The family foundation of Mrs Renáta Kellnerová and Mr Petr Kellner distributed CZK 91 million in grants in 2020

In the 2020/2021 academic year, the following benefited from The Kellner Family Foundation’s grants:

• 96 students at the Open Gate Grammar School | need-based grants.
• 53 Czech students of foreign and Czech universities | financial grants.
• 2,991 teachers, and through them, 39,603 pupils in 116 primary schools | the Helping Schools Succeed project for publicly funded primary schools.

This past year has been very challenging for everyone and education has been one of the sectors which has suffered the most from the measures introduced to limit the spread of covid-19. ”Our country also has the dubious honour of being one of the record holders in the number of days when children and students were not allowed to enter schools at all. I am all the more pleased that even in these turbulent times our Foundation has been able to pursue its mission, which is to help make students’ lives better through education and to assist the Czech education system in its endeavour to change the lives of all young people for the better,” said Renáta Kellnerová, the Foundation’s chairwoman and founder, looking back at the year 2020 in her Introductory Statement in The Kellner Family Foundation annual report.

Speaking about the future of the Foundation, Renáta Kellnerová said: “As you probably know, at the beginning of 2021, a tragedy struck our family. My husband Petr passed away in March. There are no words to express how devastated this loss has left us. However, his ideas will remain with us – through the Foundation and in many other ways. As our children were growing up, we gradually acquainted them with our philanthropic activities. We used to talk to them about why we set on this path, and today, they stand here with me so that together we can continue the work Petr and I started.”

Professor Radek Špíšek became a member of the Board of Trustees
Professor Radek Špíšek became a new trustee of The Kellner Family Foundation in lieu of the deceased Petr Kellner. He will serve on the three-member Board of Trustees along with chairwoman Renáta Kellnerová and trustee Petra Dobešová.

Radek Špíšek is the CEO of SOTIO, PPF’s biotechnology company. For several years now, he has been involved in the Foundation’s activities – he has been attending interviews with grant applicants would like to study at a foreign university, and he also took part in the selection of the teams to which the Foundation awarded scientific research grants between 2013 and 2016.

Need-based grants for Open Gate Grammar School Students

This academic year, 96 students have been attending the Open Gate Grammar School, one of the best rated grammar schools in the Czech Republic, thanks to need-based grants. Ever since the grammar school was established, the family foundations of Mr and Mrs Kellner have provided its students with a total of 1,658 yearly grants. Thus, 58 children from children’s homes, foster families, and the Klokánek facilities have also been able to attend Open Gate since 2005.

 The Helping Schools Succeed project for public primary schools

In 2020, the number of schools participating in the project rose steeply. By the end of the year, 116 publicly funded primary schools, which involves 2,991 teachers and 39,603 pupils, were included. Many experts support the teachers at those schools in their professional training and help develop the reading skills, critical literacy and now also the writing skills of students. Since 2010, the Foundation has earmarked CZK 328 million for publicly funded schools.

 Grants for university students

Over the 11 years that the Foundation has been awarding grants to Czech students enrolled mostly at foreign universities, it has supported 193 university students with a total of 536 yearly grants. The Foundation places great emphasis on supporting students in scientific fields. All grantees undertake to work for the benefit of the Czech Republic for at least three of the 15 years after their graduation.

The foundation published its full annual report for 2020 on its website www.kellnerfoundation.cz. Annual Report 2020 (in Czech)