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The Collis Foundation
The Collis Foundation was established in 1997, building on wealth created by Charles Collis through his manufacturing company, Seiscor. The foundation remains...
The Collis Foundation
The Collis Foundation was established in 1997, building on wealth created by Charles Collis through his manufacturing company, Seiscor. The foundation remains tightly held, with Collis family member Elfriede A. Collis serving as trustee alongside Astrid C. Womble as President and Executive Director. Frohman Anderson, co-founder of EverWatch Financial, serves as Secretary and represents the operational bridge between the foundation's grant-making mission and its investment posture. Grant-making concentrates on children's education, scholarship programs, literacy initiatives, and basic human services — the core needs of the communities the foundation serves. The foundation's assets, estimated at $226 million, are pooled in short-term investment fund structures, a conservative liquidity posture that prioritizes capital preservation to sustain its annual giving cycle. Related-party infrastructure includes EverWatch Financial, with commercial offices in Providence and Greenwich, through which the principals appear to manage adjacent wealth and real-asset holdings, including a luxury condominium at One Exchange Street in Providence. Frohman Anderson maintains external professional connectivity through memberships in Tiger 21 and the climate-advocacy network CERES, creating informal sourcing channels for the foundation's investment decisions. The operational overlap between the foundation's board and EverWatch Financial — Matt Womble co-founded the advisory firm alongside Anderson — suggests a unified structure for managing both philanthropic capital and personal family assets under a single professional umbrella. Philanthropic activities extend beyond the main foundation through the EverHope Foundation. Structurally, Collis departs from the large-scale, professionally staffed mega-foundations by keeping governance fully inside a small circle of family members and one tightly-aligned external financial advisor. There is no large investment team, no public-facing CIO, and no disclosed grant-application portal — the foundation operates through direct relationships in its three-state geographic corridor, making allocation decisions from a consolidated short-term investment pool rather than a diversified multi-asset institutional portfolio.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
1997
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Providence
Corporate office
Providence, RI, United States
Additional offices
Greenwich, CT, United States
Principals
Astrid C. Womble
President and Executive Director
Frohman Anderson
Secretary
Elfriede A. Collis
Trustee
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who controls investment decisions at The Collis Foundation?
Investment oversight appears to rest with Frohman Anderson, Secretary of the foundation and co-founder of EverWatch Financial. The foundation's estimated $226 million is held in short-term investment fund structures, and Anderson's external memberships in Tiger 21 and CERES provide the primary sourcing channels for both investment opportunities and operational guidance.
What is the relationship between The Collis Foundation and EverWatch Financial?
EverWatch Financial serves as the operational and advisory backbone for the foundation. Co-founders Frohman Anderson and Matt Womble — Anderson as Secretary of the foundation, Womble as the husband of President Astrid C. Womble — manage offices in Providence and Greenwich that administer the foundation's investment assets alongside what appears to be the family's broader wealth portfolio, including real estate and a CLO equity position.
Where does the underlying wealth come from?
The foundation's assets trace back to Charles Collis, who founded and later sold Seiscor, a manufacturing company. The Collis family established the foundation in 1997, with Elfriede A. Collis continuing as a trustee alongside the next generation's leadership through Astrid C. Womble.
Does The Collis Foundation accept unsolicited grant proposals?
Public record indicates the foundation operates without a formal open grant-application process. Its giving concentrates on children's literacy and basic needs programs across three states — Rhode Island, Florida, and Massachusetts — and appears to be directed through existing relationships rather than a public-facing request-for-proposal cycle.
How is the foundation's investment portfolio structured?
The foundation holds its capital in short-term investment fund vehicles, reflecting a conservative, high-liquidity posture instead of the multi-asset, long-duration portfolios common at larger endowments. This structure preserves immediate grant-making capacity but likely limits long-term purchasing power relative to funds that take significant public-equity or private-market risk.
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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