About Us
Shared Ascent Fund was created by and for philanthropists who want to focus on the long term and the big picture. It is a nonprofit designed to provide sustained support for efforts to confront the growing threat to our democracy. This work cannot succeed without advancing economic, racial, and gender equity. Shared Ascent Fund assists skillful leaders and organizations as they strive to move beyond the zero-sum economics and politics that impoverish communities and deepen divides. Shared Ascent Fund’s donors, trustees, and staff welcome creative, ambitious, and determined partners to join in this initiative. Read about our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Donations to Shared Ascent Fund are tax-deductible.
Who We Are

Steve Daetz (chair)
President, Sandler Foundation

Jason Burnett
Trustee of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Christopher (Kim) Elliman
CEO of the Open Space Institute

Avi Garbow
President, Shared Ascent Fund

Martha Kongsgaard
President, Kongsgaard-Goldman Fund

Preston Pinkett III
President, P3 Collective

Melissa Roy
Senior Consultant, Corridor Partners
What We Do
With its partners, Shared Ascent Fund can:
- Bring together donors, community leaders, strategists, policy makers, and communicators to craft long-term strategies to move systems as we move issues.
- Work closely with partners, grantees, and consultants, to provide comprehensive grant making and contracting capacity, consulting, fiscal sponsorship, and fundraising services to drive significant and lasting outcomes.
- Manage entire projects or project components for donors, covering all back-office administrative services, including financial management, human resources, data systems, and legal services.
- Develop and implement advocacy, law, lobbying, and educational programs, as well as research and policy analysis, to advance health, social equity, and democratic values.
- Organize research such as polling and policy analyses to ground strategy, investment, and project development.
- Build and execute campaigns to further a broad proactive agenda, in alignment with Fund for a Better Future when necessary.
- Create sophisticated messages and the infrastructure to communicate them.
- Give donors the option of creating donor-advised funds.
Financial Information
Contact Us
Would you like to know more about Shared Ascent Fund? Contact us to discuss investments in your priority issues.