A Message from our President & CEO
At a time when tragic headlines and rhetoric weigh heavily and the steady drumbeat of events presses on us all; uncertainty and concern are widely shared. Yet I believe that now, more than ever, we must hold fast to joy. Joy allows us to see beauty amid chaos. It reminds us that even in the face of challenges, there is an extraordinary opportunity here in our region and among our people.
At Seattle Foundation, we are embracing a journey to joy with intention. Philanthropy carries a responsibility to meet this moment of profound social transition. As national safety nets face threats and the social fabric frays across neighborhoods, our role is clear: we must invest in people.
We believe philanthropy can be a force for healing and transformation when it centers the wisdom and experiences of those most impacted. Through movements, partnerships, and cultural arts, we support communities in building strength and thriving together. With the generosity of our donors and fundholders, we are scaling commitments that will fuel solutions across the Seattle region and lay the foundations for shared prosperity, belonging, and justice.
Since 1946, Seattle Foundation has stood with this region, adapting to meet complex needs. With several decades of experience, we know the power of philanthropy to transform lives. As we approach our 80th year, we look ahead with sharpened focus and steadfast commitment to ensuring this Foundation endures for generations to come.
As we reflect on the work of the previous year, we celebrate bold accomplishments. In 2024, the Foundation made over 7,000 grants, distributing more than $230 million from 1,000 funds, each representing the vision and generosity of our fundholders. This remarkable milestone includes Donor Advised Funds, which reported distributions of $155,608,027 in 2024 compared to $95,466,600 in 2023, an extraordinary 63 percent increase that underscores the accelerating power of collective philanthropy.
Within that growth, $11.1 million was invested into the community through Core Grantmaking, our discretionary resources directed by our Impact Team and guided by community insight, including 173 grants distributed across 126 organizations.
As we celebrate these accomplishments, we also carry forward the lessons that will guide our path ahead. This journey demands strategy, collective action, and steadfast resolve, but above all, it calls for joy. Together, we must embrace it, nurture it, and let it shape the future we build.
In this annual report, you’ll find stories that bring our impact to life: fundholders sharing their family giving traditions, grantee partners advancing systemic change, and communities driving capacity building, organizing, movement building, and advocacy. These stories, along with our grantmaking data, demonstrate the collective power of philanthropy in action, the lessons we’ve learned, and the progress we are making toward a more joyful, just, and thriving region for all.
Alesha Washington
Seattle’s extraordinary economic growth has brought innovation and prosperity, but not everyone has shared its benefits. The pandemic laid bare these inequities, and today our region remains divided by sharp economic and social lines, where opportunity lifts some while leaving too many behind.
At Seattle Foundation, we believe Seattle’s promise should belong to everyone. That’s why we rise to the challenge of our region’s complexities with bold collaboration—what we call our Journey to Joy.
Joy is what it looks like when possibility is shared: families in healthy, affordable homes, neighborhoods rooted for generations, vibrant communities of belonging, and lives filled with opportunity.
CHANGEMAKERS
MICHAEL & DEBBIE CAMPBELL
Michael and Debbie Campbell have spent their lives blending family, philanthropy, and adventure into a legacy of generosity. Married for 47 years, with four children and six grandchildren, they launched their giving journey in 2007 after Michael inherited his father’s modest estate. Honoring his memory, they created the “Grandpa Fund” with the Seattle Foundation, a donor advised fund that has since become the cornerstone of their family’s charitable tradition.
Every holiday season, the family gathers, often virtually across continents, to select nonprofits to support. Each child and grandchild presents their chosen cause, cultivating not only thoughtful giving but also lessons in research, accountability, and global awareness. From supporting Special Olympics, Pike Place Market Foundation, and Seattle Children’s Hospital to backing international initiatives like the Rwanda Girls Initiative, their reach is wide and heartfelt.
The Campbells are new members of the Foundation’s Changemakers Circle, a community of legacy donors who have chosen to make a lasting impact through planned gifts and bequests from their estate.
Known as the “Senior Nomads,” Michael and Debbie have traveled the world for over a decade, yet their true journey is measured in lives touched and a legacy of generosity that will endure for generations.
When asked what brings them joy regarding their philanthropy, Michael said, “Teaching our children, and now our grandchildren, about the impact of charitable giving and encouraging them to support causes they care about has been so gratifying!”
BUILDING A JOYFUL REGION
Across our region, individuals, nonprofits, businesses, and government entities are working together to create meaningful change. The true power of a community foundation lies in bringing these voices together—building relationships across sectors, aligning resources, and focusing on solutions that matter both today and for the long term.
As a Seattle Foundation fundholder, you are at the heart of this work. Your collective philanthropy is fueling progress, shaping the future of our communities locally, nationally, and globally. These numbers reflect more than dollars given; they tell the story of shared leadership, deep commitment, and a vision for a more joyful, just, and thriving world for generations.
FUNDHOLDER STORY
Katie Joannes
Katie Joannes and her family created Jaden’s Community Support Fund to honor the life and values of her son, Jaden, whose compassion touched countless people. From an early age, Jaden noticed and included those who were often overlooked, and he stood up for peers facing injustice.
His friends recall how his kindness and willingness to connect gave them hope during their darkest moments. Katie shared one example: “There was a girl who used crutches to walk, I think she had cerebral palsy, and nobody was sitting with her at lunch. He made a point to sit with her and then came home and asked me, ‘Why won’t anyone sit with her? She’s so nice.’”
When Jaden passed away at 19 from an accidental overdose, Katie chose to transform her grief into action. Guided by the belief that energy never disappears but can be redirected, she sees the fund as a way to channel love and loss into meaningful community support. The fund has already united young people who knew Jaden, forming a youth advisory committee that ensures his spirit of inclusivity remains central.
Katie describes the work as both healing and empowering.
Katie shared that working with the Seattle Foundation has brought her a deep sense of relief. “It can feel overwhelming to bring so many ideas together and then face the complicated administrative side of grants,” she explained. “With the Foundation, that burden is lifted. We can simply decide where we want to donate, let the team know, and trust that it will be handled.” She added that the operational support allows her to stay focused on the heartfelt work, while the foundation manages the logistics.
The fund’s activities have created space for collective catharsis, helping others process their struggles without shame while celebrating Jaden’s legacy. Through collaboration with the Seattle Foundation, Katie has built a structure for sustainable giving. For her family and community, the fund is not just about remembrance; it is about carrying forward Jaden’s unwavering love for others.
TRANSFORMING SYSTEMS, GROWING JOY
In 2024, Seattle Foundation deepened its investment in strategies that drive systemic change, centering capacity building, community organizing, power and movement building, and policy and advocacy.
For capacity building, our progress lies in timely and flexible funding, trusted relationships, and strong ecosystem support led by Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) serving intermediaries. Community organizing flourishes when safe and inclusive gathering spaces exist, barriers to engagement are removed, storytelling lifts lived experience, and community care sustains long-term involvement. Policy and advocacy succeed when rooted in community-driven research, strong communication strategies, diverse coalitions, and equitable access to civic participation.
Together, these elements are vital to advancing racial and economic equity across our region. Guided by community priorities, our discretionary Core Grantmaking resources are directed by the Impact Team. This flexible funding enables responsive investment and deep partnerships with organizations advancing systemic change.
These core principles: timely resources, trusted relationships, inclusive spaces, and strong advocacy, are the very strategies we support through our grants, and the work of our grantee partners brings them to life.
CAPACITY BUILDING
A focus on organizational infrastructure, navigating growth and transitions, and learning
Essential elements: Timely and flexible dollars that meet emerging priorities, trusted relationships, and ecosystem support led by BIPOC serving intermediaries.
Grantee Highlight:
Communities Rise fosters movements to build power in communities impacted by systemic oppression. They pursue cross-sector collaboration and provide capacity building and legal services for community organizations and microenterprises.
"For the nonprofits that we work with, we are seeing many recurring trends in challenges around formation & structures, sustainability, transition, and funding opportunities. More organizations are looking to learn more about non-c3 organizational structures, as well as non-hierarchical leadership structures within or outside of a 501c3 structure. They’re looking to disrupt toxic patterns common to typical leadership and the issues that arise from those structures.”
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
A focus on connections, voice, and collective power
Essential elements: Safe, welcoming, and inclusive spaces; storytelling strategies; removing barriers to
engagement; community care
Grantee Highlight: Writers Development Program involves small writing groups of aspiring incarcerated journalists
who share their work and eventually publish in mainstream media.
"It started with 4 people who had never published a single story and has now grown to 8 people across Washington State who have written over 200 articles. These and other articles have been instrumental in inspiring changes in the criminal justice system and supporting the growth and healing of those within its prison system.”
POWER AND MOVEMENT BUILDING
A focus on a strong base, collective power, and cross-movement connections
Essential elements:
Shared values, clear expectations, skill building, representative data.
Grantee Highlight:
Equitable Recovery and Reconciliation Alliance is a collective of BIPOC leaders creating a permanent policy institute to gather data, present solutions, and influence public decision-making.
"Building trust, clear expectations, aligning on goals, and developing a shared leadership and decision-making structure has been fundamental to implementing this pilot and continues to be an enormous learning opportunity on base building, shared advocacy, and generative conflict.”
POLICY AND ADVOCACY
A focus on advocating for systems change and influencing decision makers
Essential elements: Storytelling, communication, community-driven research and policy, long-term partnerships,
expanded civic access.
Grantee Highlight:
Climate Solutions is accelerating clean energy solutions to the climate crisis.
"Storytelling can explain complex ideas in simple terms and strengthen the climate action movement. The aim was to spark excitement, increase interpersonal connections, and establish a shared desire for clean energy solutions – as well as empower people with confidence in those solutions.”
OUR FINANCIALS
In 2024, Seattle Foundation made over 7,000 grants, totaling
more than $230 million from
1,000 funds, each representing the vision and generosity of our fundholders. Seattle Foundation works with our community of support to align their giving with their values and interests. Through Donor Advised funds, Area of Interest funds, and Designated funds, individuals and families can support specific causes or contribute directly to programmatic efforts. The below chart illustrates giving by fund type. Our full audited consolidated financials are also available here.
