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. 1 The Gerbode Foundation has made grants to various left-leaning groups including Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. 2
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 foundations1 The new foundation’s board contains the founder, Frank A. Gerbode, and his children Sharon, Colin, and Ian. 3
The Gerbode Foundation has been involved in supporting organizations that challenge large energy companies. 4 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. 4
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. 5
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.” 6 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. 6
References
- “History.” Gerbode Foundation. Accessed April 13, 2020. Available at: https://www.gerbode.org/history ^
- “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.
- “History.” Gerbode Foundation. Accessed April 13, 2020. Available at: https://www.gerbode.org/history ^
- 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.
- “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
- Ducharme, Jamie. “Women Who Are Denied Abortions May Face Health Problems.” Time, June 10, 2019. https://time.com/5603194/denied-abortions-physical-health/.