# University of North Florida Foundation University of North Florida Foundation is a Foundation based in Jacksonville, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Foundation - **Headquarters:** Jacksonville, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Jacksonville, FL, United States - **Founded:** 1972 - **Assets under management:** $134M (Altss estimate) - **Website:** unf.edu/foundation ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About Established in 1972, the University of North Florida Foundation manages the endowment and real assets that supplement UNF's state funding. President Moez Limayem leads the university while the Foundation's board, chaired by Vestcor Companies President Steve Moore, provides fiduciary oversight. The Foundation's relationship with the city traces back to major land donations from the Skinner family, who provided acreage for the original campus and the First Coast Technology Park. The investment posture mixes traditional public and private market allocations with deeply local direct holdings. The endowment portfolio spans fixed-income instruments including U.S. government bonds and corporate debt, alongside private equity and venture capital commitments covering seed through late-stage. Real assets form a distinctive layer — the Foundation directly controls commercial properties like the ADT Building and UNF East Park Warehouse, residential student housing built with Chance Partners, and undeveloped land parcels including the Sawmill Slough Preserve and Intracoastal Waterway wetlands. It also owns and operates the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville downtown, managing the permanent collection alongside donated works like the Donald and Maria Cox Collection and Norman E. Fisher Collection. The Foundation maintains an unusually small public profile for an endowment of its scale. Investment committee chair Alan Hartley, founder of Jacksonville-based Black Cypress Capital Management, brings local investment management expertise to the allocation process. The Foundation's board intersects with Jacksonville's business community through relationships with donors like Ann and David Hicks — namesakes of the Hicks Honors College — and Tom Crowley of Crowley Maritime. A subordinate entity, the UNF Financing Corporation, handles capital project and property financing, creating a layered governance structure that separates mission-driven spending from commercial real estate operations. What distinguishes the UNF Foundation structurally is the degree to which its balance sheet mirrors Jacksonville's physical landscape. Rather than outsourcing real-asset exposure to commingled funds, the Foundation holds direct title to commercial buildings, wetlands, a technology park, and a downtown museum. This creates an endowment where campus master planning, art stewardship, and portfolio management blur into a single operating reality — unusual among public university foundations. ## Sectors - Real Estate - Private Equity - Venture Capital - Natural Resources - Fixed Income ## People - Alan Hartley — Chair, Investment Committee - Moez Limayem — President, University of North Florida - Steve Moore — Chair, UNF Board of Trustees ## Questions ### Who runs investment decisions at the UNF Foundation? The Foundation's Investment Committee, chaired by Alan Hartley, oversees asset allocation and manager selection. Hartley is founder of Black Cypress Capital Management, a Jacksonville-based investment firm, providing local market expertise. The Board of Trustees, chaired by Steve Moore of Vestcor Companies, holds ultimate fiduciary responsibility. ### How does the Foundation's real estate exposure differ from typical endowment portfolios? The UNF Foundation holds direct title to a range of physical assets rather than allocating exclusively through real estate funds. Holdings include the ADT commercial building, UNF East Park Warehouse, undeveloped parcels along the Intracoastal Waterway, and the 189 acres of donated land that formed the original campus. This direct-ownership model embeds the endowment within Jacksonville's property landscape. ### What is the Foundation's relationship with MOCA Jacksonville? The Foundation owns and operates the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, a cultural institute of UNF located downtown on Laura Street. It manages the museum's permanent collection and holds donor collections including the Donald and Maria Cox Collection and the Norman E. Fisher Collection. MOCA represents an unusual blend of cultural stewardship and balance-sheet asset. ### Does the Foundation participate in fund commitments or only direct investments? The Foundation deploys capital across multiple structures. It commits to private equity and venture capital funds as a limited partner, engages in direct real estate ownership, and manages fixed-income portfolios of government bonds and corporate debt. The strategy spans buyout, growth equity, seed-stage venture, and natural resources. ### How is the UNF Financing Corporation related to the Foundation? The UNF Financing Corporation is a subordinate organization that handles capital projects and property financing for the university. This structure separates the Foundation's endowment management and fundraising functions from the debt issuance and construction financing that the Financing Corporation oversees, creating a governance firewall between mission-driven spending and commercial property operations. ## Related profiles - [University of Indianapolis](https://altss.com/profile/university-of-indianapolis) - [York University Endowment](https://altss.com/profile/york-university-endowment) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/university-of-north-florida-foundation Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology