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Rappaport Family Foundation
The Rappaport Family Foundation was founded in 2003 in San Francisco by Andrew S. Rappaport, a Partner Emeritus at August Capital, and Deborah Rappaport.
Rappaport Family Foundation
The Rappaport Family Foundation was founded in 2003 in San Francisco by Andrew S. Rappaport, a Partner Emeritus at August Capital, and Deborah Rappaport. The couple's wealth, generated primarily from venture capital investments in technology, forms the basis of an endowment and philanthropic vehicle that operates more like a lean investment office than a sprawling charitable trust. Andrew acts as Treasurer and CIO, while Deborah helms the organization as President. Their daughter, Catalina Ruiz-Healy, serves as Vice President, making this a multi-generational governance structure. Unlike traditional foundations, the Rappaport's strategy extends beyond check-writing. The foundation ties its mission-oriented investments directly to its programmatic work—deploying capital into entities and assets that align with progressive values and social impact. This includes early-stage and growth venture investments, fund-of-funds commitments, and direct stakes in community-anchored projects. A notable deployment outside conventional program-related investing is its long-term loan to the Island Housing Trust, addressing affordable housing needs on Martha's Vineyard. The foundation also holds a meaningful social commentary art collection and backs the Minnesota Street Project, a mixed-use arts campus in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood. The foundation maintains professional-grade affiliations unusual for its scale. Andrew Rappaport participates in the Democracy Alliance, a network of major progressive donors coordinating large-scale political and social change through pooled funding strategies. Deborah Rappaport sits on the Board of Directors for People for the American Way and Creative Capital, organizations that sit at the intersection of civil liberties advocacy, arts funding, and civic infrastructure. The foundation's investment posture is managed with a distinctly venture-capital lens—operated by a GP who became an LP, applying the same diligence frameworks to social-sector bets that August Capital used for technology returns. The structural differentiator is that Rappaport Family Foundation functions as a partial family office embedded within a philanthropic chassis. Its portfolio blends a traditional grant-making program targeting California K-12 arts education with direct venture-style investments and holdings that include residential property in San Francisco and Bolinas, a guitar collection, and long-duration loans. This blurring of grant and investment capital is not incidental—it is the architecture itself, enabling the foundation to pursue social goals without fully decoupling from the return-seeking discipline that built the family's wealth.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
2003
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
San Francisco
Corporate office
San Francisco, CA, United States
Principals
Andrew S. Rappaport
Founder, Treasurer, CIO
Deborah Rappaport
Founder, President
Catalina Ruiz-Healy
Vice President
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the Rappaport Family Foundation?
Andrew S. Rappaport serves as the foundation's Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer, bringing his extensive venture capital experience as a former Partner at August Capital. His wife, Deborah Rappaport, oversees the foundation's overall strategy as President. Their daughter, Catalina Ruiz-Healy, is also involved in foundation leadership as Vice President.
Where does the underlying wealth come from?
The foundation's capital originates from Andrew S. Rappaport's career in venture capital and technology. He was a longtime partner at August Capital, a prominent Silicon Valley firm that invested in early-stage technology companies. The wealth created through his technology investments forms the financial backbone of the foundation's endowment and grant-making capacity.
How is the Rappaport Family Foundation related to Skyline Public Works?
Andrew S. Rappaport co-founded Skyline Public Works, where he also serves as a Partner, alongside his role at the foundation. Deborah Rappaport is a Partner at Skyline Public Works as well. Skyline functions as a separate vehicle for political and social impact, but the leadership overlap means the two entities share strategic alignment on progressive funding and network-access priorities.
Is the foundation purely a grantmaker or does it also make investments?
The Rappaport Family Foundation operates as a hybrid. While it makes traditional philanthropic grants supporting visual and performing arts education and social justice programs for California K-12 students, it also allocates capital into direct venture investments, fund-of-funds commitments, and mission-aligned balance-sheet assets. This includes a social commentary art collection and a loan to the Island Housing Trust in Martha's Vineyard.
What geographies and populations does the foundation focus on?
The foundation's primary geographic focus is California, with a specific emphasis on serving K-12 students through arts education and social justice programs. Programmatically, its footprint is concentrated in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, through relationships and mission-aligned investments—such as the loan to Martha's Vineyard's Island Housing Trust—its influence extends to other geographies where collaborative progressive donor networks are active.
How big is the Rappaport Family Foundation's endowment?
The foundation does not publicly disclose its total assets under management. Altss research estimates the foundation's asset base at roughly $6 million, based on observable grant-making activity, known holdings, and operational scale. The actual commitment capacity is amplified by the family's ability to co-invest alongside vehicles like Skyline Public Works and through networks such as the Democracy Alliance.
What investment sectors or asset classes does the foundation typically avoid?
Publicly available information does not outline explicit investment exclusions. However, given the foundation's stated progressive social justice mission and the Rappaports' leadership roles in organizations like People for the American Way and the Democracy Alliance, investments involving fossil fuel extraction, private prison operators, or weapons manufacturing would be inconsistent with its documented programmatic objectives and partnership alignments.
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