Seattle Pacific Foundation

Seattle Pacific Foundation

Seattle Pacific Foundation was established in March 1979 for the exclusive purpose of managing the endowment of Seattle Pacific University, a private Christian liberal arts institution on Queen Anne Hill. Board Vice Chair Alissa Mahar serves concurrently as the university's CFO and VP of Business & Finance, embedding the Foundation's investment decisions directly within the institution's operational leadership. The Foundation's stated objective — to 'Endow the Future of Seattle Pacific University' — channels investment returns into financial aid that lowers the cost of attendance. The Foundation's strategy diverges from a conventional diversified portfolio. It holds direct ownership over a cluster of commercial properties adjacent to campus, including the 4 and 6 Nickerson buildings, a South Lake Union office building, and the 101 Nickerson senior art studio. This real estate footprint generates rental income and long-dated appreciation. Alongside its property holdings, the Foundation operates a real estate loan program, making private credit a second lever in its deployment mix. This dual focus on commercial real estate and secured lending creates an operational hedge tied to the local Seattle market rather than broad public equities. Zevenbergen Capital Investments President and CIO Nancy Zevenbergen chairs the Investment Committee, bringing an institutional public-markets lens to a largely illiquid portfolio. Former SPU Board Chair Dennis Weibling also sits on the committee, maintaining continuity between university governance and endowment oversight. The Foundation participates in the NACUBO-TIAA Study of Endowments, benchmarking itself against national peers while running an investment strategy anatomically distinct from the typical campus allocation model. What separates the Foundation structurally is its direct-property operating model. Most university endowments hold real estate through fund commitments; Seattle Pacific Foundation acts as a direct landlord on Queen Anne and in South Lake Union. This architecture embeds the Foundation more as a property company serving a single beneficiary than as a passive allocator, making its performance a function of Seattle commercial real estate cycles and the university's enrollment-driven need for financial aid distributions.