The Bend Foundation

The Bend Foundation

The Bend Foundation was established in 1947 by Brooks-Scanlon, Inc., Brooks Resources Corporation, and their shareholders as a vehicle to direct profits from Oregon's timber industry into the local community. Trustees Mike Hollern, Chairman of Brooks Resources, and Kirk Schueler, its President and CEO, maintain direct governance over the foundation's dual-purpose balance sheet. The wealth originates from one of the Pacific Northwest's dominant logging operations, whose owners structured the foundation to own land and financial assets in perpetuity for the benefit of Bend residents. The foundation's deployment splits across two distinct pools. Its equity and debt portfolio — details of which remain private — provides a stream of liquid capital for grantmaking. The foundation also directly holds significant real property, most notably a parcel on the east bank of the Deschutes River. It does not operate as a conventional venture capital firm despite internal tagging; rather, it funds physical installations and program grants. Named installations include the "High Desert Spiral," "Phoenix Rising," "Orb I," and "Big Ears" sculptures at Bend roundabouts, administered in partnership with Art in Public Places and the City of Bend. The foundation operates from a single location in Bend, Oregon, and does not publicly disclose its total assets under management or deployment figures. Its known team is small, centered on Hollern and Schueler at Brooks Resources, who oversee the foundation's activities alongside their corporate roles. There is no evidence of adjacent venture funds, club memberships, or separate philanthropic vehicles beyond the foundation itself. The foundation continues to collaborate with the City of Bend on public art and community development projects. Its structural differentiator is the integrated real-asset operating relationship. Unlike a typical grantmaking foundation that liquidates an endowment for cash distributions, The Bend Foundation physically owns and stewards land that shapes Bend's civic landscape — public art installations occupy traffic roundabouts, and riverfront property is held under the foundation's name. This "hard asset philanthropy" approach makes the foundation a de facto land-use participant in the city's growth, blurring the line between charitable grantmaker and long-term municipal partner.