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Colburn School
The Colburn School was established in 1950 by Richard D. Colburn and has since grown into a tier-one private performing-arts institution governed by a board...
Colburn School
The Colburn School was established in 1950 by Richard D. Colburn and has since grown into a tier-one private performing-arts institution governed by a board chaired by Andrew Millstein. Its financial backbone rests with the Colburn Foundation and the Colburn Family Foundation, vehicles seeded by the founding family's wealth, with Carol Colburn Grigor holding the title of Life Chairman Emeritus. President and CEO Sel Kardan leads day-to-day operations. The endowment, overseen by EVP, CFO and COO Maeesha Merchant, deploys capital across a deliberately narrow mix: direct real estate that expands the campus footprint — including the recently completed student housing at 200 S. Grand Avenue and the mixed-use Colburn Center project at 130 Olive Street — alongside private credit, infrastructure, and startup equity. Confirmed startup positions are not publicly itemized, but strategy tags point to growth-stage activity in North America. The portfolio also holds mission-related investments, most notably the Negaunee Conducting Program endowed with a $16.6 million gift from the Negaunee Foundation, as well as the custodianship of the Gregor Piatigorsky and Herbert Zipper archives. The institution is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Music and the National Guild for Community Arts Education. Outside of its direct investment book, it relies on high-net-worth underwriters — Terri and Jerry Kohl funded the naming-gift concert hall — blurring the line between philanthropy and capital formation in ways atypical of a standard university endowment. May 2026: Colburn School's leadership team continues to operate under the same core executive group with no publicly announced structural changes. The endowment's structural differentiator is not its size but its asset base: Colburn does not merely hold a financial portfolio — it owns and operates the real property, archives, and instrument collection that constitute a working conservatory. That physical-edge model turns the endowment into a hard-asset operator alongside a grant-making entity, giving the CFO's office a dual mandate unusual for a performing-arts school.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
1950
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Los Angeles
Corporate office
200 S. Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Principals
Sel Kardan
President and CEO
Maeesha Merchant
EVP, CFO, and COO
Andrew Millstein
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Carol Colburn Grigor
Life Chairman Emeritus
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Colburn School?
Maeesha Merchant, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, manages the endowment and investment pool. Sel Kardan serves as President and CEO; the Board of Directors, chaired by Andrew Millstein, holds ultimate fiduciary oversight. Day-to-day allocation and portfolio monitoring rest with Merchant's office.
What is the Colburn School's posture on direct real estate versus financial assets?
Colburn acts as a direct property operator. The endowment owns the main campus at 200 S. Grand Avenue, student housing at the same address, and the Colburn Center expansion at 130 Olive Street. This direct holding of mission-critical real estate means a meaningful slice of the capital base is tied up in physical assets that serve the school's educational purpose — not purely financial investments.
How is the Colburn School endowment funded outside of tuition?
The endowment benefits from a network of major donors and family foundations. The Negaunee Foundation committed $16.6 million to endow the Negaunee Conducting Program. Terri and Jerry Kohl provided the naming gift for the campus concert hall. The founding family's vehicles — Colburn Family Foundation and Colburn Foundation — anchor the institution's long-term capital.
Does Colburn School participate in startup or venture investing?
Confirmed strategy tags include growth-stage startup investing, concentrated in North America. Public documentation does not list named portfolio companies, but the endowment's allocation framework explicitly includes startup equity alongside private credit, infrastructure, and real estate. Deal flow is not disclosed through a dedicated venture arm.
How is Colburn School's investment governance structured?
The Board of Directors, led by Chairman Andrew Millstein, governs the endowment at the highest level. EVP and CFO Maeesha Merchant manages the investment pool operationally. This structure separates institutional oversight from day-to-day portfolio execution, with the CFO's office responsible for allocation, direct real estate, and manager selection.
What non-financial assets sit inside the Colburn portfolio?
The endowment holds the Colburn School Instrument Collection, the Gregor Piatigorsky Archive, and the Herbert and Trudl Zipper Archives. These collections function as both educational resources and conservation-grade assets, giving the institution a unique physical-asset layer that a standard endowment does not carry.
Does Colburn School engage in philanthropic or mission-related investing?
Yes. The institution channels capital through two grant-making foundations — the Colburn Foundation and the Colburn Family Foundation — and directs mission-related dollars to endowed programs such as the Negaunee Conducting Program. Philanthropic vehicles sit alongside the core endowment, shaping a dual-purpose capital deployment model.
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