Cameron Schrier Foundation
OVERVIEW: The Cameron Schrier Foundation supports education, democracy and journalism in the U.S. and South Africa.
IP TAKE: The Cameron Schrier Foundation’s largest area of giving is higher education, which it approaches from the standpoint of equitable opportunity and access. Unfortunately, this funder does not accept proposals and appears to give to the same small group of grantees year after year. Organizations working with underserved communities in the U.S. or South Africa may, however, find it worthwhile to email a brief introduction.
PROFILE: The Cameron Schrier Foundation is the philanthropic vehicle of Derek Schrier, a financier, and his wife, Cecily Cameron, a writer. Derek Schrier holds an A.B. from Princeton, as well as J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Stanford University. He worked in mergers and acquisitions at Goldman Sachs and was a partner at Farallon Capital Management before founding Indaba Capital Management in 2010. Schrier also worked extensively with the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa during the 1990s and managed research for the African National Congress’s political campaign during the nation’s first democratic elections in 1994. Cecily Cameron also graduated from Princeton and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is a writer but worked for many years in the financial services, technology, nonprofit and retail sectors.
The couple founded the Cameron Schrier Foundation (formerly the Egg Foundation) in 2006. It is based in San Francisco and makes grants to organizations in the U.S. and South Africa and works to “develop young leaders, promote education equity, help communities in need, and encourage informed public discourse and an active civil society.” The Cameron Schrier Foundation names focus areas for Academic & Research Institutions, Community Services, Development of Future Leaders, Education Equity and Strengthening Democracy and Civil Society but does not articulate specific strategies beyond these. This grantmaker makes both project and unrestricted grants.
Grants for Higher Education and Global Development
A significant portion of the Cameron Schrier Foundation’s grantmaking supports higher education and educational global development initiatives in the U.S. and South Africa. Grants stem from three of the foundation’s focus areas.
Grants for Academic & Research Institutions support universities and other research institutes with an emphasis on opportunity and nontraditional educational opportunities.
One recent grant went to Outer Coast, which describes itself as “a new postsecondary institution” in Alaska that provides students with the opportunity to “study, work, and live, together as members of the Outer Coast and Sitka communities.” Grants have also gone to Howard University, the University of California San Francisco and the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.
Grantmaking stemming from the foundation’s Development of Future Leaders focus area appear to prioritize college and university students, although the foundation does not articulate specific goals for its work in this area.
Ongoing support has gone to Princeton in Africa, “a program that develops the skills and knowledge of young leaders who serve in Africa for a year in various fields such as business, education, health, conservation, and civil society.” The foundation has also made grants to the School for Ethics and Global Leadership in Washington, D.C. and the Dragons Fund, which provides scholarships to students participating in the Where There Be Dragons gap year program.
The foundation’s Education Equity grants appear to support initiatives that help nontraditional college students gain acceptance to, succeed in and complete higher education programs.
In the U.S. the foundation has made grants to Matriculate, which “connects high-achieving, low-income juniors and seniors to highly-trained undergraduate advisors—completely virtually—empowering students to attend colleges where they will thrive.” It has also supported South Africa’s Saide, which works to broadly increase access to “education and training to increase equitable and meaningful access to knowledge, skills and learning.”
Grants for K-12 Education and Community Development
The Cameron Schrier Foundation’s Community Services giving area focuses on youth and children in the context of the communities in which they live. While the foundation does not name specific priorities for this giving, it appears to focus on out-of-school learning, enrichment and counseling initiatives.
Grantees include San Francisco’s Larkin Street Youth Services, South Africa’s Grassroot Soccer and youth educational programs at Pennsylvania’s Reading Public Library.
The foundation’s Education Equity giving area also supports K-12 education, albeit with a focus on increasing access to quality education for underserved populations.
Grants have gone to Gateway Public Schools, a charter school network serving the San Francisco area, and 826 Valencia, which provides “free writing workshops, tutoring, and mentorship to students in grades 3-12 who need extra support with their writing skills.”
Grants for Civic Engagement, Democracy and Journalism
The Cameron Schrier Foundation makes grants to Strengthen Democracy and Civil Society. This focus area appears to prioritize policy development geared toward social justice and equity and independent journalism.
In South Africa, the foundation has supported the Amabhugane Centre for Investigative Journalism, the Equal Education Law Centre and the GroundUp independent new agency.
U.S. grants have gone to the Boston Review, PEN America and the Impact Fund, a legal organization “fighting for economic, environmental, racial, and social justice.”
Important Grant Details:
Grants generally range from $10,000 to $150,000.
This funder’s work is mainly limited to the U.S. and South Africa.
The foundation tends to give to large- and medium-sized organizations working in its areas of interest.
Cameron Schrier’s largest area of giving appears to be higher education.
The foundation does not accept unsolicited applications.
Email general inquiries to the Cameron Schrier Foundation at info@cameronschrier.org
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