The Friedman Family Foundation is a left-of-center grantmaking organization that donates money to other left-of-center organizations primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area with the goal of reducing poverty. ¹ Some of these organizations include the California Black Freedom Fund² and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. ³

Overview

Friedman Family Foundation was founded in 1964 by President Emeritus Phyllis K. Friedman and her husband, Howard A. Friedman. In 1988, she added her three children, Eleanor, David, and Robert Friedman, to the foundation board as vice presidents, treasurer, and secretary. ⁴ The foundation is a grantmaking organization who gives money to various left-of-center economic development organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area with the focus of reducing poverty through its left-of-center political agenda. The foundation awards relatively small sized grants that are from $5,000 to $10,000 called general operating support grants. ⁵

Grantmaking

One of the left-of-center organizations it finances is the California Black Freedom Fund (CBFF), a $100 million initiative that will provide resources to organizations in the state of California who are led by Black people over the next five years. ⁶

Another organization it has financed is the Alliance of Californians For Community Empowerment Institute (ACCE)⁷, a left-of-center organization that works to affect communities through issues such as housing, raising taxes, increasing California’s state budget, and worker wages. ⁸ The foundation also donated a grant of $10,000 to the Million Voters Project,⁹ an alliance of various organizations that works towards mobilizing one million voters to the polls around a left-of-center agenda. ACCE is also one of the 7 organizations that are a part of this alliance. ¹⁰ The foundation also gives grants to some organizations outside of the San Francisco such as the Aspen Institute, Asset Funders Networks, Center for Community Change, and Association for Enterprise Opportunity. ¹¹

People

Phyllis K. Friedman is a founder and former president of the Friedman Family Foundation. In 1964, she founded the foundation alongside her late husband Howard A. Friedman. She was born, raised, and resided in the Bay Area of California. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A and master’s degree in Social Welfare.

Robert E. Friedman is the vice president and secretary of the Friedman Family Foundation. He served on the board of the Friedman Family Foundation for 29 years. He graduated from Harvard College and Yale Law School and is the founder and chairman emeritus of a 40-year-old national economic development nonprofit called Prosperity Now. ¹²

1. “About the Foundation.” Friedman Family Foundation | Reducing Poverty Through Systemic Change. Accessed August 1, 2021. https://friedmanfamilyfoundation.org/about/.
2. Harvey, Antonio R. “California Foundations Drop $100 Million in ‘Black Freedom Fund’.” Los Angeles Sentinel. Last modified February 18, 2021. https://lasentinel.net/california-foundations-drop-100-million-in-black-freedom-fund.html.
3. “2020 (to Date) | Grants Made in of the Grants.” Friedman Family Foundation | Reducing Poverty Through Systemic Change. Accessed August 1, 2021. https://friedmanfamilyfoundation.org/grants/year/2020/.
4. “People.” Friedman Family Foundation | Reducing Poverty Through Systemic Change. Accessed August 1, 2021. https://friedmanfamilyfoundation.org/people/.
5. Ochs, Alyssa. “Three Things to Know About the Friedman Family Foundation’s Bay Area Grantmaking.” Inside Philanthropy. Last modified July 5, 2021. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/bay-area/2016/7/19/three-things-to-know-about-the-friedman-family-foundations-b.html.
6. Harvey, Antonio R. “California Foundations Drop $100 Million in ‘Black Freedom Fund’.” Los Angeles Sentinel. Last modified February 18, 2021. https://lasentinel.net/california-foundations-drop-100-million-in-black-freedom-fund.html.
7. “2020 (to Date) | Grants Made in of the Grants.” Friedman Family Foundation | Reducing Poverty Through Systemic Change. Accessed August 1, 2021. https://friedmanfamilyfoundation.org/grants/year/2020/.
8. “ACCE Institute (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment).” The Center for Popular Democracy. Last modified February 4, 2016. https://www.populardemocracy.org/our-partners/acce-institute-alliance-californians-community-empowerment.
9. “2020 (to Date) | Grants Made in of the Grants.” Friedman Family Foundation | Reducing Poverty Through Systemic Change. Accessed August 1, 2021. https://friedmanfamilyfoundation.org/grants/year/2020/.
10. “About Us.” Million Voters Project. Accessed August 1, 2021. https://millionvotersproject.org/about.
11. Ochs, Alyssa. “Three Things to Know About the Friedman Family Foundation’s Bay Area Grantmaking.” Inside Philanthropy. Last modified July 5, 2021. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/bay-area/2016/7/19/three-things-to-know-about-the-friedman-family-foundations-b.html.
12. “People.” Friedman Family Foundation | Reducing Poverty Through Systemic Change. Accessed August 1, 2021. https://friedmanfamilyfoundation.org/people/.