde Foundation works locally to set best practice nationally. We seek to prove that a mid-size city can compete and succeed on a global scale. There can be no better place than Memphis to demonstrate and scale the solutions to pervasive urban challenges.

Today, Hyde Foundation focuses its work on giving every child a high-quality education, leveraging Memphis’ distinct assets to give the city a competitive advantage and increasing the quality of life for all Memphians. We invest in making Memphis a place where Memphians want to stay and grow and that welcomes the world to enjoy our unique culture.