# Staunton Farm Foundation Staunton Farm Foundation is an Endowment / Foundation based in Pittsburgh, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation - **Headquarters:** Pittsburgh, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** 401 Liberty Ave, Suite 2325, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 - **Founded:** 1937 - **Assets under management:** $61 million (Altss estimate) - **Website:** stauntonfarm.org - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/staunton-farm-foundation ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About 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. 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. ## Sectors - Healthcare Services ## People - Suzy Weaver — Board President - Paul 'Stoney' Griffiths III — Board Vice President - Burch Craig — Board Treasurer - Monique Jackson — Executive Director ## Questions ### Who governs the foundation and makes allocation decisions? The board is composed entirely of family members. President Suzy Weaver, Vice President Paul 'Stoney' Griffiths III, and Treasurer Burch Craig set investment policy and grantmaking priorities. The Executive Director — currently Monique Jackson, appointed in 2025 — manages day-to-day operations but does not sit on the investment committee, which relies on external fund managers for portfolio execution. ### Does Staunton Farm invest directly in operating companies or startups? No. The foundation does not make direct private investments, venture commitments, or co-investments. Its corpus is deployed into pooled vehicles and real estate; programmatic dollars are distributed as grants exclusively to nonprofits serving the behavioral health sector in southwestern Pennsylvania. ### How is the endowment invested? The primary liquid allocation is to the TIFF Multi-Asset Fund, a diversified endowment-style pooled fund based in Radnor, Pennsylvania. The foundation also holds a commercial real estate asset at Three Gateway Center in Pittsburgh. The strategy aims to generate steady returns to fund annual grant disbursements without high-risk, illiquid exposures. ### What geographic region does the foundation serve, and why only there? Grants are restricted to ten counties in southwestern Pennsylvania. This geographic focus derives from Matilda Staunton Craig's will, which specified that the foundation's resources benefit the region where the family lived and held its agricultural assets. The board has maintained that restriction without exception. ### How is Staunton Farm connected to the broader Staunton family wealth? The foundation is the primary institutional vehicle for the Staunton family's philanthropic capital, established through Matilda Staunton Craig's estate. The original wealth came from family farming and industrial holdings. There is no active operating company or family office investing alongside the foundation; the board manages the endowment as a standalone entity. ### Does the foundation accept external capital or co-fund grants with other foundations? Staunton Farm does not raise outside capital — it is a fully endowed foundation. While it participates in collaboratives like the Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative, those relationships focus on policy alignment and shared learning rather than pooled funding vehicles. The foundation funds its own grant slate annually from endowment returns. ### What caused the leadership transition in 2024–2025? Joni Schwager retired in 2024 after 26 years as Executive Director, one of the longest tenures in Pennsylvania health philanthropy. Monique Jackson was appointed as her successor in 2025. The family board executed a planned succession that preserved the foundation's grantmaking continuity, with no interruption to funding cycles. ## Related profiles - [Paul Ogle Foundation](https://altss.com/profile/paul-ogle-foundation-inc) - [Webster Retirement Board](https://altss.com/profile/webster-retirement-board) --- Last updated: 2026-08-10T15:58:45.833Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/staunton-farm-foundation Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology