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Jacobs Foundation

Website:

jacobsfoundation.org/
Status:

Non-Profit
Type:

Grantmaking Foundation
Location:

Zurich, Switzerland
Founded:

1989

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The Jacobs Foundation is an international grantmaking foundation that focuses on providing grants to educational institutions and left-of-center organizations that prioritize education. 1

The foundation has provided grants to institutions such as the Queen Mary University of London, the University of Zurich, and Vanderbilt University. It has also provided grants to the International Step by Step Association (ISSA), an international membership association of early childhood-focused professionals that promotes the critical race theory-influenced concepts of social justice and equity throughout its programming. 2 3

The foundation is also partnered with various food-manufacturing conglomerates including Cargill, the Hershey Company, Mars Wrigley, and Nestle. 4

Background

The Jacobs Foundation is an international nonprofit grantmaking foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland. The organization was founded in 1989 by Klaus J. Jacobs and his family, the owners of the Johann Jacobs & Co. coffee company and prioritizes grantmaking related to education. 5

Klaus J. Jacobs was born in Bremen, Germany, on December 3, 1936. He became a coffee trader in Central America after leaving secondary school, before returning to Europe in 1961. Upon his return, Jacobs assumed control of an Austrian subsidiary of Johann Jacobs & Co. 6

After completing an executive master’s degree at Stanford University in 1970, Jacobs became the manager of Johann Jacobs & Co., and moved the company’s headquarters to Zurich, Switzerland in 1973. 7

The Jacobs Foundation was established in 1989 at Jacobs Haus, a 1913 building that hosted the Jacobs Suchard Museum, which documented the history of Johann Jacobs & Co. After the creation of the Jacobs Foundation, the museum was sold in 1990, and all its holdings were transferred to the Jacobs Foundation. 8

The foundation also founded the Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. The Jacobs Center, founded in 2003, is a joint program of the Jacobs Foundation and the University of Zurich. The Jacobs Center became a part of the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Economics, Business Administration, and Information Technology at the university in 2015. 9

Funding

Due to being headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, there is little publicly available financial information relating to the Jacobs Foundation. However, the organization’s 2018 “project list” notes part of the foundation’s approved grantmaking in that year. 10

According to the project list, the Jacobs Foundation granted a total of 3 million Swiss Francs (CHF) (approximately $3,251,925) to its Jacobs Research Fellowship Program, CHF 400,000 (around $433,590) to its Young Scholars Research Grant Program, and CHF 50 million (about $54,198,750) to the Jacobs University Bremen. 11

The Jacobs Foundation also made multiple grants to educational institutions including a grant of CHF 350,330 (approximately $379,748) to the Queen Mary University of London, CHF 338,118 (around $366,511) to the University of Zurich, and CHF 179,193 (around $194,240) to Vanderbilt University. 12

The Jacobs Foundation also granted CHF 833,000 (approximately $902,951) to the International Step by Step Association (ISSA) in 2018 and another CHF 350,000 (around $379,391) in 2019. 13 14

ISSA is a Netherlands-based international membership association of early childhood-focused professionals primarily located in Europe and Central Asia. As of December 2022, ISSA includes more than 90 member organizations in nearly 40 countries and promotes the critical race theory-influenced concepts of social justice and equity throughout its programming. 15 16 17

The Jacobs Foundation also lists its “partners” on its website. These partners include educational institutions, non-governmental organizations, and businesses including food-industry corporations Cargill, the Hershey Company, Mars Wrigley, and Nestle. 18

References

  1. “JF_Projektliste_2018.indd.” April 12, 2019. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/JF_Projektliste_E_2018.pdf.
  2. “JF_Projektliste_2018.indd.” April 12, 2019. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/JF_Projektliste_E_2018.pdf.
  3. “Devex.Com.” Accessed January 23, 2023. https://www.devex.com/organizations/international-step-by-step-association-133630.
  4. “Partners.” Jacobs Foundation. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/partners/.
  5. “Jacobs Family.” Jacobs Foundation. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/jacobs-family/.
  6. “Jacobs Family.” Jacobs Foundation. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/jacobs-family/.
  7. “Jacobs Family.” Jacobs Foundation. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/jacobs-family/.
  8. “Jacobs Family.” Jacobs Foundation. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/jacobs-family/.
  9. “Jacobs Family.” Jacobs Foundation. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/jacobs-family/.
  10. “JF_Projektliste_2018.indd.” April 12, 2019. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/JF_Projektliste_E_2018.pdf.
  11. “JF_Projektliste_2018.indd.” April 12, 2019. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/JF_Projektliste_E_2018.pdf
  12. “JF_Projektliste_2018.indd.” April 12, 2019. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/JF_Projektliste_E_2018.pdf.
  13. “JF_Projektliste_2018.indd.” April 12, 2019. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/JF_Projektliste_E_2018.pdf.
  14. “JF_Projektliste_2019.indd.” June 9, 2020. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/JF_Projektliste_2019_E.pdf.
  15. [1] “Devex.Com.” Accessed January 23, 2023. https://www.devex.com/organizations/international-step-by-step-association-133630.
  16. “About us.” ISSA. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://www.issa.nl/about-us-history.
  17. July 20, 2022. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://www.issa.nl/sites/default/files/ISSA_Annual_Report_2021.pdf.
  18. “Partners.” Jacobs Foundation. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://jacobsfoundation.org/partners/.
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