Give Forward Foundation

Give Forward Foundation operates as a deeply relational, invitation-only funder with a concentrated focus on educational equity in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded in July 2018 and linked to Bradley Gerstner (founder of Altimeter Capital), the foundation has grown from $25.7M in assets in FY2019 to $113.3M at the close of FY2024 — a trajectory that accelerated sharply following a $131.3M capital infusion in the most recent fiscal year.

The foundation's theory of change is explicitly systems-level: rather than funding isolated programs, Give Forward bets on organizations capable of shifting how entire school districts recruit, develop, and retain educators. Its four strategic pillars — systems transformation, talent and instruction, policy and narrative, and basic needs support — form a coherent ecosystem approach. The basic needs pillar (immigration legal aid, housing assistance) reflects a recognition that students cannot learn when families face existential instability.

General operating support constitutes over 90% of the grant portfolio, signaling deep institutional trust in grantee leadership and a strong preference for organizations with strong management teams that can deploy funds flexibly. Multi-year relationships are standard practice: top grantees like Ravenswood Education Foundation (5 grants, $1.55M cumulative), Teach For America (9 grants, $880K), and Leading Educators (4 grants, $850K) illustrate how the foundation builds portfolios incrementally over years, not single grant cycles.

For prospective applicants, the critical reality is that Give Forward does not accept unsolicited proposals or letters of inquiry — the `preselected_only` flag in grant databases confirms this. The pathway in is deliberate relationship cultivation: through shared networks with existing grantees, Bay Area education reform convenings, mutual funders, and carefully crafted outreach to CEO Michelle Boyers at grants@giveforwardfoundation.org. Organizations should be embedded in Bay Area K-12 reform, demonstrate measurable district-level impact (especially in high-need districts like Ravenswood in East Palo Alto and San Francisco Unified), and articulate a systems-level theory of change. Familiarity within the TFA Bay Area, Instruction Partners, and Innovate Public Schools ecosystem substantially increases the likelihood of gaining a first conversation.

Give Forward Foundation has scaled annual grantmaking from $3.17M in FY2019 to a peak of $13.1M in FY2022, recalibrating to $10.92M in FY2023 and approximately $11.5M across 75 grants in FY2024. The dramatic asset jump from $24.1M (end-FY2023) to $113.3M (end-FY2024) — driven by $131.3M in new contributions — signals that future annual giving could substantially exceed the current run rate.

The median grant is $100,000, with an average of $104,238 and a documented range from $1,000 to $1,552,500 (Ravenswood Education Foundation's cumulative total across 5 grants). Individual single-year grants most commonly fall in the $100,000–$250,000 range, with sustained multi-year partners reaching $250,000–$500,000 annually at peak. The foundation has made single-year grants as large as $500,000 (Instruction Partners, Tipping Point).

Breaking down by program area across 160 documented grants totaling $16.68M:

• K-12 education reform (~70–75% of dollars): Teacher and leader development accounts for the largest share — Teach For America ($880K, 9 grants), Leading Educators ($850K, 4 grants), Instruction Partners ($650K, 3 grants), Alder Graduate School of Education ($600K, 3 grants), Educators for Excellence ($550K, 3 grants). District-level reform: Ravenswood Education Foundation ($1.55M, 5 grants). Policy and innovation: TNTP ($235K), New Leaders ($250K), Innovate Public Schools ($450K), Silicon Schools Fund ($250K).
• Immigration legal services (~15–20% of dollars): A substantial secondary portfolio — Immigration Institute of the Bay Area ($600K, 3 grants), Immigrant Legal Resource Center ($500K, 3 grants), Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto ($450K, 3 grants), Pangea Legal Services ($350K, 4 grants), La Raza Centro Legal ($300K, 3 grants), SIREN ($300K, 3 grants), Coastside Hope ($260K, 3 grants).
• Basic needs and human services (~8–10% of dollars): Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula ($775K across two entities), Tipping Point/Community ($750K, 2 grants), Mission Asset Fund ($150K), Faith in Action Bay Area ($100K).

Geographically, 108 of 160 grants (67.5%) went to California organizations — nearly all Bay Area-based. New York received 19 grants (12%) and Massachusetts 13 grants (8%), driven by national organizations' regional chapters.

Give Forward Foundation occupies a distinctive niche among asset-similar private foundations: a hyper-concentrated Bay Area education equity funder with a meaningful immigration legal services portfolio, operating invitation-only at the ~$11M annual giving level.

Among asset-similar peers, Give Forward stands out for the specificity of its geographic and programmatic focus and its high-trust, multi-year grantmaking model. Most peer foundations in the Philanthropy & Grantmaking NTEE category at this asset level are either family foundations with opaque processes or corporate foundations with broader mandates. Mutual of Omaha Foundation is the only asset-comparable peer with a documented open application process. For Bay Area education reform and immigration legal services organizations, Give Forward represents one of very few similarly scaled private funders concentrating on this specific geographic and thematic intersection — making relationship cultivation with this funder especially high-value for qualifying organizations.

The most significant recent development at Give Forward Foundation is the dramatic asset expansion documented in FY2024 filings: assets rose from $24.1M (end-FY2023) to $113.3M (end-FY2024), driven by $131.3M in new contributions received during the year. CauseIQ notes that Bradley Gerstner is identified as the foundation's supporter and references 'Blackstone real estate income' as a funding source — consistent with a large contribution of appreciated REIT assets or investment distributions from Gerstner's activities at Altimeter Capital. This is by far the largest single-year capital infusion in the foundation's seven-year history and sets up a potential step-change in annual giving capacity.

In FY2024, the foundation distributed 75 grants totaling approximately $11.5M — continuing steady grant-count growth from 52 grants in FY2021, 63 in FY2022, and 68 in FY2023. Annual giving has more than tripled from $3.17M in FY2019 to $10.92M in FY2023. No leadership changes were identified through web research — Michelle Boyers continues as CEO, and the board (Julie Mikuta as Audit Chair, Cristine Deberry, and Barbara Sullivan as Treasurer/Secretary) remains consistent with prior filings.

No press releases, new program announcements, or media coverage specific to Give Forward Foundation were found for 2025 or 2026. The foundation maintains a deliberately low public profile, consistent with its invitation-only posture. Prospective partners should review the most recent IRS Form 990 (FY2024, filed January 2026) on ProPublica for the latest grantee disclosures.

Because Give Forward Foundation is strictly invitation-only, traditional application strategy does not apply. The following guidance focuses on relationship positioning and network entry — the only viable path to funding.

Map the portfolio network first. The foundation's active grantees — Teach For America Bay Area, Ravenswood Education Foundation, Instruction Partners, Leading Educators, Immigration Institute of the Bay Area, Pangea Legal Services, and Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula — are your highest-value relationship targets. A warm introduction from a current grantee CEO or senior leader is the single most effective entry point.

Align language precisely to the four strategic pillars. The foundation's website uses specific framing: systems transformation, talent and instruction, policy and narrative, and basic needs support. Pitch your organization as a 'district systems partner building principal pipelines in under-resourced Bay Area schools' — not a generic 'education nonprofit.'

Lead with multi-year, district-level outcome data. Program-level metrics are insufficient. Come prepared with district-level evidence: teacher retention rates, principal effectiveness trajectories, policy changes achieved, or student achievement trends across multiple cohorts and years. The foundation's stated preference for sustained impact over one-off results is genuine.

For immigration legal services organizations: Explicitly connect immigration stability to student learning readiness. Frame immigration legal aid as enabling the basic needs condition under which students can learn — this maps directly to how Give Forward conceptualizes its basic needs pillar as integral to, not separate from, its education mission.

Use the contact email strategically. A brief, well-crafted introductory email to grants@giveforwardfoundation.org — 3 to 4 short paragraphs describing your work, outcomes, and requesting a 30-minute exploratory call — is the appropriate cold-contact format. Do not attach a proposal, budget, or full organizational brief at this stage.

Time outreach thoughtfully. Given the foundation's fiscal year pattern and annual grant cycles, outreach in Q1 (January–March) or early Q3 (July–August) aligns with natural portfolio review periods. Avoid outreach immediately following fiscal year-end (typically December) when staff are completing reporting cycles.