The Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation (SSDGFF) is a California-based, private, 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit founded and primarily funded by billionaire Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. The SSDGFF operates programs intended to assist women in workplace environments, help people facing personal difficulties, and provide college scholarships to qualifying applicants of selected ethnic backgrounds. ¹²

The SSDGF reported $11.5 million in revenue in 2017, along with just over $8 million in expenses. Balance of all assets after expenses in 2017 was $5,550,458. Revenue was generated by donations from Sandberg, investments, and sales of books authored by Sandberg. ³

SSDGF uses revenues to fund programs operated by the foundation rather than distributing grants to outside charities or nonprofits. ⁴

Sandberg identifies as a Democrat⁵ and SSDGB board of directors and advisory board members donate almost exclusively to Democratic Party candidates and the Democratic Party. ⁶

History

Sandberg established a foundation in 2013 called the Lean In Foundation after publishing a book by the same name. Sandberg changed the name in 2016 after the death of her husband, Dave Goldberg. Sandberg expanded the scope of the foundation to include two components. The first, Lean In, seeks to empower women in the workplace and the second, Option B, is concerned with helping people overcome grief or other significant personal obstacles. Sandberg funded the SSDGF with annual contributions from herself and from sales of two books she authored by the same names, Lean In and Option B. ⁷

In 2018, Sandberg donated the majority of approximately $200 million worth of SurveyMonkey stock she inherited from her husband to the SSDGF. ^{8 9}

People

Founder and board chair Sheryl Sandberg is the current Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. ¹⁰ Sandberg is a Democrat and worked in the Clinton administration in the U.S. Treasury Department. ¹¹ She has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic Party state and federal organizations and Democratic Party candidates for federal offices. ¹² Sandberg publicly endorsed and financially supported Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. ¹³

Rachel Thomas is the foundation’s co-founder and CEO. Prior to co-founding LeanIn.Org, Thomas was an executive for several consumer technology startups. ¹⁴ She has donated several thousand dollars to Democratic Party candidates for federal offices. ¹⁵

Operations and Activities

The Sheryl Sandberg and Dave Goldberg Family Foundation employs a staff of 32 to expand “Lean In” support groups for women across the country. ¹⁶ The Foundation also advocates “equal pay” policies and publishes an annual report on women in the workplace. The report advocates companies adopt policies the SSDGFF believes benefit woman and minorities, including creating diversity quotas for hiring and advancement. ¹⁷

SSDGFF operates the Dave Goldberg Scholars Program that provides financial resources and mentors to selected students.  The application process on the website does not directly express a racial preference component to the scholarship selection process other than describe the goal to create “diverse leaders,”¹⁸ but all 30 recipients selected in 2018 were described as “students of color.” ¹⁹

Controversies

The Sheryl Sandberg and Dave Goldberg Family Foundation has been criticized by some feminist groups and individuals for not engaging sufficiently in political activism, such as 2017 Women’s March in Washington DC.  Other prominent feminists have accused SSDGFF of not providing assistance to women’s rights activities because the organization is too inward-looking by directing resources to its own support group program. ²⁰

Some former employees of the foundation have described the organization’s culture as inordinately stressful and uncritically obsessed with Sandberg and her book, Lean In. ²¹ Other critics accuse the Foundation of being tainted by political controversies involving Sandberg’s role as Facebook COO. ²²

The size and salaries of the SSDGFF have been criticized as being excessive compared to other nonprofit foundations. ²³

Former First Lady Michelle Obama publicly criticized the philosophy underpinning the SSDGFF as proscribed in Sandberg’s books to be ineffective for women seeking to balance their professional and personal lives. ²⁴ That same criticism has been published by Georgetown University law professor and Obama administration State Department advisor Rosa Brooks. ²⁵

1. Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation. Sgff.org. “Our Team”. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://sgff.org/
2. KIPP Colorado Schools. “Two KIPP Colorado Students Awarded College Scholarships from the Sheryl Sandberg and Dave Goldberg Family Foundation”. May 1, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2019  https://kippcolorado.org/two-kipp-colorado-students-awarded-college-scholarships-from-the-sheryl-sandberg-and-dave-goldberg-family-foundation/
3. Internal Revenue Service. Return of private foundation. “Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation”. Form 990-PF 2017. Accessed December 13, 2019  https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2017/461/194/2017-461194887-1022793b-F.pdf
4. O’Donovan, Caroline. “Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg Was Supposed To Change The World With ‘Lean In.’ So What Went Wrong?”. Buzzfeed News. December 17, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2019  https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/facebooks-sheryl-sandberg-was-supposed-to-change-the-world
5. Frenkel, Sheera; Confessore, Nicholas; Kang, Cecilia; Rosenberg, Matthew, and Nicas, Jack. “Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis”. The New York Times. November 14, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html?utm_source=Open+Society+Foundations&utm_campaign=03aaf1f138-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_11_15_07_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d16374add2-03aaf1f138-47166609
6. Center for Responsive Politics. Opensecrets.org. Donor Lookup. “Rachel Thomas”. “Linda Goler”. “Kim Keating”. “Marne Levine”. “Deborah Lee James”. “Deborah Gruenfeld”. “Amy Hilliard”. “Julie Lythcott-Haims”. “Sharon Meers”. “.Judith Huemann”. “Marc Morial”. “Janet Murguía”. “Gautam Raghavan”. All accessed December 10, 2019.  https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/
7. O’Donovan, Caroline. “Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg Was Supposed To Change The World With ‘Lean In.’ So What Went Wrong?”. Buzzfeed News. December 17, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2019  https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/facebooks-sheryl-sandberg-was-supposed-to-change-the-world
8. Levi, Ari. “Sheryl Sandberg will donate SurveyMonkey stake to charity she started with her late husband, Dave Goldberg”. CNBC. August 29, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/29/sheryl-sandberg-to-donate-her-10percent-stake-in-surveymonkey.html
9. Di Mento, Maria. “Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg Gives $50 Million and Commits $50 Million More for New Foundation.” Chronicle of Philanthropy. November 16, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2019  https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/sheryl-sandberg-contributes-50-million-to-donor-advised-fund
10. Biography.com Editors. “Sheryl Sandberg Biography”. Biography. Updated April 16, 2019. Original May 8, 2015. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://www.biography.com/business-figure/sheryl-sandberg
11. Frenkel, Sheera; Confessore, Nicholas; Kang, Cecilia; Rosenberg, Matthew, and Nicas, Jack. “Delay, Deny and Deflect: How Facebook’s Leaders Fought Through Crisis”. The New York Times. November 14, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2019  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/technology/facebook-data-russia-election-racism.html?utm_source=Open+Society+Foundations&utm_campaign=03aaf1f138-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_11_15_07_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d16374add2-03aaf1f138-47166609
12. Center for Responsive Politics. Opensecrets.org. Donor Lookup. “Sheryl Sandberg”. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=Sheryl+Sandberg&page=1
13. Burns, Tobias. “Sheryl Sandberg Pens Hillary Clinton Endorsement: ‘The Leader We Need’” The Hollywood Reporter. July 29, 2016. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sheryl-sandberg-pens-hillary-clinton-915789
14. NewRulesSummit.com. Speakers. “Rachel Thomas”. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://www.newrulessummit.com/nrs2019/speaker/62988/rachel-thomas
15. Center for Responsive Politics. Opensecrets.org. Donor Lookup. “Rachel Thomas”. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=Rachel+Thomas
16. Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation. Sgff.org. “Our Team”. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://sgff.org/team
17. Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Foundation. Lean In. “Women In The Workplace 2019”. Page 59.  Accessed December 13, 2019. https://wiw-report.s3.amazonaws.com/Women_in_the_Workplace_2019.pdf
18. KIPP. Kipp.org. “Goldberg Scholars”. “About the Scholarship”. Accessed December 13, 2019https://www.kipp.org/goldbergscholars/
19. KIPP Colorado Schools. “Two KIPP Colorado Students Awarded College Scholarships from the Sheryl Sandberg and Dave Goldberg Family Foundation”. May 1, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2019  https://kippcolorado.org/two-kipp-colorado-students-awarded-college-scholarships-from-the-sheryl-sandberg-and-dave-goldberg-family-foundation/
20. O’Donovan, Caroline. “Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg Was Supposed To Change The World With ‘Lean In.’ So What Went Wrong?”. Buzzfeed News. December 17, 2018.  Accessed December 13, 2019 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/facebooks-sheryl-sandberg-was-supposed-to-change-the-world
21. O’Donovan, Caroline. “Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg Was Supposed To Change The World With ‘Lean In.’ So What Went Wrong?”. Buzzfeed News. December 17, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/facebooks-sheryl-sandberg-was-supposed-to-change-the-world
22. Bowles, Nellie. “Lean In’s Sheryl Sandberg Problem”. The New York Times. December 7, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/07/technology/lean-in-sheryl-sandberg-problem.html
23. O’Donovan, Caroline. “Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg Was Supposed To Change The World With “Lean In.” So What Went Wrong?”. Buzzfeed News. December 17, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/facebooks-sheryl-sandberg-was-supposed-to-change-the-world
24. Wamsley, Laurel. “Michelle Obama’s Take On ‘Lean In’? ‘That &#%! Doesn’t Work’”. National Public Radio. December 3, 2018. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://www.npr.org/2018/12/03/672898216/michelle-obamas-take-on-lean-in-that-doesn-t-work
25. Brooks, Rosa. “Recline! Why ‘leaning in’ is killing us.”. ForeignPolicy.com. February 21, 2014. Accessed December 13, 2019 https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/02/21/recline/