SOURCE OF WEALTH: Visa, Inc.
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth, Other
OVERVIEW: Joseph Saunders supports education and other causes through the Saunders Family Charitable Fund, which available tax filings show, gave away around $770,000 in 2017. Saunders is supportive of his alma mater, the University of Denver. His foundation accepts proposals by mail at the address provided below.
BACKGROUND: Joseph W. Saunders holds BS and MBA degrees from the University of Denver. He was president of card services at Washington Mutual and president and CEO of Providian Financial Corporation. From 2007 until 2013 he served as executive chairman and CEO of Visa International, the multinational credit card company.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Saunders has steadily funded his alma mater, the University of Denver. In 2013, he endowed the Joseph W. and Sharon P. Saunders Global Education Fund at the university’s Daniels College of Business. The fund expanded the school’s course offerings in the area of global business and provides scholarships and exchange opportunities for students. Saunders also serves as an emeritus director of Teach for All, a global teacher development and leadership program. Other education grantees have included Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco, Northwestern University, Teach for America, the University of California at San Francisco and Evanston Township High School in Illinois. Saunders has also supported StudentsFirst, an organizations that lobbies for the expansion of charter schools.
OTHER: Additional past grantees include the American American Heart Association, the Del Monte Forest Conservancy and the George W. Bush Foundation.
LOOKING FORWARD: Saunders will likely continue to support the University of Denver and to support education broadly.
CONTACT:
The foundation accepts applications at the address below. There are no application deadlines.
Alicia On
135 Main Street, 9th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 624-2210
