Robertson Foundation

About Robertson Foundation

A $21 million art gift to Stanford stands out in the Robertson Foundation’s recent record, showing that the foundation’s portfolio is not limited to education, environment, and medical research. The most visible pattern is repeated, large support for institution-level work that can be sustained over time. In education, it has backed Success Academy Charter Schools with multi-million-dollar general operating and school-quality grants, while the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program has received several grants across multiple years for scholarships and operating support. The foundation also invests heavily in biomedical research infrastructure and investigator support. The New York Stem Cell Foundation has received several grants for early-career investigator awards and neuroscience programs, and The Rockefeller University has twice received multimillion-dollar support for therapeutic development. Environmental grantmaking similarly favors scalable policy and systems work, including the Environmental Defense Fund’s efforts on trucking decarbonization, methane reduction, and climate work in China. Across these areas, the foundation tends to support organizations positioned to advance multi-year initiatives rather than one-off projects.

What Robertson Foundation Funds

In K–12 education, the foundation gave $10 million to Success Academy Charter Schools for general operating support and another $10 million for systematic and meaningful improvement in school quality design and implementation. It also supported the school network with $6 million for school-quality design and $4 million for Phase II of Success Academy’s Education Institute. In higher education and student leadership, the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program received multiple grants for scholarships and general operating expenses, including $9,660,077 in 2025. On the environment side, the Environmental Defense Fund received $7 million for decarbonizing the trucking sector, reducing methane and climate in China, plus a separate $4 million grant for work to reduce agricultural methane and improve alternative fuels. The foundation also backed climate policy infrastructure through $4,875,000 to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors for work to stop expansion of oil and gas and pursue alternate pathways to economic development. In medical research, The Rockefeller University received $5 million for the Therapeutic Development Fund.

How Robertson Foundation Gives