OVERVIEW: The Bill and Susan Oberndorf Foundation provides substantial support to charter school networks and the education reform and school choice movements in the U.S. Other areas of giving include higher education, civic engagement, public health, arts and culture, global development and environmental conservation.
IP TAKE: In addition to supporting some of the largest charter school networks in the U.S., the Oberndorf Foundation has given substantial support to policy development for the school choice movement. Bay area universities have received large sums in recent year; however, this funder is not as open to funding public schools. He regularly supports conservative causes and helped fund the recall on San Francisco’s District Attorney, Chesa Boudin, in 2022.
This funder restricts transparency about its grantmaking and prefers to maintain a low profile. It does not maintain a website and does not provide a direct avenue for getting in touch. It’s not responsive, accessible or approachable — by design.
PROFILE: The Bill and Susan Oberndorf Foundation was established by Susan and Bill Oberndorf, an investor and founder of SPO Partners. Oberndorf founded the investment firm SPO Partners in 1989. Raised in Cleveland, William Oberndorf graduated from Williams College in 1975 and received an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1978. Oberndorf has been a value investor for over 30 years, operating in a broad range of businesses. He cofounded the Mill Valley, CA, investment firm SPO Advisory Corp. with two former Stanford classmates. Oberndorf retired from SPO and now manages Oberndorf Enterprises.
The foundation is based in San Francisco and invests in charter schools and the broader education reform and school choice movements in the United States. To a lesser extent, the foundation supports higher education, civic engagement, public health, arts and culture, global development and environmental conservation. This funder does not maintain a website or outline specific goals for its funding.
Grants for K-12 Education
K-12 education is by far this funder’s largest area of giving. A major component of the couple’s philanthropy has focused on education reform. Oberndorf helped found American Education Reform Foundation, whose purpose is to “promote, through legislative action, the granting of publicly funded scholarships that will allow primarily low-income parents to opt out of the public school system if it is not working for their children.” Oberndorf also serves as chairman emeritus and board member of the Alliance for School Choice, an organization he co-founded.
- In a recent year, the foundation gave $2 million to the Alliance for School Choice, which develops policy toward increasing options for quality education and giving scholarships and tax credits to families so that their children can attend a school of their choice.
- Another grantee, the NewSchools Venture Fund, has received ongoing funding to invest in innovative new schools, educational technology and educator and leadership development programs.
- Other K-12 grantees include the Gateway Public Schools and KIPP charter school networks, the Foundation for Excellence in Education, the San Francisco Education Fund, the Center for Education Reform, Milwaukee Collegiate Academy and Mission Dolores Academy in San Francisco.
- Gifts have also gone to Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, SF School Choice Alliance, Gateway Public Schools, Center for Education Reform, and more. Big money has gone to The Thatcher School in Ojai, CA, and to Oberndorf’s high school, University School, in the Cleveland area.
Grants for Higher Education
This funder does not outline specific strategies for its higher education giving and instead invests in organizations often affiliated with the family.
- Apart from K-12 education, funds have also gone to Marquette University, Williams College, and various outfits associated with the University of San Francisco, including the University of California San Francisco Foundation, of which Oberndorf is chairman. A steady stream of money has also gone to Stanford, from which both Oberndorf and Susan graduated.
Grants for Civic Engagement and Democracy
The Oberndorf Foundation has demonstrated an interest in research on public policy and social welfare.
- The foundation has given to conservative organizations including the American Enterprise Institute and the National Review Institute but has also given to Everytown for Gun Safety and the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation.
Grants for Public Health and Diseases
This funder’s health grantmaking has mainly supported organizations in the greater San Francisco area with grants of $50,000 or less with some expections.
- The couple gave $25 million to UCSF to advance basic research in psychiatry and the behavioral sciences. The gift builds on a previous $5 million gift to fund a professorship in psychiatry.
- The couple have also supported outfits such as Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Gladstone Institutes, “an independent and nonprofit biomedical research organization whose focus is to better understand, prevent, treat and cure cardiovascular, viral and neurological conditions,” UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, Stanford School of Medicine, and Cancer Prevention Institute of California. Cancer appears to be a particular interest of the couple; it is worth mentioning that SPO co-founders William J. Patterson passed away from a brain tumor.
- Past grantees include UCSF’s Benioff Children’s Hospital, the San Francisco Free Clinic, the California Pacific Medical Foundation and the Peer Health Exchange.
- In New York, the foundation has given to the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Arts and culture grantmaking has also focused on the greater San Francisco area with investments in established cultural institutions that can bear the family name.
- Recent grantees include the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Botanical Garden, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the San Francisco Film Society, the California Historical Society and Northern California Public Broadcasting.
Grants for Global Development
Global development is not a large area of giving for this funder. In a recent year, the foundation gave $100,000 to the Ploughshares Fund, which promotes international peace and aims to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Grants for Environmental Conservation and Justice
Environmental conservation is another modest area of giving for this funder.
- The foundation has demonstrated an interest in environmental education programs, prioritizing the state of California. Grantees include Education Outside, the Edible Schoolyard Project and Ten Stands, both of which provide resources and programming for K-12 environmental education.
- The foundation has also given to the Environmental Defense Fund and the Golden Gate National Conservancy.
Important Grant Details:
This funder makes over $14 million a year in grants ranging from a few thousand to over $7 million. Its average grant size is about $25,000.
- The foundation’s largest area of giving, by far, is K-12 education, and Northern California is an apparent area of geographic priority.
- The Bill and Susan Oberndorf Foundation does not appear to accept applications for funding or provide a direct avenue for getting in touch.
- The foundation can be reached by telephone at (415)500-6900, and an address is provided below.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
CONTACT:
Bill and Susan Oberndorf Foundation
615 Front St.
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 500-6900