Baker Street Foundation

The Baker Street Foundation is a foundation founded and operated by the family of Robert M. Miner, the late co-founder of the software multinational Oracle Corporation,1 and his widow, Oakville Ranch Winery owner Mary Miner. 2

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3), Private Foundation
Issue Areas: Multi-Issue Advocacy
Founder:

Miner family

Formation:

1995

Location: San Francisco, CA View on map
Tax ID: 94-3192365
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $125,758,384 Revenue: $2,103,817 Expenses: $8,293,154

Contents

    It has no public mission statement nor website. It makes a number of grants to San Francisco-based parks, arts, education, medicine and social relief organizations. 3 The foundation provides funding to several left-of-center organizations including Planned Parenthood, Earthjustice, Safe and Sound, and National Organization for Women. 3

    Background

    The Baker Street Foundation was granted non-profit status in April 1995, shortly after the death of Robert M. Miner, co-founder of Oracle, from cancer. 1 The Miner family was ranked number 170 on the Forbes “Richest American Families” list in 2014 with an estimated wealth of $1.1 billion, but fell from the list in later years. 2

    The foundation holds assets with a fair market value of $90,832,386 at the end of 2017. 4 The entirety of the foundation’s funding comes from the Miner family and returns on investment assets contributed by the Miners.

    Grants to Earthjustice, Safe and Sound, National Organization for Women (NOW), University of San Francisco School of Law – Immigration Clinic, and Planned Parenthood are indicative of the foundation’s left-of-center tilt. Nicola Miner, a director for Baker Street Foundation and daughter of Robert and Mary Miner, and her husband, Robert Mailer Anderson, hosted a $35,800 per-plate fund raising dinner for President Barack Obama and support the Natural Resources Defense Council and Planned Parenthood. 5

    People

    Mary Miner is the widow of Robert Miner, a co-founder of Oracle. In addition to her role of co-founder of the Baker Street Foundation, she owns the Oakville Vineyards in Napa County2 and is a director of Mmm Management, a financial advisory firm in San Francisco. 6

    Nicola Miner is the oldest child of Mary and Bob Miner and is married to author Robert Mailer Anderson, a member of the San Francisco Jazz Center. 5 In addition to her role with the Baker Street Foundation she serves on the Board of Trustees of Earthjustice,7 and previously as a director of the Presidio Trust, San Francisco University High School, The San Francisco Ballet, and The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She is an instructor at the College of San Mateo and President of Miner Anderson Family Foundation. Both are members of the Democratic Party. 5

    Luke Miner, the son of Robert and Mary Miner, is a data scientist and co-founder of Tunebend, a music application for smartphones. 8

    Helen Sedwick is an attorney at Bennett Valley Law, a firm that she founded in 2007, representing entrepreneurs and small businesses. She has sat on the board of the Baker Street Foundation since 2002. She has wrote a book titled The Step-by-Step Guide to the Legal issues of Self-Publishing. 9

    Roy Bukstein, CFO and director of the foundation, is also CFO of  Mmm Management and RNM Properties , both of which are Miner family-controlled organizations. He served as CFO and treasurer of Oracle Corporation from 1980 through 1988, during which time he worked with Robert Miner. 10

    Funding

    Total income for 2017 was $1,405,436 11 versus $5,161,232

    (includes $487,438 in non-cash contribution from Mary Miner) in 2016. 12 Expenses for 2017 were $6,919,176 (including $5,977,827 in grants) 13 versus $5,027,163 (including $4,553,588 in grants) in 2016. 14

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $125,758,384 $2,103,817 $8,293,154 View
    2023 $121,138,567 $15,334,855 $7,071,983 View
    2022 $102,798,809 $10,923,827 $4,936,512 View
    2021 $111,419,700 $19,294,792 $9,393,565 View
    2020 $101,056,328 $21,580,186 $9,407,994 View

    Prior year filings: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

    Expenses Detail

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $69,114,136
    • Number of Grants: 665
    • Number of Recipients: 144

    Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $1,565,0002020 San Francisco Parks AllianceOPERATING EXPENSES AND ENDOWMENT
    $1,525,0002021 San Francisco Parks AllianceOPERATING EXPENSES AND ENDOWMENT
    $1,025,0002022 San Francisco Parks AllianceOPERATING EXPENSES AND CRANE COVE PARK PROJECT
    $1,000,0002023 SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATIONOPERATING EXPENSES
    $1,000,0002022 SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATIONOPERATING EXPENSES
    $1,000,0002021 SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATIONGENERAL SUPPORT
    $1,000,0002020 SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATIONTO IMPROVE PERFORMANCES
    $600,0002022 San Francisco-Marin Food BankENDOWMENT
    $600,0002020 San Francisco-Marin Food BankOPERATING EXPENSES AND ENDOWMENT
    $550,0002020 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATIONOPERATING EXPENSES
    $500,0002024 Brown University of ProvidenceSUPPORT MENTAL HEALTH INITIATIVE
    $500,0002023 Brown University of ProvidenceESTABLISH THE BATISHWA DAVID FACULTY FUND
    $500,0002022 Brown University of ProvidenceESTABLISH THE BATISHWA DAVID FACULTY FUND
    $500,0002020 San Francisco, City and County ofOPERATING EXPENSES
    $300,0002021 EarthjusticeOPERATING EXPENSES
    $300,0002020 EarthjusticeOPERATING EXPENSES
    $300,0002020 San Francisco General Hospital FoundationOPERATING EXPENSES
    $275,0002023 A Home WithinPROGRAM MODEL EVALUATION
    $275,0002022 A Home WithinPROGRAM MODEL EVALUATION
    $275,0002021 A Home WithtnGENERAL SUPPORT
    $263,1072024 A Home WithinOPERATING EXPENSES
    $250,0002023 The ExploratoriumOPERATING EXPENSES
    $250,0002022 University of ChicagoOPERATING EXPENSES
    $250,0002021 San Francisco, City and County ofOPERATING EXPENSES
    $250,0002020 Brown University of ProvidenceNEW ARTS CENTER

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    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. Associated Press. “Robert Miner, 52, Software Executive.” The New York Times. The New York Times, November 17, 1994. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/17/obituaries/robert-miner-52-software-executive.html.
    2. “Miner Family.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 2014. https://www.forbes.com/profile/miner/#bfd13481e315.
    3. Baker Street Foundation, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), Part XV Line 3
    4. Baker Street Foundation Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990PF) 2017 Page 1 Line I.
    5. Zinko, Carolyne. “Robert Mailer Anderson: Edgy and on the Edge.” SFGate. San Francisco Chronicle, August 6, 2012. https://www.sfgate.com/style/article/Robert-Mailer-Anderson-edgy-and-on-the-edge-3513597.php.
    6. Mmm Management, Inc., California Secretary of State Statement of Information, July 24, 2017, Accessed September 6, 2019. https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/Document/RetrievePDF?Id=01948125-22654091
    7. “Bay Area Philanthropist Nicola Miner Joins Earthjustice Board of Trustees.” Earthjustice, November 28, 2017. https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2017/bay-area-philanthropist-nicola-miner-joins-earthjustice-board-of-trustees.
    8. “Luke Miner.” LinkedIn. Accessed September 13, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukeminer/.
    9. “Helen Sedwick.” LinkedIn. Accessed September 6, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-sedwick-1568617/
    10. “Roy Bukstein.” LinkedIn. Accessed September 6, 2019. https://www.linkedin.com/in/roy-bukstein-5741732/
    11. Baker Street Foundation Return of a Private Foundation (990-PF) 2017 Page 1, Line 12.
    12. Baker Street Foundation Tax Return of a Private Foundation. 2016 Pate 1 Line 1 and Line 12.
    13. Baker Street Foundation Tax Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF) 2017 Page 1 Line 26.
    14. Baker Street foundation Tax Return of a Private Foundation (990-PF) 2017 Page 1 Line 26.