The Jack Welch Fund for Playwrights provides endowed funding to Boston Playwrights' Theatre annually and reflects the theatre’s mission to develop playwrights’ visions for new work. The creation of the Fund was the wish of Jack Welch—a longtime, tireless supporter of Boston’s theatre community through his work with Baker’s Plays, StageSource, the Massachusetts Young Playwrights’ Project, and the Boston Theater Marathon—who died in 2017. Welch’s estate seeds the Fund. Born in Exeter, New Hampshire, Welch was best known for his three-decades-long association with Baker’s Plays—first as a proofreader and clerk early in his career, and later as managing director and editor. Welch was a graduate of Emerson College who quickly immersed himself in the Boston theatre scene, including an early-career stint at Cape Cod’s North Shore Music Theater. He was a founding member of American Premiere Stage, The Boston Resident Theater Alliance, and the theater community service organization StageSource, where he served as a board member for 25 years. Welch was the recipient of the first “Theater Hero” Award bestowed by StageSource in 2000.