Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy Schmidt, established the Schmidt Family Foundation in 2006. The foundation, based in Palo Alto, California, was created as a 501(c)(3) exempt private foundation. The foundation’s mission is “to advance the wiser use of energy and natural resources and to support efforts worldwide that empower communities to build resilient systems for food, water, and human resources.”¹

At the end of 2014, the foundation’s assets were $399 million, with over $24.3 million in grants awarded that year.²

During the Fiscal Year 2021, the Foundation’s reported revenue was listed as $105,150,835, its total expenses as $124,965,500, and its total assets as $2,278,754,282. In addition, its total reported contributions in 2021 totaled $108,039,995 including $4,325,000 to Human Rights Watch, Inc, $3,000,000 to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation, and $3,400,000 to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. ^{3 4}

Founding

Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt established the Schmidt Family Foundation in 2006 in Palo Alto, California. Eric Schmidt is the executive chairman and former CEO of Google.⁵ The foundation supports projects that help “transform the world’s environmental and energy practices in the 21^st century.” More broadly, the foundation’s mission is to foster a positive relationship between human activity and the use of natural resources.²

Background

The Schmidt Family Foundation’s giving priorities fall under three key areas. All of these interests are housed and carried out underneath the foundation’s 11th Hour Project program.⁶ They are:

Renewable Energy and Climate

The program focuses on reducing reliance on fossil fuels and adopting renewable energy sources. This also includes the restoration and future preservation of landmarks, using new technology, and growing awareness about the impact of climate change through public education.⁷ Example grantees include the Energy Policy Forum, Earthworks, Clean Coalition, Mother Jones, and Resource Media.⁸

Human Rights

The program seeks to protect communities’ access to energy, food, and water systems to ensure their survival and is environmentally sustainable in the long-run.⁹ The foundation also works to create “global equity.”⁵ Example grantees include the Mary Robinson Foundation, New Media Advocacy Project, EarthSpark International, and WITNESS.¹⁰

Ecological Agriculture

The program’s goals include changing animal agriculture and building regional food systems; to encourage these changes, the foundation is involved in long-term movement building, actively encouraging public support for policy change at the local, state, and national level.¹¹ Example grantees include Real Food Media, Sustainable Agriculture and Food System Funders, Center for Investigative Reporting, Environmental Working Group, and Center for Food Safety.¹²

Board and Key Staff

Wendy Schmidt, wife of Eric Schmidt, serves as president of the Schmidt Family Foundation when they both founded the organization in 2006. She is the head of the Foundation’s 11th Hour Project as well as the Schmidt Marine Technology Partners. In 2009 she and her husband Eric also founded the Schmidt Ocean Institute. ¹³

Joe Sciortino is the executive director of the Schmidt Family Foundation as of 2023. Serving with the organization since 2006, Sciortino also works as the head of the organization’s 11th Hour Project. ¹⁴

Amy Rao serves as Vice President of the Schmidt Family Foundation, while also working on the board for the Foundation since 2006. Beforehand, she founded and was the CEO of Silicon Valley-based system reseller Integrated Archive Systems. In addition, Rao is the co-chair of Human Rights Watch. ¹⁵

Affiliations

Wendy Schmidt founded ReMain Nantucket, which preserves and protects historic landmarks of Nantucket, Massachusetts.¹⁶

Wendy established the Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill; she and her husband also founded and fund the Schmidt Ocean Institute and the Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund.⁵

Wendy is a founding board member of the climate control and media organization, Climate Central.¹⁶

1. “About.” Schmidt Family Foundation. Accessed December 28, 2016. http://tsffoundation.org/about/.
2. Find Grantmakers & Nonprofit Funders | Foundation Directory Online. Accessed December 28, 2016. https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/grantmaker-profile?collection=grantmakers&%3Bkey=SCHM120.
3. Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). The Schmidt Family Foundation. 2021. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/204170342/202203189349107165/full.
4. Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). The Schmidt Family Foundation. 2021. Part XIV. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/204170342/202203189349107165/full.
5. “Schmidt Family Foundation: Grants for the Environment.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed December 28, 2016. http://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-for-conservation/schmidt-family-foundation-grants-for-the-environment.html.
6. Project, 11th Hour. “About Us | 11th Hour Project.” About Us | 11th Hour Project. Accessed December 28, 2016. http://www.11thhourproject.org/about-us.
7. Project, 11th Hour. “Climate & Energy | 11th Hour Project.” Climate & Energy | 11th Hour Project. Accessed December 28, 2016. http://www.11thhourproject.org/programs/climate-and-energy.
8. Project, 11th Hour. “Climate & Energy | 11th Hour Project.” Climate & Energy | 11th Hour Project. Accessed December 28, 2016. http://www.11thhourproject.org/grantees/program/climate-and-energy.
9. Project, 11th Hour. “Human Rights | 11th Hour Project.” Human Rights | 11th Hour Project. Accessed December 28, 2016. http://www.11thhourproject.org/programs/human-rights.
10. Project, 11th Hour. “Grantees (Human Rights Program) | 11th Hour Project.” Grantees (Human Rights Program) | 11th Hour Project. Accessed December 28, 2016. http://www.11thhourproject.org/grantees/program/human-rights.
11. Project, 11th Hour. “Ecological Agriculture | 11th Hour Project.” Ecological Agriculture | 11th Hour Project. Accessed December 28, 2016. http://www.11thhourproject.org/programs/ecological-agriculture.
12. Project, 11th Hour. “Grantees (Ecological Agriculture Program) | 11th Hour Project.” Grantees (Ecological Agriculture Program) | 11th Hour Project. Accessed December 28, 2016. http://www.11thhourproject.org/grantees/program/ecological-agriculture.
13. “Wendy Schmidt.” 11th Hour Project, Accessed November 29, 2023. https://11thhourproject.org/our_team/wendy-schmidt/
14. “Joseph Sciortino.” 11th Hour Project, Accessed November 29, 2023. https://11thhourproject.org/our_team/joseph-sciortino/
15. “Amy Rao.” 11th Hour Project, Accessed November 29, 2023. https://11thhourproject.org/our_team/amy-rao/
16. “Wendy Schmidt | Climate Central.” Wendy Schmidt | Climate Central. Accessed December 28, 2016. http://www.climatecentral.org/what-we-do/people/wendy_schmidt.