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St. Catherine's School Foundation
Kee Rabb leads the St. Catherine's School Foundation, an endowment funding the all-girls prep school in Richmond through pooled investment structures.
St. Catherine's School Foundation
The foundation was established in 1958 as a supporting entity for St. Catherine's School, a private Episcopal girls' school in Richmond, Virginia that had been educating students since 1890. President Kee Rabb leads a board composed of financial professionals including Cody Tafel of TSW LLC and Zelle Reams Dunn of New Republic Partners, combining endowment governance with external investment advisory experience. Strategy spans four principal allocations: private equity (accessed primarily through a fund-of-funds structure), hedge funds, natural resources, and general venture. The centerpiece holding is participation in the CSDV pooled investment portfolio — a co-investment structure run by the Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia. Additional direct portfolio elements include the institution's own faculty housing program and its 16-acre main campus at 6001 Grove Avenue, which operates as a mixed-use asset supporting the school's operations. Geographic focus mirrors the institution's physical footprint in Virginia, with no disclosed international real-asset or direct-investment programs. The foundation complements standard endowment mechanics with professional network affiliations that influence its diligence process. Board membership ties to the CMT Association and CAIA Association shape technical analysis and alternatives expertise, while participation in the ClearView Fiduciary Alliance provides benchmarking and fiduciary oversight support. Recent structural change came with the 2024 initiation of a Head of School search, signaling a leadership transition cycle that will affect both the school's operating strategy and the foundation's spending policy alignment. Its structural differentiator is the embedded-diocese investment architecture: rather than managing assets as an independent endowment, the foundation's primary market exposure flows through the CSDV pooled portfolio alongside other Episcopal school entities. That structure centralizes manager selection and risk oversight at the diocese level while each participating school tailors its distribution policy to local campus needs — a model that separates portfolio management governance from the beneficiary operating entity more cleanly than a typical standalone endowment board.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
1958
AUM
Undisclosed (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Richmond
Corporate office
6001 Grove Avenue, Richmond, VA 23226, United States
Principals
Kee Rabb
President of the Foundation Board
Cody Tafel
Board member; Head of Strategic Advisory at TSW LLC
Zelle Reams Dunn
Board member; Managing Partner at New Republic Partners
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How does the foundation invest its endowment assets?
The foundation allocates across four major strategies: private equity fund-of-funds, hedge fund portfolios, natural resources, and venture capital. The largest component is participation in the Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia (CSDV) pooled investment portfolio, which pools assets from multiple Episcopal schools to achieve scale in manager access and cost efficiency.
What role does the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia play in investment decisions?
The school operates as a church school within the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and co-invests alongside other diocesan institutions through the CSDV pooled portfolio. This structure centralizes manager selection and portfolio oversight at the diocese level, while each member entity — including St. Catherine's — governs its own spending policy and distribution schedule.
Who sits on the foundation's investment board?
The foundation board is led by President Kee Rabb and includes professionals with external financial credentials: Cody Tafel brings experience from TSW LLC and holds CMT and CAIA designations, while Zelle Reams Dunn is a managing partner at New Republic Partners. This board composition blends institutional endowment governance with direct investment-industry expertise.
Does the foundation engage in philanthropic activity beyond the school?
The foundation's primary philanthropic conduit is the St. Catherine's School itself, funding operating expenses, faculty housing, and campus maintenance. An additional charitable vehicle — The Arcade Society — appears in the entity records, though its specific grant-making focus and activity level remain undisclosed in public filings.
How is the foundation's capital deployed between internal and external managers?
The foundation does not self-manage liquid portfolios. It accesses private equity through a fund-of-funds structure and participates in a commingled hedge fund portfolio. Direct asset ownership is limited to mission-related real estate — primarily the school campus and a faculty housing program in Richmond — while all market-facing allocations run through external managers, predominantly within the CSDV pooled platform.
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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