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The Bobolink Foundation
The Bobolink Foundation was established by Henry "Hank" Paulson and his wife Wendy, a prominent ornithologist and environmental educator. The foundation...
The Bobolink Foundation
The Bobolink Foundation was established by Henry "Hank" Paulson and his wife Wendy, a prominent ornithologist and environmental educator. The foundation channels the family's wealth into land conservation, focusing on biodiversity protection through direct real-asset ownership. Wendy Paulson chairs the foundation, while the couple's son Merritt and daughter Amanda Clark Paulson serve as trustees, keeping governance entirely within the family. The foundation's strategy centers on acquiring and protecting tracts of ecologically significant land. Unlike many conservation funds that participate in pooled vehicles or grant cycles, Bobolink purchases properties outright and manages them for long-term stewardship. Confirmed holdings span multiple U.S. ecoregions: Cannon's Point Preserve on St. Simons Island, Georgia; Tamarack Farms in Richmond, Illinois; the Canoochee Sandhills Wildlife Management Area in Bulloch County, Georgia; and Chase County Prairieland in Kansas. The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals, instead sourcing opportunities through a network of conservation collaborators including The Nature Conservancy, where Wendy Paulson chaired the Illinois and New York chapters. While the foundation's total acreage and asset value remain undisclosed, its footprint spans at least four states with a concentration in southeastern coastal and midwestern grassland ecosystems. The family's operational involvement is deep: Amanda Paulson is a former Christian Science Monitor environmental writer who serves on the steering committee of NEXUS Global Climate Change Working Group and the board of Rare. Merritt Paulson is best known as the owner of the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns, but he also serves as a trustee of the foundation. The foundation's work is complemented by The Paulson Institute, Hank Paulson's separate policy-focused entity centered on U.S.-China relations and sustainable economic growth. The foundation's structure is its differentiator: a family-run landowner and secondary-market buyer of conservation properties, not a grantmaking foundation. It operates more like a private real-asset holding company for biodiversity, acquiring and stewarding land directly. This architecture gives the Paulsons permanent control over the properties they protect, insulating them from the fundraising cycles and governance compromises that shape institutional conservation investing.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Chicago
Corporate office
Chicago, IL, United States
Principals
Wendy Paulson
Chairman
Henry "Hank" Paulson
Founder
Henry Merritt Paulson III
Trustee
Amanda Clark Paulson
Trustee and Special Projects Officer
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at The Bobolink Foundation?
The foundation is governed by the Paulson family. Wendy Paulson serves as Chairman; her husband Hank, daughter Amanda, and son Merritt serve as trustees. There is no disclosed external investment committee — the family makes all acquisition and stewardship decisions directly, consistent with their model of owning and managing conservation land rather than outsourcing to fund managers.
How does The Bobolink Foundation source its conservation properties?
Bobolink does not accept unsolicited proposals. It identifies opportunities through a network of long-term conservation collaborators, most notably The Nature Conservancy, where Wendy Paulson formerly chaired the Illinois and New York chapters. Other partner networks include Rare, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and BirdLife International, all of which have Wendy Paulson or Amanda Paulson on their boards.
Does The Bobolink Foundation make grants or does it acquire land directly?
The foundation operates primarily as a direct acquirer of conservation land, not as a grantmaking institution. Its disclosed holdings include Cannon's Point Preserve (Georgia), Tamarack Farms (Illinois), Canoochee Sandhills Wildlife Management Area (Georgia), and Chase County Prairieland (Kansas). These are owned and stewarded by the foundation, not held via third-party managers or conservation easement funds.
Where does the underlying wealth for The Bobolink Foundation come from?
The wealth originates from Henry "Hank" Paulson's career as Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs and his subsequent tenure as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President George W. Bush. The foundation represents the family's philanthropic and mission-driven deployment arm, separate from The Paulson Institute, which focuses on U.S.-China policy issues.
Is The Bobolink Foundation related to The Paulson Institute?
They are distinct entities serving separate purposes. The Bobolink Foundation is the family's conservation land-acquisition vehicle, chaired by Wendy Paulson. The Paulson Institute was founded by Hank Paulson and focuses on policy work around U.S.-China relations and sustainable economic growth. There is no indication of capital commingling or overlapping investment mandates between the two.
What regions and ecosystems does The Bobolink Foundation focus on?
The foundation's conservation holdings span multiple U.S. ecoregions with a concentration in southeastern coastal and midwestern grassland ecosystems. Confirmed properties include a barrier island preserve on the Georgia coast, sandhills habitat in Bulloch County, Georgia, prairieland in Chase County, Kansas, and farmland in Richmond, Illinois.
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