# Calgary Foundation

Calgary Foundation is an Endowment / Foundation based in Calgary, Canada.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Calgary, Canada
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Calgary, AB, Canada
- **Founded:** 1955
- **Assets under management:** $800M–$1.2B (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** calgaryfoundation.org
- **LinkedIn:** linkedin.com/company/calgary-foundation

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Werklund Family Office (WFO) preserves family legacies by managing their financial, personal and philanthropic affairs.

## Sectors

- Community Development
- Social Infrastructure
- Arts & Culture
- Education
- Environmental Conservation

## People

- Eva Friesen — President and CEO
- Murray Sigler — Board Chair

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at the Calgary Foundation?

The foundation's investment committee, a volunteer body reporting to the board, oversees asset allocation and manager selection. Day-to-day portfolio management is executed by professional staff under the President and CEO. The foundation does not publicly name individual portfolio managers but maintains a diversified pool across external managers for public equities, fixed income, and private markets.

### What investment stages or asset classes does the foundation target?

The investment portfolio includes public equities, fixed income, private market funds, and direct real estate. The foundation also makes mission-related investments in affordable housing and social enterprises, though these represent a smaller allocation. The private markets exposure is accessed through fund commitments, not direct company investments.

### Where does the foundation's wealth come from?

The endowment is built from donations by Calgary individuals, families, and corporations — plus bequests and agency fund transfers from other charities. There is no single wealth origin; the foundation's capital base is the accumulated result of decades of philanthropy from a rotating group of donors tied to Calgary's energy, real estate, and entrepreneurial communities.

### What geographic areas does the Calgary Foundation serve?

Grants are concentrated in Calgary and southern Alberta, with a specific commitment to Treaty 7 Indigenous communities. The investment portfolio is globally diversified, but community grantmaking stays overwhelmingly local. The foundation occasionally partners on national initiatives through Community Foundations of Canada.

### What is the Calgary Foundation's posture on co-investments alongside external managers?

The foundation primarily invests through commingled funds rather than direct co-investments, given its pooled endowment structure and the administrative complexity of offering co-investment participation to 900+ underlying fund accounts. Mission-related investments sometimes involve direct lending or equity positions in local housing projects, which are structured outside of external manager relationships.

## Related profiles

- [Caldwell Investment Management](https://altss.com/profile/caldwell-investment-management)
- [California Institute for Regenerative Medicine](https://altss.com/profile/california-institute-for-regenerative-medicine)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/calgary-foundation

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology