Sean and Christine Yu Private Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & Voluntarism
About Sean and Christine Yu Private Foundation
The Sean and Christine Yu Private Foundation concentrates its giving on higher education and student support, with a strong emphasis on scholarships for Taiwanese American students and institutional support for universities. Grants are mostly large, targeted gifts to a small set of recurring beneficiaries (notably Cal Poly Pomona and the University of Chicago), suggesting a preference for deep, relationship-based philanthropy rather than broad, one-off funding. While headquartered in Pasadena, CA, the foundation funds both local (Cal Poly Pomona) and national (University of Chicago, national scholarship fund) educational priorities.
Focus Areas
Scholarships for Taiwanese American studentsUndergraduate support and scholarships at Cal Poly PomonaMajor university philanthropy (University of Chicago — endowed gifts/ scholarships)Higher education institutional support and program funding
Who They Fund
general publicunspecified beneficiaries
Giving Approach
Concentrated, high-dollar grants to a small number of repeat grantees; a mix of multi-year or multi-grant commitments rather than many small awards.
About Sean and Christine Yu Private Foundation
A defining pattern of the Sean and Christine Yu Private Foundation is its repeated, large support for higher education institutions and Taiwanese American scholarship programs. The foundation’s recent grants show a clear preference for concentrated gifts rather than broad dispersal, with multi-year commitments appearing again and again in Pasadena and beyond. Cal Poly Pomona received some of the largest awards in the file, including support through both the Cal Poly Pomona Foundation Inc and Cal Poly Pomona Philanthropic Foundation, while The University of Chicago also appears as a recurring beneficiary. Beyond those anchor institutions, the foundation has backed scholarship and educational organizations tied to Taiwanese American communities, including the Taiwanese American Scholarship Fund and Taiwan Center Foundation of Greater LA. It also gives to select Pasadena-area cultural and community groups such as Polytechnic School, USC Pacific Asia Museum, and Boys & Girls Clubs of Pasadena. The overall picture is a private foundation that uses targeted grants to sustain a small set of education-centered relationships over multiple years.
What Sean and Christine Yu Private Foundation Funds
Higher education is the clearest throughline in the Sean and Christine Yu Private Foundation’s recent grantmaking. Cal Poly Pomona Philanthropic Foundation received $125,000 in 2025 and $120,000 in 2024 for charitable purposes, extending a multi-year pattern of support for the university community. The University of Chicago also received $111,000 in 2025 and $140,000 in 2023, showing that the foundation supports institutions well beyond Southern California. Scholarships are another major theme. The Taiwanese American Scholarship Fund received $100,000 in each of 2023, 2024, and 2025, pointing to a sustained commitment to Taiwanese American students. Community and cultural funding appears alongside that work: Taiwan Center Foundation of Greater LA received $30,000 in 2025 and $20,000 in 2024, while USC Pacific Asia Museum received $10,000 in 2024 and $5,000 in 2023.
How Sean and Christine Yu Private Foundation Gives
Typical grants are small at the low end but extend to larger institutional gifts: the p25 is $1,875, the median is $3,000, and the p75 is $21,000. The recent record also shows repeated grants across multiple years to the same recipients, especially in higher education and scholarship support, which suggests ongoing relationships rather than isolated awards. The foundation is a private foundation and does not fund individuals or make program-related investments. The available data shows charitable-purpose grants; no application process is listed in the grant records provided.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$1.3M
Total Assets
$525K
Total Revenue
$498K
Total Expenses
$646K
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $2K and $21K, with a median of $3K.
25th Percentile
$2K
Median
$3K
75th Percentile
$21K
Geographic Reach
Local4 states funded
About 86% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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