Additional $100,000 For Los Angeles Wildfire Relief
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif., Jan. 22, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The William, Jeff & Jennifer Gross Family Foundation, the charity founded by renowned investor and philanthropist Bill Gross and his son and daughter, announced that it donated $18 million to 61 non-profits and charities in 2024, including to hurricane relief and recovery efforts in North Carolina and Florida. Recipients included several California organizations in Orange and Riverside counties, as well as national and international charities including Doctors Without Borders, Solar Electric Light Fund, Mercy Ships, and Environmental Advocates NY.
In addition, the Foundation donated $50,000 each to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and to the American Red Cross for wildfire relief to assist those in need as a result of the devastating fires in Los Angeles County.
The $640 million-asset Gross Family Foundation — among the largest private foundations in Orange County — continued the Gross Family’s tradition of donating to organizations that have a direct impact on the communities they serve, whether locally in California or nationally and internationally. Many of the recipients are non-profits that support education, the arts, the environment, poverty, human rights, childhood development, and healthcare. The Foundation also directed one of its largest donations of $1.11 million to the University of Massachusetts for the support of a Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Workshop on the Ethical Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Established in 1994 by Pope John Paul II, the Pontifical Academy promotes the study and progress of the social sciences — primarily economics, sociology, law and political science.
“Jennifer, Jeff and I have always tried to seek out mission-driven, non-profit organizations that are as focused on outcomes as intent,” said Mr. Gross, a philanthropist, author and the co-founder of Newport Beach-based, fixed-income asset manager PIMCO. “I am especially appreciative of Jennifer and Jeff’s work in bringing their unique perspectives to finding the non-profits that are aligned with our values.”
The Gross Family Foundation continued Mr. Gross’s longtime support of Doctors Without Borders with a donation of $3 million in 2024. Mr. Gross and the Gross Family Foundation have given almost $50 million to Doctors Without Borders in the past two decades, making them the largest donors to the global medical humanitarian organization. The Foundation also renewed a donation to Mercy Ships, giving $1 million to the hospital ship organization that brings state-of-the-art medical care and surgeries to people in need around the world.
As reported in September by the Orange County Business Journal, “Giving at the Gross foundation to Orange County nonprofits is more than twice as large as the most generous corporation, Pacific Life, which gave $4.9 million in 2023.”
In addition to several repeat recipients, new organizations that received donations from the Gross Family Foundation include:
- Eisenhower Health Foundation, supporting the Eisenhower Health non-profit hospital through fundraising, allowing the hospital to meet the changing healthcare needs of the Coachella Valley community.
- Every Cure, a nonprofit biotech that utilizes AI to unleash the potential of every approved medicine to treat every disease it possibly can. Every Cure believes that repurposing medicines represents the fastest and most efficient way to tackle critical health challenges while optimizing the return on investment in the effort to save lives.
- Desert ARC, a nonprofit human services organization headquartered in Palm Desert serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities living throughout Riverside County and the Morongo Basin of San Bernardino County.
- Solar Electric Light Fund uses the power of the sun to fight poverty and climate change. SELF works with communities around the world to establish solar projects, with a focus on environmental justice, community ownership, and scalable outcomes.
- Desert Community Foundation, supporting nonprofits, donors, and scholarship committees in the Coachella Valley, and empowering desert communities through Donor Advised Funds, Scholarships, and Donor Directed Grants.
- Artist Fund at the Festival of the Arts of Laguna Beach, a non-profit organization created by artists which assists Festival artists who have suffered unforeseen hardship, and also encourages artistic growth through scholarship.
The following non-profits received donations of more than $1 million from the William, Jeff & Jennifer Gross Family Foundation in 2024:
- Doctors Without Borders
- University of Massachusetts Supporting a Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Workshop on the Ethical Advancement of Artificial Intelligence
- Atrium Health
- Environmental Advocates NY
- Sustainable Development Solutions Network
- Mercy Ships
While at PIMCO Mr. Gross established the PIMCO Foundation, which has since expanded to three global PIMCO Foundations that have granted more than $49 million to support nonprofit organizations worldwide. PIMCO annually awards the “Bill Gross Volunteer Impact Award,” which recognizes the transformative community service of PIMCO employees around the globe. Mr. Gross is a signatory to the Giving Pledge, a global, multi-generational commitment by many of the world’s wealthiest individuals and couples to give a majority of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes, either during their lifetimes or in their wills. For additional information about Bill Gross, visit https://williamhgross.com/.