The Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund is a San Francisco-based foundation founded in 1992 founded by Lisa and Douglas Goldman. The foundation makes grants to organizations involved in California.
It supports advocacy for left-of-center positions, including trying to expand and protecting voting eligibility, opposing election-related speech, promoting environmentalist-friendly products, supporting environmentalist policies in the Bay Area, and favoring abortion access.
History
The Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund was founded in 1992 by Lisa and Douglas Goldman. Douglas Goldman is the son of Levi Strauss heirs. After his father, Richard Goldman, died, his foundation received a third of his father’s approximately $280 million assets. 1
Today, all five of the foundation’s directors are part of the Goldman family. 2 The fund continues to provide philanthropic support for the generally left-leaning policy its founders support. 1
Grantees
The Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund gives to various organizations, including a number of left-of-center advocacy groups. The Fund has supported liberal election-process groups like the Campaign Legal Center in Washington, D.C. ($75,000) and Fair Elections Center in Washington, D.C. ($40,000); liberal advocacy media including Trace Media, Inc., in Brooklyn, New York ($40,000); environmentalist groups like Dogwood Alliance in Asheville, North Carolina ($50,000), Earthworks in Washington D.C., ($80,000), and United States Public Interest Research Group Education Fund in Denver, Colorado ($40,000); and a number of local Bay Area organizations including Tennis Coalition of San Francisco, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and United Way of Northern California. 3
Leadership
Douglas E. Goldman is the president of the Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund. He was an emergency physician for some time. Goldman is the chairman and founder of a business technology company aimed at enhancing business meetings. 4
He is also currently a trustee of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund and sits on the board of the San Francisco Emergency Physicians’ Association, the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, the Harold Hartog School of Government and Policy at Tel-Aviv University, the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, the Goldman Environmental Foundation, and the Goldman Prize jury. 4
All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:
Total Grant Value:$155,757,010
Number of Grants:4,208
Number of Recipients:803
Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years:
Amount
Year
Funder
Subject
$1,000,000
2025
University YWCA Berkeley California
Cal Athletics for the Fight for California Initiative
$1,000,000
2022
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Exhibition Support, $1 million over four years (2022-2026). Presenting Sponsor, The Obama Portraits, 2022.
$400,000
2023
STERN GROVE FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION
Capacity building for programming and artist fees for Stern Grove's 2024 concert season.
$300,000
2022
STERN GROVE FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION
Bolstering Strategic Goals 2023
$300,000
2021
STERN GROVE FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION
Bolstering Leadership Transition – Strategic Goals 2022 and Beyond
$300,000
2020
San Francisco-Marin Food Bank
$250,000
2025
JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL BAY AREA
JCRC Bay Area works to combat antisemitism and anti-Israelism, builds relationships with allied communities, and provides opportunities for Bay Area Jews to contribute to civic life. With Goldman Fund support, JCRC Bay Area will respond to the dual crises of rising antisemitism and anti-Israel activity in the region.
$250,000
2024
Jcrc Bay Area
To respond to the dual crises of rising antisemitism and anti-Israel activity.
$250,000
2022
Abortion Movement Fund
Pooled Fund, to provide funding to practical support organizations that assist low-income women who need help with abortion-related logistics and expenses.
$250,000
2022
Berkeley Hillel
Endowed Executive Director Position, to ensure the retention of Berkeley Hillel’s current executive director and recruitment of future top leadership.
$250,000
2021
JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL BAY AREA
Promote Jewish Ideals: Challenges to Democracy, Public Policy, and Israel, to support a campaign that advocates for a two-state solution in Israel, works to combat antisemitism, promotes civil society, and fights injustice through an Invest in Peace initiative.
To support an equitable, democratic, and transparent redistricting process that will result in district maps that reflect the communities represented.
$250,000
2020
JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL BAY AREA
Promoting Jewish Ideals: Challenges to Democracy, Public Policy, and Israel campaign that advocates for a two-state solution in Israel, combats antisemitism, promotes civil society, and fights injustice through an Invest in Peace initiative.
To ensure that unlawful policies that undermine the values of American democracy are met with effective legal opposition and that the public is educated about these issues.
$200,000
2024
Fight Back Film
general operating support for documentary film Things We Didn’t Learn: A Story of Ignorance, Arrogance & Greed
$200,000
2023
Jcrc #94-1156335
Elevating Jewish Identity, to combat antisemitism and foster civil society by promoting accurate views of Jews, Judaism, and Israel.
To ensure that patients can receive safe and timely abortion care.
$175,000
2025
The Brigid Alliance
Support to organization that provides practical support to women throughout the country who need help with abortion-related logistics and expenses.
$175,000
2024
Red Tent Fund
Start-up support to organization that intertwines Jewish tradition with responding to the pressing need for abortion access by providing financial support to abortion seekers regardless of religious affiliation.
$175,000
2024
The Brigid Alliance
Support to organization that provides practical support to women throughout the country who need help with abortion-related logistics and expenses.
$175,000
2023
Midwest Access Coalition
Capacity-building support to organization that provides practical support to women throughout the country who need help with abortion-related logistics and expenses.
$175,000
2023
Planned Parenthood Shasta-Diablo Inc
Securing Abortion Freedom and Equality Campaign, to ensure that patients can receive safe and timely abortion care.
