The Shubert Foundation is a non-profit organization that is the parent company of major Broadway theater owner The Shubert Organization. The organization, which is the oldest professional theater company in the nation, owns and operates more than 20 theaters -- 17 of which are on Broadway. The balance of its theaters are either off-Broadway (The Little Shubert) or in Boston, Philadelphia, or Washington, D.C. In addition The Shubert Foundation, which was founded in 1945 by Lee and J.J. Shubert in honor of their brother Sam, distributes grants (from $5,000 to $275,000) to some 200 non-profit theater and dance companies annually.