Partner profile: Satterberg Foundation is giving with heart

The Satterberg Foundation is a lead sponsor of the Seattle Equity Summit, which helps leaders and the public share strategies that advance equity. Photo by Jovelle Tamayo.  

By Anna Baum 

Donors are truly members of the non-profit family, and nowhere is that more evident than in the case of the Satterberg Foundation.

It helps that the Satterberg board and staff see their work as vital to their own well-being. Board Member Ben Lazarus and Caroline Miceli, director of operations and special interest grants, spoke to us recently and shared about Satterberg’s “secret sauce.” 

“It’s about building trust,” said Caroline, “how to build relationships and trust.” The L.A. Trust has benefited greatly from Satterberg’s supportive stance — Caroline was the first to reach out when the pandemic hit, schools closed, and the bottom dropped out for so many nonprofits. A grantee since 2018, we had developed the relationships between their staff and ours that build trust. 

A few months later when the murder of George Floyd rocked the nation and sparked a new chapter of its long climb out of racist roots, Satterberg was right there, asking its grantees again: what do you need? 

Being human together 

The answers led them to creating spaces “just to be human together,” and to Satterberg hosting professionally led Virtual Health, Healing & Caucusing meetings for both Black, Indigenous, People of Color and white-bodied cohorts. These gatherings offered a rare opportunity to begin the often-difficult conversations and healing processes as we engage in the national reckoning about systemic racism and its fall-out. 

The Satterberg Foundation states that it “strengthens our communities by promoting a just society and a sustainable environment. Doing this work deepens the interconnection of our family.” Founded in by 1990 by Virginia Satterberg Pigott Helsell out of her and her husband’s love for their family, it continues to be a well of inspiration for their children and grandchildren.  

Ben, Virginia’s step-grandson, is “grateful for the amount of family time it builds into my life.” A production sound mixer in Los Angeles, he looked forward to board meetings in Seattle before the pandemic, which allowed him to see his grandfather and other family members more frequently. The board is now composed of about 50% each of the two generations. 

Extended family 

The “family” in Satterberg’s mission statement is literal, but also resonates with the foundation’s vision of our human family. When Caroline started seven years ago, Sarah Walczyk was the only staff member, and the Satterberg family members did most of the work. Sarah is now executive director, with seven staff members and growing. Taking the long view of what organizations (as families) need in order to thrive, they focus on multiyear, core support grants. 

They also understand the benefits for everyone of being “process light” in their grants process. Originally they asked interested organizations to send a page, and decided on the basis of that whether to schedule a visit. One organization sent an idea the writer had while folding laundry and drinking wine, about growing a lemon tree in a trash can. “That candor was an oasis in a desert of really dry letters,” Ben said. They set up a visit and the idea went on to be a form of community garden. The process has evolved, but they continue to ”connect on a human level, not on a KPI level,” in Caroline’s words. 

Frank and open 

This “come as you are” attitude helps grantees be frank about the issues and open about lessons learned. “We show up as humans, imperfect, all trying to mitigate power imbalances and talk about what people and organizations need,” said Caroline. “It’s a mosaic, not a traditional, white-dominated way.  We’re centering and amplifying voices in our community, being an advocate through dollars or using one’s platform.” 

This leads to the question of how to vet nonprofits to ensure the funds have the strongest impact. The L.A. Trust was recently awarded another five-year core support grant. How does the Foundation make such decisions? “Through community,” says Caroline. They look at what the work is, who is doing it, and whether the work, staff and board are coming from the communities served. Site visits clarify whether there is alignment with Satterberg’s mission and values. 

Two of those values are moral courage and joy — qualities needed now more than ever. The L.A. Trust is grateful for the founders and stewards of the unique foundation; their comradeship helps sustain those values in our work.

Foundations sustain The L.A. Trust through COVID-19

Ballmer Group is among the foundations that have stepped up to support the work of The L.A. Trust during the coronavirus pandemic. 

In the midst of the suffering and uncertainty of our multiple pandemics, the outpouring of community support from the philanthropic world has been heartening and reassuring. We continue to receive grants that make the difference for students between empty days and much-needed healing and enrichment. The following funders have committed grants this past quarter to benefit those we serve:   

Ballmer Group notified us of their intention to invest on a large scale in student mental health through a two-year, $300,000 grant that will support our Student Mental Health Initiative, including Youth Mental Health Collaboratives. The purpose of The L.A. Trust project is to increase mental health education and prevention among Los Angeles Unified students within the Wellness Network by launching a collaborative made up of LAUSD leaders, Wellness Center staff, and community mental health organizations to identify and resolve obstacles to care. Student input will be a key component informing the group’s work. The group will also advocate for needed policy change at the district and county level. Much like our Wellness Network Learning Collaborative, our Oral Health Advisory Board and Data xChange Expert Advisory Council, this collaborative aims to improve students’ well-being through increased cooperation among stakeholders.  

Ballmer Group supports efforts to improve economic mobility for children and families in the United States who are disproportionately likely to remain in poverty. This generous grant reflects their belief that building pathways to opportunity requires broad, systemic change.  

Dignity Health is also making a significant investment in mental health, through a three-year effort funded in part by UniHealth Foundation to increase the awareness, skills and capacity of local community organizations and individuals to identify mental distress, address the impacts of trauma, reduce stigma and increase resiliency via delivery of mental health awareness education. The project focuses on children and youth of color and the adults who care for them in areas where high health disparities persist. Through a grant of $65,000, The L.A. Trust is joining in the second year of the project and will train after-school and academic support programs in Youth Mental Health First Aid and students in peer-to-peer outreach. We’re honored to work with the many organizations pioneering this effort.   

FCancer awarded The L.A. Trust $12,000 to expand HPV education and increase HPV vaccinations during the fall semester at the schools we serve. This is an extension of FCancer’s Take a Shot campaign. FCancer is dedicated to prevention, early detection, and providing emotional support to those affected by cancer. We have been working with FCancer since 2016 and are proud to continue this key cancer prevention initiative in spite of the limitations imposed by COVID-19 precautions.  

QueensCare is partnering with us for the first time through a $50,000 grant to support oral health education for children and their caregivers associated with nine local elementary schools. The L.A. Trust will share information via educational branded videos and live video chats with our community members. A nonprofit organization with compassion at its core, QueensCare offers direct patient care through a mobile dental program at many LAUSD schools and in the community. Understanding that tooth decay is the most pervasive, yet preventable, chronic disease among children in the United States, we are very grateful to continue our long-standing commitment to oral health for children through this grant. The support from QueensCare comes at a critical point in the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing The L.A. Trust to deliver much-needed educational outreach when many cannot access adequate dental care.  

Satterberg Foundation has been a key supporter over the last three years through its seminal Core Support Grants. The Foundation recently let us know that they intend to provide another five years of general operating support in the form of $125,000 a year. The mission of the Seattle-based foundation is to promote a just society and a sustainable environment. The founders, board members, and staff of the Satterberg Foundation have a highly progressive, inclusive approach to grant-making. Their goal is to help organizations achieve their goals, to adapt to change, to innovate and to improve their ability to serve the community. They have been foundational in The L.A. Trust’s growth over the past three years, and we’re deeply honored to be continuing this relationship.  

Our current times illuminate with great clarity the ways in which all of us are interconnected. The interdependence of student services, social progress, and philanthropy can be seen in these generous grants from committed, forward-thinking institutions. We remain grateful for and inspired by these sustaining relationships.