What Park Foundation does

Park Foundation is a private family foundation established in 1966 by media entrepreneur Roy Park and headquartered in Ithaca, New York. The foundation operates with a small professional staff (1-10 employees) led by President Adelaide Park Gomer and Executive Director Rachel Leon, and is governed by a board of trustees. Its stated mission is advancing a more just, equitable, and sustainable society and environment through grantmaking and mission-aligned investing. The foundation runs eight funding priority areas: Environment, Democracy, Civic Participation, Media, Animal Welfare, Sustainable Ithaca, Community Needs, and School Food and Nutrition. It disburses capital primarily via grants to non-profit organizations operating at local, regional, and national scales, alongside Program-Related Investments (below-market loans), the Park Scholar educational endowments at North Carolina State University and Ithaca College, and shareholder action through proxy voting aligned with ISS socially responsible criteria.

In 2024, Park Foundation awarded 420 grants totaling just over $32 million to a diversified portfolio of non-profit recipients, including major public-media partners (WGBH/FRONTLINE, WETA/PBS NewsHour, Free Press, Type Media Center), environmental organizations (Earthworks, Finger Lakes Land Trust, Grist), local Tompkins County service providers, and animal welfare groups. The foundation pursues three distribution models: direct grants, Program-Related Investments (over $6M cumulative, $4.5M outstanding as of June 30, 2025), and shareholder engagement. It sits within a dense ecosystem of more than a dozen funder affinity networks spanning democracy, media, environment, biodiversity, and mission-aligned investing. Recent strategic moves include the January 2025 launch of the Building Decarbonization Fund pilot ($500K grants plus $500K low-interest loans), the August 2025 transition to the Blackbaud Applicant/Grantee Portal, and the 2018/2019 completion of $50M and $30M Park Scholar endowments at NCSU and Ithaca College respectively. The endowment is managed under a 100% mission-aligned investing mandate executed with RBC Wealth Management's SRI team.

The foundation's revenue mechanics differ from a commercial enterprise: rather than selling products or services, it generates investment income from its endowment and distributes a portion via grants and PRIs each year, consistent with U.S. private foundation tax rules (approximately 5% annual payout requirement). Its customer base is functionally a portfolio of grantees and investees rather than paying clients, with concentration risk spread across hundreds of non-profit partners spanning local Tompkins County grassroots programs to national-scale media and environmental initiatives. Geographic scope is primarily the United States, with a heavy concentration of local capital deployment in Tompkins County, NY. The foundation received LEED Platinum 2.0 (2017) and Green Plus (2015) certifications for sustainable office operations, reflecting alignment of internal practices with external mission.

Name

Park Foundation

Legal name

Park Foundation

Website

https://parkfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Park Foundation is a private family foundation established in 1966 and based in Ithaca, NY that awards grants and Program-Related Investments to U.S. non-profits across eight priority areas including media, environment, democracy, animal welfare, and community needs in Tompkins County.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking (Private Family Foundation)

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM), Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grantmaking
• Private family foundation
• Nonprofit funding programs
• Mission aligned investing
• Community foundation grants

Headquarters

HQ city

Ithaca

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grantmaking: Park Foundation operates as a private family foundation that makes grants to non-profit organizations advancing its mission of a more just, equitable, and sustainable society. The foundation uses its endowment to fund grants rather than generating revenue from products or services.

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Park Foundation is a private family foundation that provides grants and Program-Related Investments to non-profit organizations across eight funding priority areas: Environment, Democracy, Civic Participation, Media, Animal Welfare, Sustainable Ithaca, Community Needs, and School Food and Nutrition. The Foundation awarded 420 grants totaling just over $32 million in 2024 and additionally deploys below-market interest loans (PRIs), a 100% mission-aligned investment portfolio, shareholder action, Park Scholar endowments at NCSU and Ithaca College, and a new Building Decarbonization Fund pilot launched in January 2025.

Product overview

Park Foundation is a family foundation dedicated to advancing a more just, equitable, and sustainable society and environment. Rather than offering a technology product, the Foundation operates grantmaking programs across eight funding priority areas: Environment, Democracy, Civic Participation, Media, Animal Welfare, Sustainable Ithaca, Community Needs, and School Food and Nutrition. The Foundation also manages Mission Aligned Investing initiatives including Sustainable Investing, Divest/Invest, Program-Related Investments, Shareholder Action, Park Scholars, Greening the Office, and Affinity Groups. In 2024, the Foundation awarded 420 grants totaling just over $32M. The Foundation launched a new Building Decarbonization Fund pilot in January 2025 providing $500,000 in grants and $500,000 in low-interest loans for Tompkins County non-profit buildings to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve resilience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Park Foundation Grantmaking Program
• Program-Related Investments (PRIs)
• Building Decarbonization Fund
• Divest/Invest Philanthropy Initiative Participation
• Shareholder Action Program
• Park Scholar Program Endowments (NCSU and Ithaca College)

Quantifiable outcome

• 420 grants awarded totaling just over $32M in 2024
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Divest/Invest Philanthropy InitiativecoreOthers · 1 January 2014Park Foundation was one of the original 17 signatories to the 2014 Divest/Invest Philanthropy Initiative encouraging foundations to divest from carbon-intensive stocks and commit to climate solutions investments
• The Funders NetworkminorOthersAffinity group membership supporting smart growth and livable communities funding initiatives
• Engage New YorkminorOthersNew York-based funders alliance
• NY Funders AllianceminorOthersState-level funders coalition in New York
• Health and Environmental Funders Network (HEFN)minorOthersAffinity group connecting health and environmental funders
• Media Impact FundersminorOthersFunder affinity group focused on media impact
• Peak Grant MakingminorOthersFunder network focused on grantmaking excellence
• Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA)minorOthersAffinity group for environmental funders
• Biodiversity Funders GroupminorOthersFunder network focused on biodiversity conservation
• National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP)minorOthersOrganization promoting responsive and effective philanthropy
• Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)minorOthersCoalition of faith-based investors engaged in shareholder action
• Democracy AllianceminorOthersFunder network supporting democracy and civic engagement
• Confluence PhilanthropyminorOthersFunder network for mission-aligned investing
• Democracy Funders CollaborativeminorOthersCollaborative of funders working on democracy issues
• Interfaith Center on Corporate ResponsibilityminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerExpert partner for executing shareholder action
• As You SowminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerExpert partner for shareholder engagement and action
• Chef Ann FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-year partnership supporting school food transformation in Tompkins County districts with Chef Ann Cooper and staff providing training and planning
• Tompkins Cortland Community CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Coltivare teaching kitchen for summer training opportunities for food service directors
• Tompkins County Public School DistrictscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAll six Tompkins County public school districts participating in school food transformation initiative

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Kresge Foundation: Large national foundation operating across environment, education, community development, and health. Overlaps with Park's Community Needs, Sustainable Ithaca, and School Food portfolios at significantly greater scale.
• MacArthur Foundation: Major global foundation supporting journalism, climate, and democratic governance — directly overlapping with Park's Media and Environment portfolios at a substantially larger scale.
• Ford Foundation: The largest US private foundation working on democracy, media, environment, and economic fairness. Operates with vastly larger capital but in the same philanthropic space and overlapping issue priorities as Park.

Direct peers

• Hill-Snowdon Foundation: Family foundation funding economic justice, media, and democracy work. Closely aligned to Park's Media and Democracy priorities with comparable grantmaking scale and progressive family-foundation structure.
• Common Counsel Foundation: A foundation supporting community-led social change across media, environment, and equity. Similar mission alignment and a peer in size and structure to Park Foundation.
• Rockefeller Brothers Fund: A family-founded foundation with closely overlapping priorities (democracy, sustainable development, education, peace). Similar in its combination of national grantmaking and family stewardship, though with a larger endowment.
• Wallace Global Fund: Private family foundation focused on environment, democracy, and media — a near-perfect thematic overlap with Park Foundation. Similar in scale, mission-driven investing posture, and progressive-leaning orientation.
• Schumann Center for Media and Democracy: Family foundation dedicated to media, democracy, and civic engagement. Directly comparable to Park's Media and Democracy funding priorities and similar in family-foundation structure and scale.
• Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation: Private foundation funding environment, food systems, and social justice — overlapping Park's environmental and community-needs portfolios. Comparable in size and family-foundation governance.
• Scherman Foundation: A New York-based private family foundation of comparable size, supporting media, environment, civic participation, and reproductive rights. Highly analogous in mission scope, family-foundation governance, and grantmaking scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/park-foundation-inc

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments1 record

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Frequently asked questions about Park Foundation