# John & Denise Graves Foundation

John & Denise Graves Foundation is an Endowment / Foundation based in Minneapolis, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Minneapolis, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** 2929 Chicago Ave S, Suite 100, Minneapolis, MN 55407, United States
- **Founded:** 2014
- **Assets under management:** $100M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** jdgravesfoundation.org
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/jd-graves-foundation

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

John and Denise Graves founded the eponymous foundation in 2014 after selling their tax-compliance software business, converting entrepreneurial liquidity into a structured philanthropic vehicle. Their son, Bill Graves, serves as president and drives the foundation's strategy from its headquarters in south Minneapolis. He also carries governance roles at the Minneapolis Foundation, Minnesota Comeback, and Youthprise, embedding the family office's grantmaking within the city's broader civic infrastructure. The foundation concentrates its capital on closing equity gaps for children and youth in Minneapolis. It deploys through direct grants to community-based organizations, with a thematic focus spanning education, housing stability, and youth development. Rather than participating in traditional fund commitments, the Graves Foundation uses its balance sheet to hold mission-aligned real estate. Its portfolio includes the PERIS Hill residential building at 1930 Hennepin Ave S, which doubles as a physical convening space for its nonprofit partners. This operating posture blends program-related investments with commercial property management in a single, locally rooted vehicle. The foundation also controls a distinct set of assets anchored in Sonoma County, California — the Coursey Graves Estate Winery & Vineyard on Serenity Way, a collection of Monet-style French gardens, and an ornamental boat. Cabell Coursey, a business partner and winemaker, oversees the winery operations. The foundation's structural differentiator is its hybrid asset base: it does not separate philanthropic programming from commercial real estate operations. Its headquarters at 2929 Chicago Ave S and the PERIS Hill property function as both mission infrastructure and balance-sheet assets, a configuration few Minneapolis foundations replicate.

## Sectors

- Education
- Real Estate
- Healthcare Services

## People

- Bill Graves — President

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at the John & Denise Graves Foundation?

Bill Graves, the son of founders John and Denise Graves, serves as president and leads the foundation's strategic direction. He operates from the Minneapolis headquarters and holds additional board seats at the Minneapolis Foundation, Minnesota Comeback, and Youthprise, which inform the foundation's grantmaking priorities.

### Does the foundation participate in fund commitments or only direct grants?

The foundation's known deployment model is entirely direct — it makes grants to nonprofit organizations and holds real estate directly. There is no public evidence of commitments to external investment funds.

### What is the foundation's real estate footprint?

It owns the PERIS Hill residential property and its own headquarters building, both in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It also holds the Coursey Graves Estate Winery & Vineyard and associated gardens in Santa Rosa, California, through which it operates a separate wine business with partner and winemaker Cabell Coursey.

## Related profiles

- [Houston Symphony Endowment](https://altss.com/profile/houston-symphony-endowment)
- [Longwood University Foundation](https://altss.com/profile/longwood-university-foundation)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/john-denise-graves-foundation

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