Staunton Farm Foundation

Staunton Farm Foundation

Staunton Farm Foundation was established in 1937 by Matilda Staunton Craig, known as 'Aunt Daisie,' who structured her will to create an enduring vehicle focused on mental health. The founding wealth derives from the Staunton family's agricultural and industrial holdings, though the foundation no longer discloses the original corpus. For over 85 years, the board has included family members — currently President Suzy Weaver, Vice President Paul 'Stoney' Griffiths III, and Treasurer Burch Craig — anchoring governance in the founder's lineage. The foundation deploys capital exclusively through grantmaking to nonprofits addressing mental illness and substance use disorders across ten counties in southwestern Pennsylvania. Its investment portfolio supports this mission with an allocation strategy that includes the TIFF Multi-Asset Fund, a pooled endowment vehicle based in Radnor, PA, and a direct commercial real estate position at Three Gateway Center in downtown Pittsburgh. The organization participates in national and regional funder networks, including Grantmakers In Health and the Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative, but does not make direct private investments, co-investments, or venture commitments; all programmatic dollars flow as grants. Leadership transitioned in 2025 when Monique Jackson was appointed Executive Director, succeeding Joni Schwager who retired in 2024 after a 26-year tenure — one of the longest executive runs in regional philanthropy. The foundation maintains an office at Three Gateway Center and operates with a compact team; total headcount is not publicly disclosed. Its board is composed entirely of family members, preserving the founder's intent without creating a separate operating entity. Membership in the Rehabilitation and Community Providers Association and Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania reflects its role as a convener in behavioral health policy rather than an active investment manager. The structural differentiator is the rigid alignment between the endowment's capital deployment and the grantmaking mission. Unlike many foundations that invest agnostically and grant thematically, Staunton Farm's deliberate placement of assets in a multi-asset fund and mission-adjacent real estate creates an unusually tight coupling — the investment portfolio underwrites grants, and the grants stay locked within a ten-county radius. There is no co-investor club, no direct-deal team, and no ambition to scale geographically, making it a pure-play regional mental-health funder with a family-governed investment committee.