Theodore R. & Vivian M. Johnson Scholarship Foundation

Theodore R. & Vivian M. Johnson Scholarship Foundation

The Theodore R. & Vivian M. Johnson Scholarship Foundation was founded in 1991, a few years before Theodore R. Johnson's death in 1993. The endowment stems from the wealth he accumulated during a long career at United Parcel Service, where he served as Vice President of Labor Relations. His wife, Vivian M. Johnson, was co-founder. Board Chair R. Malcolm Macleod, a nephew of Vivian Johnson, leads governance, while CEO Robert A. Krause, formerly of Krause Services, oversees day-to-day operations from West Palm Beach. The foundation deploys capital across a notably diverse mix of asset classes for its size, including venture, growth, buyout, mezzanine, distressed debt, timber, natural resources, and secondaries. This balanced, multi-asset mandate serves a single purpose: generating returns to fund scholarships for economically disadvantaged students, Indigenous Peoples, and students with disabilities. A core direct-giving program is reserved for children of UPS employees in Florida, reflecting the wealth's corporate roots. The foundation's grant-making reaches both the United States and Canada. The foundation operates without a disclosed number of investment professionals. It participates in the Foundation Financial Officers Group (FFOG) benchmarking surveys and is an active member of the Florida Philanthropic Network, which provides a peer network of regional grantmakers. No new fund closes or recent leadership changes were publicly verifiable in the prior 24 months. Governance remains with the founding family's second generation through Board Chair Macleod. Structurally, the Johnson Scholarship Foundation sits at a rare intersection: it is a perpetual-life endowment with the investment posture of a multi-strategy private investor. Unlike many small-to-mid-sized foundations that outsource the chief investment officer function, the foundation appears to retain in-house decision-making on a portfolio spanning private credit, real assets, and venture, directly aligning its investment complexity with its mission rather than simplifying for liquidity.