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Booth Ferris Foundation
The Booth Ferris Foundation formed in 1957 from the estates of Willis H. Booth, an early IBM vice president and Guaranty Trust banker, and his wife Chancie...
Booth Ferris Foundation
The Booth Ferris Foundation formed in 1957 from the estates of Willis H. Booth, an early IBM vice president and Guaranty Trust banker, and his wife Chancie Ferris Booth. The Booth name appears on Columbia University's Ferris Booth Hall, reflecting the family's early ties to Manhattan institutional philanthropy. Unlike many legacy foundations that sprout family offices with direct investment staff, Booth Ferris outsources both its grantmaking administration and its investment management entirely to JPMorgan Chase. Program officers Roman V. Jackson and Alice S. Goh manage the foundation's $425 million lifetime grant deployment from within JPMorgan's private bank. The foundation targets four program areas: arts and culture, K-12 and higher education, parks and outdoor spaces, and nonprofit sector strengthening. Its geographic mandate is among the narrowest of any foundation its size — grants flow to New York City and New York State organizations, with no documented national or international programs. The foundation does not publish an annual report or maintain a standalone website, operating instead through a JPMorgan subdomain. The foundation's investment portfolio is diversified and managed as part of JPMorgan's outsourced CIO platform, though the firm does not disclose specific allocations or performance targets. Membership in Philanthropy New York, Grantmakers in the Arts, and the Council on Foundations confirms active participation in grantmaking circles despite the foundation's low public profile. The Booth name continues to surface through Columbia University real estate, but the foundation itself has not publicized any leadership transitions or strategy shifts in the past decade. Booth Ferris represents an idiosyncratic structure — a foundation with no independent investment staff, no family office overlay, and no direct investing capacity, yet it has sustained grantmaking for nearly seven decades through a fully outsourced model. The JPMorgan custody and program-officer arrangement makes it functionally a donor-advised fund at private-bank scale, though legally it remains a private foundation. Its singular geographic focus on greater New York, combined with a total absence of succession drama or public governance changes, distinguishes it from foundations of comparable vintage that have evolved into multi-generational family offices.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
1957
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Chicago
Corporate office
Chicago, IL, United States
Principals
Roman V. Jackson
Program Officer
Alice S. Goh
Program Officer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who makes investment decisions at the Booth Ferris Foundation?
The foundation does not employ an internal investment team. Investment management is fully outsourced to JPMorgan Chase's private bank, which administers the foundation's diversified portfolio through its institutional platform. No chief investment officer or internal investment committee is publicly identified.
How is the foundation related to JPMorgan?
JPMorgan Chase serves as the foundation's sole administrative and investment partner. Both program officers — Roman V. Jackson and Alice S. Goh — are JPMorgan employees, not independent foundation staff. The foundation's only web presence is a subdomain of the JPMorgan private bank site.
What is the foundation's geographic focus?
Booth Ferris restricts its grantmaking to New York City and New York State, making it one of the most geographically concentrated foundations of its size. There is no record of grants outside this region, and the foundation's membership in Philanthropy New York reinforces this local mandate.
What program areas does the foundation fund?
Four areas: arts and culture, education spanning K-12 and higher education, parks and outdoor spaces, and strengthening the nonprofit sector. The foundation does not fund individuals, and its grantmaking priorities have remained stable for decades without publicized strategy pivots.
Where did the foundation's wealth come from?
The endowment originated from the estates of Willis H. Booth — a vice president at both Guaranty Trust Company and IBM — and his wife Chancie Ferris Booth. The family's Manhattan ties are memorialized in Ferris Booth Hall at Columbia University, but no Booth family members are actively involved in the foundation today.
Is the Booth Ferris Foundation a family office?
No. It is a private foundation with no family office overlay. There are no Booth family members on staff, no direct investing capabilities, and no disclosed co-investment vehicles. The foundation operates purely as a grantmaking entity administered by a third-party bank.
Does the foundation publish an annual report or disclose its investment performance?
The foundation does not publish an annual report or maintain a standalone website. Its IRS Form 990-PF filings are the only public window into its financial activity, and even those are consolidated through JPMorgan's administrative umbrella with no separate public-facing performance reporting.
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