Brian and Adria Sheth

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Vista Equity Partners 

FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Conservation 

OVERVIEW: Brian and Adria Sheth conduct their philanthropy through the Sheth Sangreal Foundation. According to available tax filings, the foundation awarded around $4.1 million in grants in 2017. The foundation supports select nonprofits through its children and conservation initiatives. The Sheths support their alma mater UPenn, as well as various other schools and youth organizations. On the environmental front, Sheth serves as chairman of Global Wildlife Conservation, which the family funds steadily. 

BACKGROUND: Brian Sheth received a B.S. in economics from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Sheth worked in the mergers and acquisitions groups at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. He also worked at Bain Capital, where he focused on leveraged buyouts of technology companies. In 2000, he co-founded Vista Equity Partners with Robert F. Smith and is currently the firm's president. 

ISSUES:

EDUCATION & YOUTH: The Sangreal Foundation’s Children grantmaking supports a range of educational and youth organizations. The foundation claims that by "supporting groups that do everything from preparing American students for college to building new schools in Africa, the Sangreal Foundation is helping children around the world prepare for full, healthy lives as members of our global community."

The Sheths support their mutual alma mater, UPenn. Some of this giving has included athletics, specifically track and field. Adria was a Penn track athlete and the Sheths a few years back gave $1 million to endow the Betty J. Costanza Women’s Track & Field coaching position, the first time a women’s varsity coaching position at Penn was endowed in a woman’s name. 

Aside from their alma mater, the Sheths have supported St. Stephen’s Episcopal School Emerging Scholars Fund (Sheth's own college tuition was covered by full financial aid), Helping Hand Home for Children, Austin Children’s Shelter, and Breakthrough Austin, among other efforts. The GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles is also an important site of philanthropy, and the recipient of millions. Sangreal funds Saving the Planet with Song, an initiative whose first phase in partnership with the GRAMMY Museum and The Recording Academy "utilizes the core concepts of music to teach children, at the elementary, middle and high school levels, throughout the United States about the importance of conservation and the critical role that biodiversity plays in all of our lives." 

On the international front, Sangreal has supported the Miracle Foundation, an organization that helps India’s orphans. Sheth is the son of an Indian immigrant.

CONSERVATION: The Foundation's Conservation grantmaking supports "environmental efforts that strive to repair the damage that has already been done to our earth, and to protect all inhabitants of our world, giving our global community a brighter tomorrow." Sheth serves as chairman of the board of Global Wildlife Conservation and the foundation recently gave a $15 million matching gift to the organization. Other grantees include Fundaeco, Lost Species, and ProAves, which focuses on the study and conservation of Colombian biodiversity. 

LOOKING FORWARD: Sheth is in his 40s and still very much engaged in business, but this billionaire family should be watched for greater giving down the line. Despite their Austin base, the couple's grantmaking already touches regions in several parts of the country and the world. 

LINK:

Sangreal Foundation