Jesse and Betsy Fink
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Priceline; MissionPoint Capital Partners
FUNDING AREAS: Sustainable agriculture, food systems, animals and wildlife, environmental conservation
OVERVIEW: The Fink Family Foundation is the philanthropic vehicle of Jesse Fink, his wife, Betsy, and their family. The mission of the foundation is to help communities toward a more "balanced, sustainable relationship with the environment."
BACKGROUND: Jesse M. Fink graduated from State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York, where he received a B.S. in resource management. Fink also holds an MBA from Syracuse University's School of Management. Fink was the founding COO at priceline.com, running operations from inception through IPO. He is also a co-founder of MissionPoint Capital Partners, a private investment firm focused on financing the transition to a low-carbon economy.
ISSUES:
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYSTEMS: The Fink Family Foundation names food systems and food waste as one of its main funding priorities. Grantmaking in this area aims “to actively support organizations and individuals working on solutions to food waste as well as on sustainable and inclusive food systems in general.” Geographic priorities include Colorado, the island of Martha’s Vineyard and Nogales, Arizona, a “border town and port of entry where six billion pounds of fresh produce enter the U.S. from Mexico.” The foundation tends to provide ongoing support to a corps of organizations working in these areas, including the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, Harlem Grown, the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust and ReFed, a national organization that develops and implements data-driven solutions for the elimination of food waste.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION: The Fink Family Foundation’s grantmaking for biodiversity and ecosystem stewardship aims “to support organizations and develop initiatives that build community with on-the-ground and online education and outreach aimed at strengthening local attitudes toward the natural world and fostering an active biodiversity movement; advance ecological management and restoration on public and private lands; and improve coordination and more explicit consensus among organizations and key individuals.” Grantees in this area include Earthjustice, the Nature Conservancy, Colorado’s Walking Mountains Science Center and the Torres del Paine Legacy Fund, which works to “turn travel into a tool for positive environmental development.”
ANIMALS AND WILDLIFE: A significant portion of the Finks’ biodiversity and ecosystem stewardship grantmaking supports wildlife conservation. The foundation has recently given to the Xerces Society, which is involved with the conservation of invertibrates and their habitats, and Hawk Mountain Global Raptor Conservation, which conducts monitoring and research projects for the global raptor population. Other grantees involved with wildlife conservation include BiodiversityWorks, Revive and Restore and the National Audubon Society.
LOOKING FORWARD: The Finks’ grantmaking has increased significantly in recent years. They are likely to stick with their areas of interest.
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