Matthew and Jennifer Harris

SOURCE OF WEALTH: Global Infrastructure Partners

FUNDING AREAS: Mental Health & Wellness, Community Displacement, Environmental Conservation

OVERVIEW:  Mathew Harris and his wife Jennifer conduct their philanthropy through the Bedari Foundation, a private family foundation that uses its experience and resources to enable significant cultural shifts in the fields of mental health and wellness, community displacement and environmental conservation

BACKGROUND: Matthew Harris, a graduate of UCLA with a B.A. in political science, is a founding partner of Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and is based in New York. Harris leads GIP’s global energy industry investment team including crude oil and refined product, natural gas, electricity, LNG, petrochemicals and metals and mining.

ISSUES:

BEDARI FOUNDATION: The Bedari Foundation describes itself as a “private family foundation dedicated to using its experience and resources to enable significant cultural shifts in the fields of mental health and wellness and environmental conservation.” The foundation’s vision is that “humanity can cultivate the deeper sense of self-awareness and spirituality required to reassess underlying attitudes, beliefs and responsibilities about ourselves and our planet.”

Matthew and Jennifer Harris are on the board of World Wildlife Fund (WWF), an important grantee. The Bedari Foundation partnered with the Royal Government of Bhutan and the World Wildlife Fund to build on a 40-year relationship with the Kingdom of Bhutan in the creation of Bhutan for Life, a “transition fund comprising public and private resources that will allow Bhutan to continue to protect its remarkable system of parks forever.”

The Bedari Foundation also works with Karingani Game Reserve located in southwestern Mozambique at the junction of the Kruger National Park in South Africa and the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.

OTHER: Outside of the Bedari Foundation, the Harrises have also supported American Foundation for Addiction Research, Equal Justice Initiative, and Foundation for Santa Barbara High School. They have also supported arts & culture organizations in New York City, such as New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

LOOKING FORWARD: The Bedari Foundation is still fairly new and should be watched for more robust giving in the coming years. Jennifer is a modern and contemporary art collector and is on the board of The Public Art Fund in New York City, which may indicate future giving interests.

LINK: Bedari Foundation