Rose Foundation

Summary

The Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment is seeking a dynamic and experienced leader to be our next Executive Director as we embark on an exciting new chapter after over 30 years of leadership by our co-founders. A long and consistent investor in environmental health and community grassroots leadership in communities on the West Coast, particularly in California, the Rose Foundation is looking for an executive who can both embrace its legacy and chart a path forward into the next decade.

Organizational Overview

Since its founding in 1992, the Rose Foundation has worked hard to bring voices from communities who are most vulnerable to environmental hazards to the forefront of the dialogue. We have built our programs around the principle that better decisions are made when the communities most affected are at the center of the decision-making process.

Our mission is to amplify community voices by making grants to community-based organizations, restoring natural resources, building capacity, and fostering the next generation of environmental leaders. We are dedicated to creating a sustainable future that empowers individuals and communities to advocate for their rights and the health of our planet.

Our grantmaking programs support community-based projects and organizations that are building long-term solutions that benefit people, the environment, and the economy. In 2024, the Foundation made approximately $8.3 million in grants. The Rose Foundation is not an endowed foundation. The Foundation currently employs a talented team of 11 full- and part-time staff members (7 in the Bay Area, 2 in the Seattle area, 1 in CA), as well as an interim Executive Director. The current Board of Directors is comprised of eleven members who bring a wealth of experience in environmental grantmaking, environmental law, investment management, community stewardship and public health. The Foundation currently has overall assets of approximately $26 million and an annual operating budget of approximately $1.85 million. While our distributions change from year to year, approximately 75% of our expenditures in 2023 were funded from mitigation settlement grants.

The Foundation is at a crossroads in its journey, with a desire to continue to creatively leverage mitigation funding and other class action awards while recognizing that the federal legal environment may change and the challenge of being a non-endowed foundation with heavily restricted assets. Solidifying an aligned and appropriately resourced direction over the next few years is a key goal of the organization.