Roots & Wings Foundation

What Roots & Wings Foundation does

Roots & Wings Foundation is a private family foundation established in 2019 by Judy and Gordon Faulkner with an initial $100 million endowment and headquartered at 7107 Greenwood Avenue N in Seattle, Washington. The foundation launched active grantmaking in 2020 and has since deployed more than $285 million in multi-year, unrestricted grants across 300+ nonprofit partners, focused exclusively on programs serving low-income children and families with particular emphasis on the prenatal-to-age-three developmental window. Its four program areas are Basic Needs (food, shelter, housing, eviction prevention), Early Learning (childcare, preschool, home visiting, parent education), Health (access to quality affordable healthcare), and Safety & Justice (gun violence prevention, legal aid, justice reform, reducing incarceration).

The foundation operates via a trust-based philanthropy model: prospective nonprofit partners are identified through ongoing research, the growing grantee network, community outreach, and website introductions, then invited to apply; unsolicited proposals are not accepted. The team is intentionally lean (reportedly 6-8 core staff members in Seattle plus remote roles) and uses a Foundant-based partner portal to administer grants. Geographic focus is concentrated in Wisconsin, Washington, and Oregon (where the Faulkner family resides), with selected national grantees such as ZERO TO THREE and No Kid Hungry. Notable operational moves include the 2023 merger of the Faulkners' prior family foundation (Firerose/Magic Pebble) under the Roots & Wings umbrella and a 2026 leadership expansion adding the foundation's first Managing Director.

The foundation does not sell products or services; its "revenue" consists of endowment funding deployed as grants. It monetizes nothing in a commercial sense and has no proprietary technology offering, AI capabilities, or pricing model. Customers in the traditional sense are nonprofit grantee partners; primary end beneficiaries are low-income children and families across the four program portfolios. Notable partners highlighted include No Kid Hungry, Kids Forward, Just Dane, Alameda Health System Foundation, ZERO TO THREE, Alliance for a Safe Oregon, Wisconsin Impact Network, and RISE Wisconsin.

Name

Roots & Wings Foundation

Legal name

Roots & Wings Foundation

Website

https://rootswings.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Roots & Wings Foundation is a private family foundation established by Judy and Gordon Faulkner that provides multi-year, unrestricted trust-based grants across four program areas (Basic Needs, Early Learning, Health, Safety & Justice) to 300+ nonprofit partners serving low-income children and families, with geographic focus on Wisconsin, Washington, and Oregon.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grantmaking
• Family foundation
• Trust-based philanthropy
• Nonprofit funding
• Early childhood grants

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grantmaking: The foundation operates as a family foundation funded by Judy Faulkner's wealth from Epic Systems Corp. It provides multi-year, unrestricted grants to nonprofit organizations supporting low-income children and families. The foundation does not generate revenue from products or services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Roots & Wings Foundation is a private family foundation that provides multi-year, unrestricted general operating grants to nonprofit organizations serving low-income children and families. The foundation operates four programmatic grantmaking portfolios — Basic Needs, Early Learning, Health, and Safety & Justice — with a particular emphasis on the prenatal-to-age-three developmental window. It does not sell products or services; it distributes grant funding through a trust-based philanthropy model.

Product overview

Roots & Wings Foundation is a family grantmaking foundation that provides multi-year, unrestricted general operating support to nonprofit organizations serving low-income children and families. The foundation operates four programmatic grantmaking portfolios (Basic Needs, Early Learning, Health, and Safety & Justice) guided by a trust-based philanthropy approach. Rather than operating a technology product, the foundation's service offering centers on flexible grant funding, capacity-building support, and collaborative learning networks for grantee partners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Grantmaking Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $285 million in grants awarded since 2020 to 300+ nonprofit partners
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• ZERO TO THREEcoreOthersZERO TO THREE is a national nonprofit ensuring babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. With nearly 47 years of experience, it has a staff of more than 225 and an annual operating budget of approximately $60 million. Roots & Wings is proud to count ZERO TO THREE among its grantee partners, with aligned mission focus on the prenatal-to-three window.
• Wisconsin Impact Network (WIN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA learning cohort initiated by Roots & Wings bringing together Wisconsin nonprofits working on justice reform, violence prevention, and community safety. The network facilitates collaboration among organizations that might otherwise compete for funding, building trust and collective impact.
• Alliance for a Safe OregonsecondaryOthersInnovative nonprofit working to reduce firearm suicides in rural Oregon communities through building trust, training healthcare providers, and distributing firearm safety resources. Focuses on practical solutions transcending political divisions.
• Leah Bradford FranciscoreOthersJoined as Managing Director in 2026, supporting Operations and Program teams. Previously served as Americorps VISTA volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. Key leadership hire to support foundation growth.
• Jamie CarrollcoreOthersExpanded role to Program Director in 2026. Previously Program Coordinator/Grants Manager. Key member of program team managing Basic Needs and Early Learning portfolios.
• Sophia LopezcoreOthersExpanded role to Grants Manager in 2026. Manages grants administration and serves as primary contact for grant management questions in Foundant system.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Peers

• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation: Major U.S. foundation with deep investments in education and family economic security, including early childhood. Comparable as a large, established family foundation addressing overlapping child- and family-welfare themes.

Broad incumbents

• W.K. Kellogg Foundation: Long-established foundation focused on children's wellbeing, racial equity, and community economic development, with substantial early-childhood programming. Comparable in mission but operates at significantly greater scale and breadth.
• Emerson Collective: Philanthropic organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs that funds education, immigration, climate, and community development with a focus on equity. Comparable as a high-profile family-led philanthropy investing in children, families, and social systems.
• Doris Duke Charitable Foundation: Major family foundation supporting child well-being, the arts, the environment, and medical research. Comparable as a multi-program family foundation of similar vintage and operating style.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Largest U.S. foundation with significant work in early childhood development, family economic mobility, and global health. Operates at far greater scale and breadth but overlaps on mission area, making it a broader incumbent peer.

Direct peers

• Heising-Simons Foundation: Family foundation funding early childhood, education, science, and community initiatives with multi-year, flexible grants. Closely mirrors Roots & Wings' family-foundation structure and focus on early childhood among low-income families.
• Pritzker Family Foundation: Family foundation supporting early childhood education and other social causes, including the prenatal-to-age-5 window. Directly comparable as a family foundation with deep early-childhood grantmaking focus.
• Ballmer Group: Philanthropic organization focused on improving economic mobility for children and families in the U.S., particularly through large, flexible, multi-year grants. Directly comparable in family-wealth backing, scale of giving, and children-and-families mission.
• Raikes Foundation: Family foundation with an explicit focus on youth development and the transition to adulthood, partnering with nonprofits on prevention and systems change. Highly comparable to Roots & Wings in being a family-led, trust-based grantmaker focused on children, youth, and families.

Emerging players

• ZERO TO THREE: National nonprofit (and Roots & Wings grantee) dedicated to ensuring babies and toddlers have a strong start in life. Highly comparable mission focus on the prenatal-to-3 window that anchors Roots & Wings' theory of change.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/rootsandwingsfoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/roots-wings-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Roots & Wings Foundation