# William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund

William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund is a Foundation based in Hamden, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Hamden, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** 2319 Whitney Avenue, Suite 2B, Hamden, CT 06518, United States
- **Founded:** 1946
- **Assets under management:** $120–$130 million (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** wcgmf.org
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/william-caspar-graustein-memorial-fund

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Archibald Graustein, former president of International Paper, established the Memorial Fund in 1946 in honor of his son William, who died in a childhood accident. The foundation has been guided by successive generations of the Graustein family, with Trustee William Graustein (the founder's son) and Board Chair Lisa Graustein (William's daughter) joined by CEO Dr. Gislaine Ngounou, a long-time education practitioner. The fund operates from Hamden, Connecticut, with a dual mandate: dismantle systemic racial and economic inequities in education through advocacy and grantmaking, and grow its endowment through a diversified investment portfolio. The foundation deploys a notably broad investment strategy for its scale. Asset-class exposure spans venture capital (early-stage through growth), buyout, distressed debt, mezzanine, CLOs, direct secondaries, natural resources, and fund-of-funds positions. Geographic reach extends across the United States and into select international markets. The fund has historically blended direct co-investments with LP commitments, maintaining relationships through peer networks including the Council on Foundations, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. Based at 2319 Whitney Avenue in Hamden, the fund operates a lean team supplemented by a working board. Adjacent activities include the StoryScape community initiative and real property at One Hamden Center. In 2015, under then-Executive Director David Addams, the Memorial Fund formally refocused its grantmaking on equity-driven systems change, a strategic pivot that continues to shape its stewardship of the endowment. The Memorial Fund stands apart through its integration of a full private-market investment engine with a narrow, place-based education-equity mission. Most family foundations of comparable size outsource investment management or hold concentrated public-equity portfolios; this fund instead runs a multi-asset allocation that includes CLOs and distressed strategies typically seen at institutions ten times its size. This architecture lets investment gains directly fund advocacy infrastructure in Connecticut, creating a closed loop between capital markets and classroom-level reform that few peer foundations replicate.

## Sectors

- Education
- Private Credit
- Venture Capital
- Distressed Debt
- Secondaries & Special Situations
- Natural Resources

## People

- Dr. Gislaine Ngounou — CEO
- Lisa Graustein — Board Chair
- William Graustein — Trustee

## Questions

### Is the Memorial Fund a grantmaking foundation or an active investor?

It is both. The foundation actively invests its endowment across venture capital, buyout, distressed debt, CLOs, directs secondaries, and natural resources — a platform that generates returns to sustain its grantmaking. Simultaneously, it awards grants targeting systemic equity in education, a dual operating model more typical of large endowments than community-family foundations of its size.

### How is the Graustein family involved in the foundation's governance?

Three generations of the Graustein family serve on the board: William Graustein (son of founder Archibald) as Trustee, and his daughter Lisa Graustein as Board Chair. The family's sustained governance role has preserved the founder's intent since 1946 while the foundation evolved from a memorial fund into an equity-focused institutional investor.

### Where does the foundation's wealth originate?

The endowment traces to Archibald Graustein, who served as President of International Paper Company and created the Memorial Fund in 1946 after his son William died in a childhood accident. The foundation has grown its corpus over seven decades through investment returns and has not publicly disclosed recent major gifts.

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z

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