Funder Spotlight: How the Koret Foundation Supports the Bay Area and Jewish Causes

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IP Funder Spotlights offer quick rundowns of the grantmakers that are on our radar, including a few key details on how they operate and what they’re up to right now. Today, we take a look at a foundation established by a first-generation entrepreneurial couple that is committed to strengthening the Bay Area and supporting the vitality of the worldwide Jewish community.

What this funder cares about

The San Francisco-based Koret Foundation has two grantmaking priorities. The first, Bay Area Community Grantmaking, encompasses higher education, K-12 education, arts and culture, and special projects in the region. The second, Jewish Community Grantmaking, has three core initiatives—U.S.-Israel Bridge Building; Supporting Jewish Institutions; and Jewish Peoplehood, which seeks to “inspire Jewish identification and involvement and to strengthen the connections between Jews around the world.”

Grounded in historical Jewish principles and traditions and dedicated to humanitarian values, the foundation has given more than $700 million since its inception in 1978.

Why you should care

It’s become a bit cliché to say that a foundation “punches above its weight,” but the term applies to Koret, which had approximately $500 million in total assets as of 2020, and has been an indispensable partner to Bay Area universities and arts organizations navigating the pandemic. The foundation also has a powerful national impact through its Jewish Community Grantmaking, supporting Jewish organizations across the U.S., including regional Jewish community centers, national Holocaust education programs, and the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America in New York City, among others.

Where the money comes from

Joseph Koret was born in Odessa, Russia, in 1900, and his family emigrated to New York a year later. They eventually settled in California, where Joseph and his father founded the textile company Koret of California, which introduced pleated skirts and patented a permanent-press process. Joseph’s wife Stephanie, whose parents emigrated from Romania, played a large role in building the company.

In 1978, the couple, who had no children, established the Koret Foundation with family friend, philanthropist and Giving Pledge signatory Tad Taube. “What most people don’t realize is that it was Steffi’s fortune that first endowed the Koret Foundation,” Taube wrote on his website. “When she passed away, I advised Joe to direct Steffi’s community property to the foundation and he finally agreed.” A year later, Levi Strauss & Co. bought Koret of California for $71 million.

After Joseph died in 1982, Taube succeeded him as president and the foundation grew its assets from around $35 million to nearly a half-billion dollars. In 2014, Joseph’s second wife and board member Susan Koret filed a lawsuit against Taube alleging misuse of funds. It was settled two years later with both stepping down from the board. (Read more about the dispute here.) The foundation is currently is led by CEO Jeffrey Farber and a four-member board of directors, including Michael Boskin, Anita Friedman, Richard Greene, and Abraham Sofaer.

Where the money goes

The Koret Foundation’s website does not include a grants database, which limits our ability to get a good look into where, exactly, the money is flowing. The site also lacks a direct link to its Form 990s. But according to its most recent publicly available filing for the period ending December 2019, the foundation awarded just south of 400 grants totaling $45 million. Most of the funding, as one would suspect, went to Bay Area organizations, mainly in the fields of arts and education, plus universities and Jewish groups. The foundation also provided considerable support to Jewish groups based outside of the region.

Last June, the foundation announced a new slate of higher education grants totaling more than $50 million to increase access to education, create new models for learning, and help modernize campus technology and infrastructure at schools around the Bay Area. This funding included support for the Koret Scholars program, which helps first-generation, low-income and underrepresented minority college students overcome barriers to college graduation.

Open door or barbed wire?

I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Nonprofit organizations will have a difficult time accessing funding from the Koret Foundation, as it accepts grant proposals by invitation only. But as we frequently point out, that is par for the course for the large majority of foundations out there.

Koret’s website showcases the foundation’s grantees, priorities and leadership, while its Grantee Stories section spotlights the work of some of the organizations it supports. Foundation leaders are currently in the process of refreshing and ultimately relaunching its website to reflect the full scope of Koret’s priorities and grantmaking. The work is expected to be completed later this year. 

Latest big moves

In August, the foundation’s website published a grantee story showing how the Koret Scholars program boosted underserved students’ access to technology and wellness resources while allowing them to balance virtual learning and family obligations. “Our grantees have shown not only commitment but also ingenuity in helping their students navigate the remote-learning landscape,” the story read.

Two months later, the foundation announced $2 million in new grant funding for Bay Area arts and culture organizations to help them rebuild and reopen their operations. “Now, it’s critical that we support our long-term grantees through the pandemic and beyond, to ensure that they’re not just able to survive, but to thrive, and to continue enriching our community for generations to come,” said Michael Boskin, foundation president, in a piece in the Jewish News of Northern California.

One cool thing to know

Koret leaders frequently appear in local and national outlets offering guidance on key philanthropic issues. For example, the San Francisco Chronicle has recently published pieces by director of programs Danielle Foreman capturing her thoughts on how philanthropy can best support local communities and organizations emerging from the pandemic.