What Stupski Foundation does

The Stupski Foundation is a private, spend-down philanthropic foundation that awards grants to community-based nonprofit organizations in Hawai'i and the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally founded in 1996 by Larry and Joyce Stupski as an operating foundation focused on public education, the organization was reestablished in 2014 following Larry Stupski's passing and restructured into a spend-down vehicle committed to returning all assets — totaling $723 million in lifetime founder donations — to communities by 2029. The foundation operates three core grantmaking programs: Food Justice, Health (subdivided into Early Brain Development and Serious Illness Care), and Postsecondary Success, with a deliberate emphasis on Indigenous-led organizations, Black, Latinx, and other historically underfunded communities, and trust-based, multi-year flexible funding rather than restricted program grants.

Grantmaking is distributed through a relationship-based, non-RFP channel: the foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals and prioritizes existing partners during the spend-down period. Historical grant sizes range from $20,000 to over $6 million, and cumulative awards since 2014 total $377,148,134, with $232M directed to California organizations and $109M to Hawai'i organizations. Since 2019, Stupski has also deployed $74M into mission-related and mission-aligned investments, including a $25M allocation to short-term zero-to-1% loans supporting innovative real estate, nonprofit, and small-business development. A 2023-formed investment committee and a fully refreshed board oversee the accelerated payout.

The foundation is staffed by approximately 20 employees led by CEO Glen Galaich, Ph.D., and is headquartered at 90 New Montgomery St., Suite 1100, San Francisco. Beyond direct grantmaking, Stupski has built a media and thought-leadership platform — the Break Fake Rules podcast, the Change Can't Wait blog, the Philanthropy Confidential engagement channel, and the CONTROL book by the CEO — to influence philanthropic sector practice. There is no technology product, no AI capability, and no revenue-generating activity; the entire operating model is funded by the endowment drawdown scheduled for completion by 2029.

Name

Stupski Foundation

Legal name

Stupski Foundation

Website

https://stupski.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Stupski Foundation is a private spend-down foundation awarding flexible, multi-year grants to community-based nonprofits in Hawai'i and the San Francisco Bay Area across Food Justice, Health, and Postsecondary Success, with a scheduled full wind-down of its $723M endowment by 2029.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grantmaking
• Trust-based philanthropy
• Spend-down foundation
• Food justice grants
• Postsecondary success programs

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Endowment Investment Returns: Stupski Foundation operates as a spend-down foundation, distributing its assets rather than generating ongoing revenue. The foundation's primary activity is awarding grants funded by its endowment, which was established through $723 million in donations from founders Larry and Joyce Stupski. The foundation is in the process of returning all resources to communities by 2029.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Stupski Foundation makes flexible, multi-year or unlimited-term grants to community-based nonprofit organizations in Hawai'i and the San Francisco Bay Area through three grantmaking programs: Food Justice, Health (Early Brain Development and Serious Illness Care), and Postsecondary Success. As a spend-down foundation, it is returning all of its endowed resources to communities by 2029, complementing its grantmaking with mission-related investing, a youth internship program, a podcast, and a grantee directory.

Product overview

Stupski Foundation is a spend-down philanthropy organization that operates as a unified grantmaking foundation rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The foundation's core offering consists of grantmaking programs in Food Justice, Health (Early Brain Development and Serious Illness Care), and Postsecondary Success, complemented by supporting services including an internship program for youth leaders, the Break Fake Rules podcast, the CONTROL book publication, and a searchable Grantee Directory. All offerings work together to advance the foundation's mission of returning resources to communities in Hawai'i and the San Francisco Bay Area by 2029.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Break Fake Rules: A podcast that brings today's news and big philanthropic issues into focus to change Big Giving for good.
• Philanthropy Confidential

Products and services

• Food Justice Program A grantmaking program that partners with communities in Hawai'i and California to strengthen equitable local food economies rooted in relationships of care and community well-being, prioritizing food sovereignty and food justice initiatives.
• Postsecondary Success Program A grantmaking initiative that supports accessible postsecondary pathways for youth in the Bay Area and Hawai'i, funding advising, work-based learning, and holistic student support systems.
• Health Program A grantmaking program focused on Early Brain Development and Serious Illness Care, partnering with communities and health systems to close racial inequities in health outcomes.
• Break Fake Rules Podcast

Quantifiable outcome

• $377,148,134 in grants awarded since 2014
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Liberation VenturescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 June 2026Black-led nonprofit working to heal from the harms of chattel slavery and its legacy through the Beloved Repair campaign. Focuses on research, narrative, storytelling, and donor collaboration for the reparations movement.
• Ohlone Land ConservancyminorOthersIndigenous-led organization in the San Francisco Bay Area receiving support as part of Stupski's commitment to land-connected organizations and acknowledgment of historical land theft and displacement.
• Council of Native Hawaiian AdvancementminorOthersNative Hawaiian advocacy organization receiving support as part of Stupski's Indigenous-centered grantmaking approach in Hawai'i.
• Sogorea Te' Land TrustminorOthersOhlone-led land trust organization receiving support for land rematriation and Indigenous stewardship work in the Bay Area.
• Hawai'i Workers CenterminorOthersWorker advocacy organization in Hawai'i receiving support as part of Stupski's commitment to Indigenous and community-led groups.
• Hui Iwikuamo'ominorOthersHawaiian organization receiving support for cultural preservation and community work.
• The Association of Ramaytush OhloneminorOthersIndigenous organization representing Ramaytush Ohlone people receiving support for ancestral land stewardship.
• Trust for Public Land (Hawai'i)minorOthersLand conservation organization receiving support for land stewardship work in Hawai'i.
• Lāna'i Culture and Heritage CenterminorOthersCultural heritage organization on Lāna'i Island receiving support for cultural preservation work.
• Kīpuka KuleanaminorOthersHawaiian organization focused on land rights and community stewardship receiving support.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Open Society Foundations: Large global foundation with strong social justice, racial equity, and community-led grantmaking practices. Comparable in values and flexibility of funding, though far larger and perpetual.
• Ford Foundation: Massive global private foundation with similar equity and racial justice focus areas, including flexible, multi-year grants to community organizations. Operates perpetually rather than spending down, but overlaps materially with Stupski's mission and grantmaking practices.
• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: Limited-liability spend-down entity focused on equity, education, and community-driven work. Shares Stupski's spend-down model and focus on shifting power to communities.
• MacArthur Foundation: Major perpetual foundation with notable place-based work in Chicago and global focus on equity, including flexible grantmaking. Comparable in scale and progressive grantmaking approach.
• Kresge Foundation: Large US private foundation with significant work in racial equity, health, and place-based community development. Comparable in mission areas (health equity, opportunity) and focus on cities, though perpetual.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Large health-focused foundation with a racial equity lens, particularly focused on early childhood and health systems — overlapping materially with Stupski's Health program (Early Brain Development, Serious Illness Care).

Direct peers

• NoVo Foundation: Spend-down private foundation committed to spending its endowment, with focus on social justice, Indigenous communities, and shifting power to local leaders — directly comparable to Stupski's spend-down model and equity lens.
• Atlantic Philanthropies: One of the largest ever spend-down foundations (~$8B), which completed its grantmaking in 2016. Most directly comparable to Stupski as a precedent-setting spend-down foundation with equity-focused grantmaking.

Emerging players

• Blue Meridian Partners: Philanthropic investing partnership providing large-scale, flexible capital to proven nonprofit organizations tackling poverty. Comparable in its emphasis on multi-year, unrestricted funding and partnership-based philanthropy.

Regional players

• Heinz Endowments / Heinz Family Foundation: Regional foundation based in Pittsburgh with similar grantmaking focus on community, environment, and equity. Comparable in mission alignment and community-driven grantmaking approach, though operating in a different geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC9tGY_AeA3fWydYzHx7iklA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stupski-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/stupskifoundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments44 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stupski Foundation