Zegar Family Foundation

Giving Pledge

In 2010, the Giving Pledge was created by Warren Buffett, Melinda French Gates, and Bill Gates and originally had 40 participants who agreed to give the majority of their wealth away either during their lives or in their wills upon their death. In April 2024, there were 242 pledgers ² and Charles and Merryl Zegar, by way of the Zegar Family Foundation, joined other billionaire philanthropists in the Giving Pledge. ¹

Grantmaking

In 2021, the Zegar Family Foundation joined 20 other philanthropic organizations to fund more than $223 million to reduce methane emissions across the globe. Funders will coordinate their giving in a variety of ways, including ways to reduce methane, providing expertise, financial resources, technical support, and data for monitoring, verification, and reporting. Other organizations participating in this funding were the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, High Tide Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and Bloomberg Philanthropies. ³

Carbon Mapper, a nonprofit organization founded in 2016, launched a satellite program that focuses on pinpointing and better understanding methane and carbon dioxide emissions. The Zegar Family Foundation, as well as other organizations, including High Tide Foundation, Grantham Foundation for Protection of the Environment, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the University of Arizona are all funders. ⁴

The Zegar Family Foundation provides funding to left-of-center and far left-of-center organizations in both the United States and overseas. Funding totaling over $200,000 in 2020 included $300,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union, $450,000 to Direct Relief, $250,000 to the Environmental Defense Fund, $225,000 to City Harvest, $250,000 to the European Climate Foundation, $250,000 to Gates Philanthropy Partners, $350,000 to Feeding America, $550,000 to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, $300,000 to the National Immigration Law Center, $200,000 to the Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, $200,000 to the NEO Philanthropy,  $1.8 million to the Nature Conservancy, $550,000 to the New Venture Fund, $200,000 to the New York Immigration Coalition, $1.9 million to New York University, $200,000 to Planned Parenthood, $200,000 to the Resilient Democracy Fund, $250,000 to the Robin Hood Foundation, $380,000 to the Safe Passage Project Corporation, $200,000 to the Union of Concerned Scientists, $300,000 to Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York, $500,000 to the United Way of Santa Barbara County, $464,000 to the University of California Santa Barbara – Arts and Lectures Campbell Hall, $350,000 Ventura County Community Foundation, $250,000 to the William J. Brennan Center for Justice, and $400,000 to World Central Kitchen. ⁵

The Zegar Family Foundation is a funder of the Pacific Pride Foundation, an organization that supports LGBT people and people living with HIV/AIDS in Santa Barbara County. ⁶

People

Charles (Chuck) Zegar, along with his wife Merryl Snow Zegar, founded the Zegar Family Foundation in 2007. Zegar was one of four founders of a financial data company, Innovative Market Systems, which was then renamed Bloomberg L.P. ⁷ According to Forbes, Zegar’s net worth was $3.9 billion in April 2024, which ranked him as the 810^th wealthiest person in the world. ⁸ Charles Zegar sits on the board of trustees for New York University, as well as a member of the Nature Conservancy in New York board and the University of California Santa Barbara Foundation board. ⁹

Merryl Snow Zegar married Charles Zegar in 2001 after he was widowed. ⁸ Merryl Snow Zegar is the managing director and a trustee of the Zegar Family Foundation. The couple spends time in both New York City and Santa Barbara. She was a former attorney in New York City and later became an administrative law judge for the city of New York, as well as teaching at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. ¹⁰ Merryl Snow Zegar is involved on the board of several organizations, including as co-chair on the board of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum and on the Emeritus Board of New York’s City Center. Additionally, Merryl is a member of the board of the Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts ¹⁰ and on the UC Santa Barbara Council for Arts & Lectures. ¹¹ Merryl Snow Zegar sits on the board of directors for the World Business Academy, a Santa Barbara based nonprofit and think tank. ¹²