The Gerbode Foundation is a private foundation that principally makes grants in the San Francisco Bay Area and Hawaii. ¹ Founded as the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, it underwent a major restructuring in 2016. ² The Gerbode Foundation has made grants to various left-leaning groups including Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. ³

Background

The Gerbode Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private foundation that principally makes grants in the San Francisco Bay Area and Hawaii. Founded as the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, it underwent a major restructuring in 2016, which resulted in half of the funds remaining with the Gerbode Foundation and the other half resulting in the creation of three individual private foundations⁴ The new foundation’s board contains the founder, Frank A. Gerbode, and his children Sharon, Colin, and Ian. ⁵

The Gerbode Foundation has been involved in supporting organizations that challenge large energy companies. ⁶ The Foundation has also funded projects that have increased access to the chemical abortion pill RU-486 and “morning after” emergency contraception pills across the United States. ⁷

Grantmaking

The Gerbode Foundation has donated to multiple social-liberal and pro-abortion groups in the past, including Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, Physicians For Reproductive Choice, and Nursing Students for Choice. ⁸

In 2019, Time reported that the Gerbode Foundation funded a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine that claims that “having an abortion is not detrimental to women’s health, but being denied access to a wanted [abortion] likely is.” ⁹ The study was also funded by other left-leaning pro-abortion grantmaking groups such as David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. ¹⁰

1. “History.” Gerbode Foundation. Accessed April 13, 2020. Available at: https://www.gerbode.org/history ^
2. “History.” Gerbode Foundation. Accessed April 13, 2020. Available at: https://www.gerbode.org/history ^
3. “THE GROVE FOUNDATION – Form Form 990-PF for Period Ending Sep 2018 – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, n.d. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/770108124/09_2019_prefixes_75-81/770108124_201809_990PF_2019091016633487.
4. “History.” Gerbode Foundation. Accessed April 13, 2020. Available at: https://www.gerbode.org/history ^
5. “History.” Gerbode Foundation. Accessed April 13, 2020. Available at: https://www.gerbode.org/history ^
6. Ma’a, Stacie. “THE WALLACE ALEXANDER GERBODE FOUNDATION TO RESTRUCTURE AFTER 40 YEARS.” static1.squarespace.com/static/5ce3736c3f831c0001a20c9d/t/5d672f4381187e00013ca9a6/1567043395434/Press+Release+1-20-16.pdf.
7. Ma’a, Stacie. “THE WALLACE ALEXANDER GERBODE FOUNDATION TO RESTRUCTURE AFTER 40 YEARS.” static1.squarespace.com/static/5ce3736c3f831c0001a20c9d/t/5d672f4381187e00013ca9a6/1567043395434/Press+Release+1-20-16.pdf.
8. “The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Form 990-PF 2016.” ProPublica. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/946065226/12_2017_prefixes_94-99%2F946065226_201612_990PF_2017122715056168; “The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Form 990-PF 2010.” ProPublica. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/946065226/2011_09_PF%2F94-6065226_990PF_201012
9. Ducharme, Jamie. “Women Who Are Denied Abortions May Face Health Problems.” Time, June 10, 2019. https://time.com/5603194/denied-abortions-physical-health/.
10. Ducharme, Jamie. “Women Who Are Denied Abortions May Face Health Problems.” Time, June 10, 2019. https://time.com/5603194/denied-abortions-physical-health/.