Clarence E Heller Charitable Foundation

About Clarence E Heller Charitable Foundation

The Clarence E Heller Charitable Foundation’s recent grantmaking is marked by one large recurring line item: a donor-advised fund relationship with the San Francisco Foundation, including an $800,000 grant in 2025 and $292,000 grants in both 2024 and 2023. That pattern signals a foundation that uses intermediary stewardship to channel substantial resources rather than building a broad direct-grant portfolio around a single issue area. Outside that core vehicle, the foundation funds a mix of environment, health, education, music, and food-system work in California and beyond. Its recent grants include support for climate and food-system reporting at Inside Climate News, general support for Californians for Pesticide Reform, and program support for schools and community-based organizations working on environmental and arts education. The portfolio also reaches into local food sovereignty, toxic exposure reduction, and arts-related community capacity. The foundation’s giving shows a preference for flexible support alongside project-specific grants. Recent grantees include Bay Area nonprofits, a national news organization, and groups focused on agriculture, public health, and youth education. Across these grants, the foundation appears to support both field-level advocacy and institutional stewardship.

What Clarence E Heller Charitable Foundation Funds

In environment and health work, the foundation funded Inside Climate News with $150,000 in 2024 and another $150,000 in 2023 for coverage of key issues connecting climate change, agriculture, and food systems. It also gave $100,000 to Californians for Pesticide Reform in 2024 for public health protection from highly toxic chemicals in California agriculture. Food-system grants point to a sustained interest in agriculture, food access, and farmer support. The foundation gave $75,000 to Kitchen Table Advisors in 2023 to provide business advice to small organic and regenerative farmers, and another $75,000 in 2024 for general support. It also awarded $75,000 to First Nations Development Institute for food sovereignty initiatives focused on land access and local food systems. Education and school-food work is present as well. Friends of the Earth received $90,000 in 2023 to improve the climate footprint of school in California, followed by $75,000 in 2025 for the climate footprint of school food in California.

How Clarence E Heller Charitable Foundation Gives