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Scriven Foundation
The Scriven Foundation was established in 1937 with capital from Elizabeth Scriven Clark, embedding the family's legacy into a grantmaking vehicle that remains...
Scriven Foundation
The Scriven Foundation was established in 1937 with capital from Elizabeth Scriven Clark, embedding the family's legacy into a grantmaking vehicle that remains deeply tethered to Cooperstown and greater Otsego County. Jane Forbes Clark, granddaughter of founding benefactor Stephen C. Clark Sr., leads the foundation as President, simultaneously chairing both The Clark Foundation and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The foundation's administrative functions are layered within The Clark Estates, Inc., a shared-services entity whose President, Kevin S. Moore, and CIO, Stephen M. Duff, manage the endowment's pooled investment portfolio under Executive Director Douglas B. Bauer. Investment strategy runs through The Clark Estates, which executes a buyout-focused mandate to generate returns for the Scriven, Clark, and Fernleigh Foundations. The combined portfolio extends beyond financial assets to include a portfolio of commercial real estate concentrated in Cooperstown — The Otesaga Resort Hotel, The Cooper Inn, and Leatherstocking Golf Course — alongside Mohican Farm, Cooperstown land holdings, and New York City office space at 1 Rockefeller Plaza. Liquidity events and operating income from these properties complement the investment portfolio, whose distributions fund the foundation's narrow geographic mission across healthcare, arts, education, and human services. The operating footprint is compact, centered in New York with a presence at both 1 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan and the Clark Estates Building in Cooperstown. Jane Forbes Clark's influence extends well beyond the foundation: she served as President and CEO of the United States Equestrian Federation and was recognized by Historic Hotels of America with the Steward of History award for her preservation of The Otesaga. September 2023: Douglas B. Bauer completed his tenure as Chair of Philanthropy New York, reinforcing the foundation's embeddedness within institutional philanthropic networks. The foundation's structural differentiator is its geographically exclusive mandate: nearly all grantmaking flows to entities within a single rural county, with Bassett Healthcare Network as the dominant, recurring beneficiary. This hyper-local concentration — rare among foundations of comparable vintage — creates an unusually durable, non-diversified dependency between a family-controlled asset pool and a specific regional healthcare ecosystem.
General information
Firm type
Foundation
Year founded
1937
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
New York
Corporate office
New York, NY, United States
Additional offices
Cooperstown, NY
Principals
Jane Forbes Clark
President
Kevin S. Moore
President, The Clark Estates, Inc. & Director
Douglas B. Bauer
Executive Director
Stephen M. Duff
Chief Investment Officer, The Clark Estates, Inc.
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How is the Scriven Foundation's investment portfolio managed?
Investment management is consolidated through The Clark Estates, Inc., a family office entity that pools assets for the Scriven Foundation alongside The Clark Foundation and Fernleigh Foundation. Stephen M. Duff serves as Chief Investment Officer, executing a predominantly buyout-oriented strategy. The entity also manages a separate commercial real estate portfolio including hospitality and land holdings in Cooperstown.
What is the relationship between the Scriven Foundation and Bassett Healthcare Network?
Bassett Healthcare Network functions as the foundation's primary charitable beneficiary. Jane Forbes Clark serves simultaneously as President of the Scriven Foundation and Chairman of Bassett Healthcare Network's board, creating a governance overlap that concentrates philanthropic support. The foundation's grants to Bassett have been sustained and material, shaping the region's largest healthcare provider.
Who runs investment decisions at the Scriven Foundation?
Stephen M. Duff, CIO of The Clark Estates, Inc., oversees investment decisions for the pooled endowment shared by the Scriven, Clark, and Fernleigh Foundations. Kevin S. Moore, as President of The Clark Estates, provides executive oversight. The foundations themselves do not maintain separate investment staff — all investment activity flows through this centralized family office structure.
Does the Scriven Foundation conduct fundraising or accept outside donations?
No. The Scriven Foundation operates as a private foundation funded entirely by the original Clark family endowment. It does not publicly fundraise or accept unsolicited grant proposals. Its mission is distributional — converting investment returns into programmatic support within a fixed geographic and charitable scope — rather than accumulating new philanthropic capital.
What is the foundation's known posture on direct investments versus fund commitments?
The pooled investment vehicle, The Clark Estates, Inc., deploys capital primarily through a buyout strategy. While specific fund relationships are not publicly disclosed, the entity's direct ownership of commercial real estate — including The Otesaga Resort Hotel, The Cooper Inn, and Leatherstocking Golf Course — indicates a willingness to hold operating assets directly alongside traditional limited-partner commitments.
Are there other foundations related to the Scriven Foundation?
Yes. The Clark Foundation and Fernleigh Foundation are sibling vehicles, also administered through The Clark Estates, Inc. under the same leadership team. Jane Forbes Clark serves as President of all three. The Scriven Foundation is distinguished by its geographic restriction to Otsego County, whereas The Clark Foundation's mandate extends further into New York City and beyond.
What is the geographic scope of the foundation's grantmaking?
Nearly all charitable distributions are restricted to Otsego County, New York — a rural county of approximately 60,000 residents. This hyper-local focus is unusual for a foundation of its vintage and asset base. The primary exceptions are administrative and investment operations conducted out of the New York City office at 1 Rockefeller Plaza.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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