Swift Foundation

According to its website, the Swift Foundation claims its sundowning is “catalyzing a transference of family wealth to Indigenous wisdom keepers and cultural bearers living in Indigenous homelands and communities.” ²

Background

The Swift Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation focused on environmental issues and indigenous communities. In 2022, the board of the foundation voted to sunset the foundation by 2028, spending down the remaining portion of the foundation’s endowment.  ²

Regionally, the foundation has three priorities for its spenddown: the Andes Amazon region, Canada (with an emphasis on British Columbia), and the Western U.S. (with an emphasis on California and the Southwest).  ³

The foundation prioritizes funding indigenous communities and environmental organizations. The group claims that its spenddown goals are to “Honor ancestral regenerative knowledge of the land, strengthen Indigenous leadership and self-determination, and catalyze a transference of good spirit and thought.”  ²

Financials

According to its 2024 tax filings, the Swift Foundation reported $3,774,179 in revenues, $9,422,539 in expenses, and $41,070,083 in net assets.  ⁴

Leadership

John Swift is the founder and president of the Swift Foundation. He established the foundation in 1999 after selling his family’s shares in UPS.  ⁵

Suzanne Benally is the executive director of the Swift Foundation. She was previously the executive director of Cultural Survival as well as an associate vice president for academic affairs as well as the chief diversity officer at Naropa University. She was formerly a co-chair of the International Funders for Indigenous Peoples and sat on the Naropa University board of trustees.  ^{6  7}