Zellerbach Family Foundation
ActiveMutual & Membership BenefitMakes PRIs
About Zellerbach Family Foundation
We envision a vibrant Bay Area region rich with diverse expressions and experiences, where people feel safe and connected; live with a sense of belonging, shared humanity, and dignity; and have equitable opportunities to thrive.
Focus Areas
Arts & CultureSafety & BelongingPower Building / OrganizingTransforming Public SystemsImmigrants & RefugeesYouth JusticeCommunity ArtsCollaboration, Advocacy, and Organizing
Who They Fund
Bay Area youth (including justice-involved youth and juvenile hall residents)immigrant communities and clients seeking legal services (including Sonoma County)small grassroots community organizations and coalitions
About Zellerbach Family Foundation
The Zellerbach Family Foundation’s recent giving shows a clear emphasis on Bay Area immigrant justice, youth justice, and community safety. One of its largest recent grants went to the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area for general operating support, and the same organization received another substantial operating grant in a later year. That pattern points to a funder that backs institutions over time rather than only making isolated project awards. The foundation also invests in organizations working with justice-involved youth and systems change. Youth Law Center received multiple general operating grants, while Life Learning Academy also appeared more than once as a recipient. Other grants support legal services, organizing, and community-based approaches tied to belonging, dignity, and shared safety. Across these awards, the foundation’s portfolio reflects a mix of operating support, issue-specific project funding, and coalition-oriented work anchored in the Bay Area. Arts and culture remain part of the picture as well, including support for community arts and arts-based community work. The foundation’s grantmaking is local in scope, with nearly all recent awards going to California recipients. Rather than spreading broadly, it concentrates on organizations already working inside the region it serves.
What Zellerbach Family Foundation Funds
Immigrant rights is one of the foundation’s clearest themes. In 2023, it gave $80,000 to Centro Legal De La Raza Inc for immigration legal services, and in 2025 it gave the group another $80,000 for legal services. Youth justice is another recurring area. The foundation awarded $119,000 to W Haywood Burns Institute for organizing for youth justice, and it also made $100,000 operating grants to Youth Law Center in both 2024 and 2025. Its health and human rights work appears in support for Regents of the University of California San Francisco, which received $100,000 in 2025 for the Health and Human Rights Initiative and $75,300 in 2023 for the same initiative. Arts-based community work also shows up through Independent Arts and Media, which received $75,000 in 2025 to support the project 5 Elements.
How Zellerbach Family Foundation Gives
Typical grants cluster at $10,000 at the 25th percentile and median, with the 75th percentile at $50,000, though the recent grant list also includes awards at $75,000, $100,000, and higher. The foundation appears to favor repeat support: several recipients appear across multiple years, including Immigration Institute of the Bay Area, Youth Law Center, Life Learning Academy, Centro Legal De La Raza Inc, and Regents of the University of California San Francisco. It is a regular funder, not a donor-advised fund, and it does not fund individuals. Program-related investments are part of its toolkit. Most grants shown are operating support, alongside project grants and coalition-focused support.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$5.9M
Total Assets
$163.6M
Total Revenue
$9.2M
Total Expenses
$8.8M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $10K and $50K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$50K
Geographic Reach
Local6 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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