Quickly approaching $1 billion in total community investments, The San Diego Foundation works toward all San Diegans having an opportunity to be WELL (Work, Enjoy, Live & Learn). Since 1975, The Foundation has grown to manage more than 1,900 funds — awarding $48 million dollars in grants to local nonprofits in 2015 alone. Maximizing the impact of givers all over San Diego, deep community roots, expert advisors and collective giving drive large-scale change to improve our neighborhoods, cities and region as a whole.
The Foundation collaborates with nonprofits, government, business, philanthropy, academia and other community leaders who possess programs for social change that best integrate the WELL framework. Efforts are driven by The San Diego Foundation’s Our Greater San Diego Vision, founded in a mission to improve the quality of life in all of our communities by providing leadership for effective philanthropy that builds enduring assets and promoting community solutions through research, convenings and actions that advance the common good.
The San Diego Foundation focuses giving in over a dozen social impact areas, including education, science and technology, and youth development. A variety of programs and funds have been established to address these issues. The System Involved Youth Fund, for example, identifies root causes of children and young adults living in the foster care, juvenile justice and criminal justice system, and supports systemic solutions to improve the lives of San Diego’s most at-risk populations to ensure everyone has access to opportunities to contribute to the prosperity of our region.
“Through philanthropy and social change, The San Diego Foundation improves the quality of life for San Diegans today and tomorrow,” says Kathlyn Mead, President & CEO of The San Diego Foundation. “With a focus on WELL, we support at-risk youth and increase their opportunities for a brighter future.”
Another example of The Foundation’s work is within one of the San Diego Workforce Partnership’s own programs, the Life Sciences Summer Institute, which is a recent recipient of funding from The San Diego Foundation Blasker Science and Technology Fund. This support directly enables more local students to nourish a love for science and math and explore STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) career pathways through training and paid internship experiences.
By combining personal cause interests of donors with the expressed needs of the region, The San Diego Foundation supports work that creates community-driven impact where it’s needed most. For more information, visit SDFoundation.org.