Nicola Miner is an American heiress and funder of many left-of-center organizations and Democratic political campaigns. She and her husband, novelist Robert Mailer Anderson, live in San Francisco and founded the Miner Anderson Family Foundation in 2009.

Miner is the daughter of late Oracle co-founder Robert Miner, who died of cancer in 1994, and his wife Mary Miner. The Miner Family founded the Baker Street Foundation, a left-of-center foundation based in San Francisco that funds left-of-center organizations and many arts and humanities organizations that are also funded by the Miner Anderson Family Foundation.

Nicola Miner has also sat on the board of EarthJustice, a left-of-center environmental legal advocacy group, and was also appointed to the board of the federal park protection agency Presidio Trust by Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. ^{1 2 3}

Background

Nicola Miner is the eldest daughter of Oracle co-founder Robert Miner and Mary Miner. Following her father’s death, he left his Oracle shares, then valued at approximately $600 million, to Mary and their three children. Mary Miner and her children founded the Baker Street Foundation shortly after her husband’s death and Nicola Miner has been on the board of the Baker Street Foundation since the organization’s founding. The Miner family was ranked number 170 on the Forbes “Richest American Families” list in 2014 with an estimated wealth of $1.1 billion but fell from the list in later years. ⁴

In 1999, Nicola Miner married novelist Robert Mailer Anderson, with whom she founded the Miner Anderson Family Foundation in 2009. ^{5 6}

Affiliated Organizations

Nicola Miner founded the Miner Anderson Foundation in 2009. The organization held $6.3 million fair market value assets as of mid-2022 and funds arts and humanities organizations in San Francisco as well as left-of-center advocacy organizations such as 826 Valencia, California Humanities, the Movement Voter Fund, the Representation Project, and the San Francisco Opera Association. ⁷

Miner sat on the board of directors of EarthJustice, a left-of-center environmentalist advocacy organization. Upon her appointment to the board she stated, “Right now, Earthjustice has the smartest, most effective approach to ensure that the bedrock environmental laws that protect families and children are preserved and lawfully implemented.” ⁸

She has also served on boards of San Francisco University High School, the San Francisco Ballet, the Baker Street Foundation, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. ⁹

She has been appointed twice to the Presidio Trust, a federal agency tasked with funding the Presidio of San Francisco operated by the National Park Service. Miner was appointed to the board of the trust by President Barack Obama in 2015 and served until 2017 before being reappointed by President Joe Biden in 2021. ¹⁰

Political Contributions

Nicola Miner has donated to many Democratic political campaigns and she and her husband hosted a luncheon for then-President Obama in 2013 where tickets ranged from $1,000 to $15,000 per plate. ¹¹

She has also donated to the Safety for All-Newsom Ballot Measure Committee, and the campaigns of Governor Gavin Newsom (D), former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D-CA), unsuccessful Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum (D), and two-time unsuccessful Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D) as well as state-level Democratic campaigns in California, Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. ¹²

1. “Bay Area Philanthropist Nicola Miner Joins Earthjustice Board of Trustees.” EarthJustice. November 27, 2017. Accessed July 6, 2023. https://earthjustice.org/press/2017/bay-area-philanthropist-nicola-miner-joins-earthjustice-board-of-trustees
2. “Mark Buell is Elected Chair and Nicola Miner is Elected Vice Chair of the Presidio Trust Board of Directors, Effective April 1, 2023” Presidio Trust. March 27, 2023. Accessed July 6, 2023. https://www.presidio.gov/presidio-trust/press/mark-buell-is-elected-chair+nicole-miner-is-elected-vice-chair
3. “Miner Family.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 2014. https://www.forbes.com/profile/miner/?sh=2845da591e31
4. “Miner Family.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 2014. https://www.forbes.com/profile/miner/?sh=2845da591e31
5. “Miner Family.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 2014. https://www.forbes.com/profile/miner/?sh=2845da591e31
6. “About.” Miner Anderson Family Foundation. Accessed November 12, 2019. https://www.minerandersonfamilyfoundation.org/about-us
7. “IRS Form 990.” Miner Anderson Family Foundation. 2022. Accessed July 6, 2023.  https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261119005/202311089349100436/full
8. “Bay Area Philanthropist Nicola Miner Joins Earthjustice Board of Trustees.” EarthJustice. November 27, 2017. Accessed July 6, 2023. https://earthjustice.org/press/2017/bay-area-philanthropist-nicola-miner-joins-earthjustice-board-of-trustees
9. “Bay Area Philanthropist Nicola Miner Joins Earthjustice Board of Trustees.” EarthJustice. November 27, 2017. Accessed July 6, 2023. https://earthjustice.org/press/2017/bay-area-philanthropist-nicola-miner-joins-earthjustice-board-of-trustees
10. “Mark Buell is Elected Chair and Nicola Miner is Elected Vice Chair of the Presidio Trust Board of Directors, Effective April 1, 2023” Presidio Trust. March 27, 2023. Accessed July 6, 2023. https://www.presidio.gov/presidio-trust/press/mark-buell-is-elected-chair+nicole-miner-is-elected-vice-chair
11. ^[1] “Obama Visits Bay Area, Pushes for immigration Reform.” Oakland Post. November 27, 2013. Accessed via Wayback Machine Accessed July 6, 2023.  https://web.archive.org/web/20200516055417/https://www.postnewsgroup.com/2013/11/27/obama-visits-bay-area-pushes-immigration-reform/
12. “Individual Donor Search: Nicola Miner.” Open Secrets. Accessed July 6, 2023. https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=nicola+miner&cycle=&state=&zip=&employ=&occupation=&jurisdiction=&cand=&type=