John H. Burbank III
/SOURCE OF WEALTH: Passport Capital
FUNDING AREAS: Environment, Health, Education & Youth, Policy, Arts
OVERVIEW: John Burbank is the president of the Passport Foundation, which is associated with Passport Capital, the San Francisco-based investment company that he founded in 2000. The foundation’s grantmaking has emphasized environmental causes, but also supports health, education and youth, policy development and the arts. Many of its grantees operate in the San Francisco Bay Area. Available tax filings indicate that in 2017 the Passport Foundation provided $1.5 million in funding to nonprofit organizations.
BACKGROUND: John Howard Burbank III earned a BA from Duke University and an MBA from Stanford. Early in his career, he held various investment research positions with Bay Area hedge funds. Later, he worked as equity analyst and consultant at the JMG Triton Offshore Fund. In 2000, he founded Passport Capital, which specializes in global investments.
ISSUES:
ENVIRONMENT: The Passport Foundation’s main priority has been the environment. In 2009, the foundation launched its Science Innovation Fund to “expand knowledge of the impacts of environmental contaminants on human health.” The fund has since shuttered. Other past grantees include the Bluegreen Alliance, Earthjustice, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the New York League of Conservation Voters, and the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council.
HEALTH: Burbank’s grantees in the area of health have included the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Greater San Francisco and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Burbank’s education philanthropy has prioritized the San Francisco Bay Area. He has regularly supported the University of California, San Francisco, as well as Burlingame Community Education Foundation, the Edgewood Center for Children and Families and Bay-area operations of Hedge Fund Cares, which aims to reduce child abuse. On the national level, Burbank has supported Code for America.
OTHER: Burbank has supported Public Citizen, an organization “advocates for a healthier and more equitable world by making government work for the people and by defending democracy from corporate greed.” He has also supported the San Francisco-based Cutting Ball Theater.
LOOKING FORWARD: Burbank will likely continue to support of environmental causes. Other philanthropic interests may prioritize the San Francisco Bay area.
CONTACT:
The Passport Foundation does not provide a clear avenue of contact but below is an address:
Passport Foundation
1 Market St., Ste. 2200, Steuart Tower
San Francisco, CA 94105
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