SOURCE OF WEALTH: Goldman Sachs
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Arts & Culture, Environment
OVERVIEW: Christopher Cole and his wife Barbara conduct their philanthropy through the Griffin-Cole Fund. The couple support their mutual alma mater Princeton University and other outfits in Princeton, New Jersey. Other interests include the arts and the environment.
BACKGROUND: Christopher A. Cole received an AB in history from Princeton University in 1981 and an MBA from Harvard University in 1985. He joined Goldman Sachs, eventually serving as the chairman of investment banking until 2015. He went on to found Ardea Partners, a private investment banking advisory firm.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: The couple support their mutual alma mater Princeton University. Barbara is a trustee emerita of Princeton Day School, which she attended and the couple support. Other grantees include St. Paul’s School (which Barbara graduated from), Yale University (where Cole’s mother worked), New Jersey SEEDS, and Teach for America.
ARTS & CULTURE: Grantees include McCarter Theater, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Princeton Symphony Orchestra, Morven Museum & Garden, Historical Society of Princeton, and Arts Council of Princeton.
ENVIRONMENT: Cole is on the board of the Environmental Defense Fund. Other grantees include New Jersey Conservation Foundation Land Fund, The High Mountain Institute, The Stony Brook–Millstone Watershed Association, and The Trustees of Reservations, a “non-profit land conservation and historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving natural and historical places in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
OTHER: The Coles have supported Mass General Hospital and Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. The Coles have also directed money to American Jewish World Service and Indigenous Education Foundation of Tanzania.
LOOKING FORWARD: Expect the couple to continue with their interest areas, with an eye towards Central New Jersey.
CONTACT:
Griffin-Cole Fund
P.O. Box 73, Bowling Green Station
New York, NY 10274
