Since 1989, the Orange County Community Foundation (OCCF) has helped women bring their philanthropic visions to life, fueling their impact on the causes closest to their hearts. Women are increasingly taking the reins of philanthropic leadership, reflecting a national trend led by philanthropists like Melinda Gates, Mackenzie Scott and Laurene Powell Jobs. In Orange County and across the country, women are embarking on charitable initiatives as the “Great Wealth Transfer” places them at the helm of their families’ economic and philanthropic legacies. These shifts are amplifying women’s voices across a wide spectrum of issues — from expanding economic opportunity and advancing educational access to strengthening environmental stewardship, addressing homelessness, and supporting community mental health.
The Great Wealth Transfer by the Numbers
84
TRILLION
Estimated wealth to be transferred from Baby Boomers to younger generations over the next 20 years.
50
of this wealth will be inherited by women.
11.9
TRILLION
will likely go to charities.
HOW BUSINESS SUCCESS FUELS PHILANTHROPY
SARA PALMER & LINDSAY PALMER
SARA PALMER & LINDSAY PALMER
Former Co-Founders, StaffRehab
Co-Founders, Inclusive Learning Partners
As we were able to grow our company, StaffRehab, and started seeing financial success, it was a natural calling to start giving back to the communities we were serving. One of the things that was really meaningful was that we had a conversation with our entire team and we all voted on a panel of nonprofits focused on the autism community. Together, we decided we were going to donate to Autism Speaks and to Vocational Visions. We have another sister named Laura, who works at Hope Builders. We’ve always been involved with Hope Builders, wanting to support her and the community that they serve.
When we sold StaffRehab, we decided to put a portion of the proceeds of the sale into a fund with OCCF. In 2021, our philanthropic advisor arranged meetings with a handful of nonprofits in the area to help us get a sense of where in the community we can get involved.
She helped set us up with a couple of programs that focus on the autism community, because that’s the community that we served when we had our first startup. We were particularly interested in getting involved in a food bank. And that’s how she connected us to South County Outreach.
OCCF was integral in helping us branch out and helping us identify good partners — well-run organizations that are giving back in a meaningful way and helping support the communities that we operate in. Whether it’s a certain amount that you want to give on an annual basis, if there is a certain type of cause that you want to look into or if there’s a certain nonprofit or a program that you want them to vet, they provide all of the eyes and ears and all of the kind of financial aspects of looking into a company like that. They do all of that vetting for you.
HOW TO INVOLVE THE NEXT GENERATION IN PHILANTHROPY
JANIE TSAO
JANIE TSAO
Former Co-Founder, Linksys
Vice President, Miven Venture Partners
With the help of consultants, our family foundation established three pillars of philanthropy: education, arts/culture, and wellness. We have three funds at OCCF, two of which are overseen by my two daughters-in-law, so they have the autonomy to support any organization that doesn’t fall exactly under those three family philanthropy pillars. We also have a family fund. We three work very closely together to define what a grant should be, how well that would impact certain areas, the budget, the years of commitment we are going to have, the results we would like to see, the reports we want, how we measure our success, and how we continue that.
I’m very fortunate that my two daughters-in-law are very interested in philanthropy and are foundation trustees. They have the freedom and ownership and feel very empowered to use their funds to do the charity work that they want to do. Sometimes it’s hard for people to identify where to start giving. But if you have the means and are thinking of doing it, start working with community members and you will gradually see what touches you or that you need to build a whole ecosystem to support a cause. It’s very personal.
AN ENTREPRENEURIAL APPROACH TO GIVING
JULIE HILL
JULIE HILL
Former CEO, Costain Homes
Lyric, TPG
In a conversation with Richard Branson, I said, “Do you know what led you to do the things that you did?” He said, “Well, I would look at something like the airlines or trains or whatever the product was and find out what bothered me about it and what needed to be made better and fixed.” And that was his motivation to start a number of businesses. People are told, “always do what you love.”
Somehow, to me, that’s a little weaker than “fix what bothers you.” I would say to young women interested in philanthropy, what bothers you? What’s happening in society that truly gets to you? Is it an inequity somewhere? Is it a lack of education or a lack of something else? And if it bothers you enough, that means that it’s deeper in your soul and it’s something for which you can do good by giving back to them. I’d start with that. It’s almost an entrepreneurial mindset of finding out.
I applied that business perspective in building the shelter and raising money for operations for Human Options. One of the things I heard was people didn’t want to give money to the domestic violence issue because women go back. And the fact is that they do go back and the reason is always economic because they can’t support themselves. In order to get around these objections, I found a professor at UCI and asked him to do a longitudinal study on the outcomes of some of the women who had gone through the shelter that we could track — such as what things meant so much to them and why they were now living much more stable independent lives. The research that I had to raise money for gave me the tools to counter some of these objections. It was what was needed to make the link between disbelief and credibility – and solve the problem.
BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE
At the Orange County Community Foundation, we support women by getting to know their values and goals, from education on the full spectrum of giving solutions available, to introducing them to nonprofits that align with their philanthropic passions, to engaging their family and the next generations in giving. With nearly $800 million in charitable assets and more than $1.1 billion in cumulative grantmaking, OCCF is setting impact into motion, not just in Orange County, but beyond.
