Seattle, aka the Emerald City, is known as a hotbed for highly lucrative industries like tech, aerospace and healthcare. And the money being made there has also translated into major philanthropy for the region — as well as, in many cases, giving that spans the nation and the globe. In our last regional donor rundown, we took a trip down to Houston after previously looking at some key individual givers in South Florida. Now, we’ll do the same for the Pacific Northwest metropolis.
Some top foundations in Seattle include, of course, the nation’s largest, the Gates Foundation, as well as the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the Marguerite Casey Foundation and the Norcliffe Foundation. The city’s main community foundation, the Seattle Foundation, was started in 1946 and has since evolved into a massive community grantmaker which held around $1.4 billion in assets in 2023. The foundation has evolved in recent years to focus strongly on community-led priorities, racial equity and inclusion, and public policy advocacy.
Meanwhile, according to a Fidelity Charitable report, between 2019 and 2023, there was a 67% increase in the total number of grants recommended by Fidelity DAF donors in the region — the highest growth rate of any of the 30 top cities the DAF sponsor tracked. Human services, education, religious causes and international affairs were the top four interest areas Fidelity Charitable recorded, and the top four grantees were KUOW-Puget Sound Public Radio, Northwest Harvest, Cascade Public Media and the University of Washington.
While the Gates Foundation looms large — as do its founding former couple — Seattle has also given us a bunch of other marquee names in the ranks of today’s top philanthropists, many of them affiliated with either Microsoft or Amazon. Below, as with our other regional rundowns, we’re focusing in on key living donors based in or supporting the Seattle area.
Jody Allen
The sister of late Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen chairs his investment and project management company Vale Group LLC, formerly Vulcan Inc. In addition, she heads the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, which supports communities across the Pacific Northwest, backing the arts, the underserved and young people. It also works on a global level in science and tech, as well as the environment. As I wrote in a piece on the foundation last year, there are many other outfits under the Allen umbrella, including the Allen Institute, the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group and Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture. “What I’ve really been impressed with is [Jody Allen’s] commitment to community and that we all have to play a part,” said Lara Littlefield, the foundation’s executive director of partnerships and programs, for my prior piece. “We need to bring the civic components back into what it means to drive progress.”
Steve and Connie Ballmer
Cofounded by Connie and Steve Ballmer, whose Microsoft fortune well exceeds $100 billion, the Ballmer Group aims to fund organizations and leaders to reshape opportunity and expand economic mobility across the United States. The Ballmers have also long focused their regional funding efforts on three areas: Los Angeles County, Southeast Michigan and their home state of Washington.
Connie Ballmer has a longstanding interest in at-risk youth, which was sparked after reading stories about kids lost in Washington State’s foster system, and she played an instrumental role in founding a regional nonprofit benefiting children and youth, Partners for Our Children. Ballmer Group gave away more than $850 million in the 2023 fiscal year. Recent Seattle area grants include Alliance for Education (a $1.5 million grant), Chief Seattle Club (a $3 million grant), and City Year Seattle/King County (a $3 million grant).
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez
Another centibillionaire whose fortune stems from a company headquartered in the region, Jeff Bezos and his fiance Lauren Sanchez have a wide philanthropic footprint, but some of that money does benefit local causes. Founded with a $2 billion commitment back when Jeff and MacKenzie Scott were still married, the Bezos Day One Fund has a two-pronged focus: funding existing nonprofits that help families experiencing homelessness, and building and operating a network of new, tuition-free preschools in underresourced communities. The foundation makes grants around the country, but local Seattle-area grants have included Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Catholic Community Services of Western Washington, and Mother Nation: Honoring the Beauty and Strength of Native Families.
Bill Gates
Gates continues to chair the behemoth Gates Foundation, which remains far and away the largest private foundation based in the U.S., with over $75 billion in assets and around $7.7 billion in charitable support in 2023. Including backing for agricultural development, health and building inclusive financial systems, and in geographies spanning the globe, Gates continues to fire on many cylinders. Its U.S. program works across all 50 states, but with a focus on Washington state, where the foundation is headquartered, along with Washington, D.C., Florida, Texas, New York, California and Tennessee. Grants focus on K-12 and postsecondary education, education pathways, and economic mobility and opportunity.
Melinda French Gates
One of the top names on our list of the 50 most powerful women in U.S. philanthropy, French Gates, the ex-spouse of Microsoft mogul Bill Gates, stepped down in 2024 as co-chair of the Gates Foundation. But back in 2015, she also started her own vehicle, Pivotal Ventures, a philanthropic and investment LLC, which focuses on advancing “social progress and expand[ing] women’s power and influence in the U.S. and around the world.” Last year, she committed an additional $1 billion through 2026 to advance women’s power and influence globally.
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Nick and Leslie Hanauer
The first non-family investor in Amazon, venture capitalist Nick Hanauer has not been shy to critique the system, including in a Politico article he penned, titled “The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats.” He co-launched the Seattle-based League of Education Voters to promote educational equity. His wife Leslie is an honorary chair of Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences, an independent middle and high school. Their Nick and Leslie Hanauer Foundation funds causes including education, the environment and gun reform. In the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, Hanauer cofounded the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility.
Rose Letwin
One of the original 13 Microsoft employees, James Gordon Letwin left the company in 1993 to, as he put it, “kick back with his wife.” While the couple are now separated, today Rose Letwin is the founder, president and sole funder of the Seattle-based Wilburforce Foundation, which prioritizes protecting wildlife. To date, the foundation has invested some $220 million in conservation efforts across Western North America. And fun fact: The foundation’s name doesn’t refer to British abolitionist and philanthropist William Wilberforce, but rather to a pet pig Rose once had.
Craig McCaw
Telecommunications billionaire Craig McCaw moves his philanthropy through the Com Family Foundation, which keeps a low profile. At one point, he conducted his philanthropy with his former wife Susan, former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Austria. The Com Family Foundation’s grantmaking touches California and Washington State, with recent grants going to John Stanford International School and Kirkland Center of the Performing Arts.
Howard and Sheri Kersch Schultz
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and his wife Sheri started the Schultz Family Foundation in 1996. For the past three decades, the foundation has been working to fight opportunity gaps and empower young people, with a particular focus on 16- to 24-year-olds who are not in school or working. The foundation also engages in responsive giving and provides direct cash assistance to homeless or soon-to-be-homeless children. The foundation claims that Washington State saw a 40% reduction in unaccompanied youth and young adult homelessness from 2016 to 2022.
MacKenzie Scott
The fourth-richest woman in 2024, Scott continues to move money to nonprofits through Yield Giving at a breakneck pace. Not wanting much fanfare herself, Scott has given away over $19 billion to around 2,500 organizations since circa 2020 when she entered the scene as a major individual donor following her divorce from Jeff Bezos. Scott’s expansive giving includes support for organizations in the Seattle area.
In a characteristic flurry of gifts last spring at the conclusion of Scott’s inaugural open call, nine Washington organizations received $2 million grants including Technology Access Foundation and Northwest Education Access, which provides college preparation and career counseling services to low-income students. Overall, Yield Giving’s database currently shows that 59 of Scott’s recipients report Washington State as one of their “geographies of service,” while nine do the same for Seattle.
Charles and Lisa Simonyi
Charles Simonyi started and led Microsoft’s applications group, where he built the first versions of Microsoft Office. The Simonyis support a broad array of causes in the Seattle area, but their national grantmaking focuses mainly on arts and culture. Lisa Simonyi sits on the board of Eastside Preparatory School in nearby Kirkland, Washington. The couple’s giving for the arts in Seattle includes Seattle Symphony, where Lisa has served on the board of trustees. Other grantees include the Seattle Public Library, the Seattle Art Museum, the Museum of Flight and the Seattle Opera.
Jeffrey and Liesl Wilke
Another Amazon veteran, Jeffrey Wilke joined the company in 1999 before retiring in 2021. He and his wife Liesl’s Wilke Family Foundation has a strong Seattle focus. The couple started the Wilke Lyme Disease Project at Seattle-based Institute for Systems Biology — Liesl, a writer, has struggled with the disease. Another interest is education, including supporting Eastside Preparatory School and Rainier Scholars. The foundation also makes international grants focused on global literacy.
