Gates Family Foundation (GFF) celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2021. Since its creation, the Foundation has distributed more than $550 million in grants, with another more than $65 million committed to impact investments in recent years. The Foundation endowment of approximately $575 million consists of both main Foundation assets and eight different family funds where family members house their philanthropic assets with the Foundation. Governance of the Foundation is a partnership of family and community representatives. The Foundation maintains a strong commitment to communities across Colorado through its responsive capital grant making as well as its initiated grantmaking in four key areas:
- Education: Expanding access to educational opportunities for all children in Colorado.
- Natural Resources: Supporting land conservation, water resource management, forest and watershed health, and stewardship of the state’s natural inheritance.
- Community Development: Addressing the root causes of economic inequality and inequitable community development, with particular emphasis on economic mobility and affordable housing.
- Informed Communities: Ensuring all Coloradans have access to trustworthy, rigorous, fact-based local news and information about important civic issues.
In recent years, the Foundation has sought to increase its impact through more creative approaches to grantmaking, an expanded impact investing program, increases in staffing and expertise, and an increased focus on convening, partnering, and where appropriate, leading in the community. Climate has become a lens through which all Foundation grantmaking, investments, and activity are viewed, and since 2018, the Foundation has made an intentional commitment to advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts internally and through its grantmaking, impact investing, and operations.
To learn more about Gates Family Foundation and its programs, visit our website atwww.gatesfamilyfoundation.org.