Funding search · EIN 770348912 · Mountain View, CA

The Sobrato Family Foundation

A private foundation (files IRS Form 990-PF). Most private foundations do not take unsolicited applications; the route in is usually a program officer.

1,376
grants reported
$181.9M
total given
2022–2024
filing years
$65,862
median grant

Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 20222024. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.

What they fund

matchingemployeegiftenglishcaliforniaeducationvalleylearners

Funder website ↗Full IRS filings ↗How this is builtReport an error

Funding pattern

What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.

Where the money goes

  • English learner and bilingual education policy, advocacy, research in California
  • General operating support for Santa Clara and San Mateo County safety-net nonprofits
  • Affordable housing production, homelessness services, farmworker housing
  • College access, completion, and workforce pathways for first-generation students
  • Donor-advised funds at Silicon Valley Community Foundation and impact investing vehicles
  • Immigrant and Latino community organizing, rapid response, small business support

Typical grant

Median grant is about $66,000, with the middle half between $5,000 and $150,000. The seven-figure checks go almost entirely to family donor-advised funds at Silicon Valley Community Foundation, ImpactAssets, and one housing production deal with San Mateo County; competitive program grants cluster at $200,000 to $500,000, and English learner policy work lands at $200,000 to $365,000. With 1,376 grants to 593 recipients over three years, most grantees are funded repeatedly, often two to three times.

Their words

Phrases from their own grant descriptions, worth speaking back to them.

  • TO PROVIDE GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
  • ENGLISH LEARNER (EL)
  • DUAL LANGUAGE LEARNERS (DLLS)
  • TO SUPPORT RAPID RESPONSE
  • TO PROVIDE PROJECT SUPPORT
  • CAPACITY BUILDING

Positioning adjacent work

  • Tie your work explicitly to English learners or dual language learners in California policy and practice.
  • Ask $200,000 to $350,000 for a defined policy, research, or narrative-change project.
  • Name a Santa Clara or San Mateo County site, district, or partner organization by name.
  • Offer to inform program strategy directly, as WestEd's economic analysis for the EL program did.

Worth knowing: Roughly 1,173 of 1,376 grants go to California, heavily concentrated in San Jose and the Peninsula, and the largest dollars are internal transfers to family DAFs rather than open competitive giving. The English learner portfolio was in a documented "strategic refresh" in 2024, and out-of-state grantees (New Venture Fund, CAST, Braven) win by running California or Silicon Valley programs.

Top recipients

Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.

  • Silicon Valley Community Foundation32 grants · $47.7M
  • Impactassets5 grants · $10.3M
  • New Venture Fund7 grants · $2.2M
  • Californians Together9 grants · $2.0M
  • Amigos De Guadalupe Center for Justice & Empowerment9 grants · $1.3M
  • Somos Mayfair15 grants · $1.3M
  • Abode Services3 grants · $1.3M
  • Trustees of Boston University5 grants · $1.3M
  • Latino Education Advancement Foundation9 grants · $1.2M
  • Parent Institute for Quality Education8 grants · $1.2M

Giving over time

$51.9M
2022
$62.0M
2023
$68.0M
2024

Grant history

The 100 largest of 1,376 grants.

  • $5.0M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2024

    General support to the resonance philanthropies daf #4176

  • $5.0M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2023

    General support to the lisa and matthew sonsini family fund #4031

  • $4.2M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2022

    "to fund the silicon valley community foundation - $2,000,000 to daf 3674 john m., $2,000,000 to daf 5360 john m. And timi, 166,667 to daf 5868 sustainable foodies"

  • $4.0M

    Impactassets · Bethesda, MD · 2023

    To support the resonance impact fund

  • $4.0M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2023

    $1,000,000 for general support to the john m. Sobrato fund (daf #3764); $3,000,000 for general support to the john m. Sobrato and timi sobrato fund (daf #5360)

  • $3.2M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2022

    To fund the silicon valley community foundation, abby sobrato scholarship fund [5115]

  • $3.0M

    Impactassets · Bethesda, MD · 2024

    To support impact investments

  • $2.5M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2023

    General support to the resonance philanthropies (from i53-2 to svcf daf #4176)

  • $2.1M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2022

    "$100,000 to the resonance sustainability fund (#5673), $500,000to the resonance fund for children's health (#5674) and $1,500,000to the brisson family fund (#5675)"

  • $2.0M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2024

    General support to the lisa and matthew sonsini family fund #4031

  • $2.0M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2024

    $1,000,000.00 for general support to the john m. Sobrato and timi sobrato fund (daf #5360) and $1,000,000.00 for general support to the john m. Sobrato fund (daf #3764)

  • $2.0M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2023

    General support to the john m. Sobrato and timi sobrato fund (from i53-1 to svcf daf #5360)

  • $2.0M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2023

    $1,500,000 for general support to the resonance foundation for children's health daf #5674; $500,000 for general support to the resonance sustainability fund daf #5673

  • $2.0M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2022

    General support to the brisson family fund (from i53-2 to svcf daf #5675)

  • $1.5M

    Impactassets · Bethesda, MD · 2024

    To support the resonance impact fund

  • $1.5M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2024

    $750,000 for general support to the john m. Sobrato and timi sobrato fund (svcf daf #5360); $750,000 for general support to the john m. Sobrato fund (svcf daf #3764)

  • $1.4M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2022

    Support for the abby sobrato scholarship fund, daf #5115 and for the john matthew and andie sobrato fund, daf #4846.

  • $1.3M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2023

    General support to the resonance foundation for children's health (from i53-2 to svcf daf #5674)

  • $1.2M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2023

    General support to the john matthew and andie sobrato fund, #4846 (from i53-8 to svcf daf #4846)

  • $1.1M

    The Foundation for Hispanic Education · San Jose, CA · 2022

    General operating support

  • $1.0M

    County of San Mateo · Redwood City, CA · 2024

    To advance the production of 47 housing units focused on low-income farmworkers in half moon bay and support an innovative home-ownership model backed by public-private partnership.

  • $1.0M

    Impactassets · Bethesda, MD · 2024

    General support to the resonance impact fund # 49413

  • $1.0M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2024

    General support to the john matthew and andie sobrato fund, #4846 (from i53-8 to svcf daf #4846)

  • $1.0M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2024

    General support to the resonance philanthropies fund #4176

  • $1.0M

    Emerging Bilingual Collaborative · Alexandria, VA · 2023

    To support our pooled fund with five foundation partners called the emerging bilingual collaborative to improve the quality of teaching for all el children in pre-kindergarten to 3rd grade in california

  • $1.0M

    Si Se Puede Collective · San Jose, CA · 2023

    To build backbone infrastructure for si se puede collective (sspc) and support sspc economic mobility initiatives in east san jose.

  • $1.0M

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2023

    General support to the john m. Sobrato fund (from i53-1 to svcf daf #3764)

  • $900,000

    New Venture Fund · Washington, DC · 2022

    To support our funder collaborative called the emerging bilingual collaborative fund with four foundation partners to improve the quality of teaching for all el children in preschool to 3rd grade in california.

  • $875,000

    Global Impact · Alexandria, VA · 2024

    To support the emerging bilingual collaborative

  • $790,000

    Impactassets · Bethesda, MD · 2022

    To support the jeffrey and leann sobrato charitable fund

  • $750,000

    Trustees of Boston University · New York, NY · 2022

    To support the center for antiracist research in establishing a fund for the publication of the emancipator and the center affiliates program

  • $660,000

    Destination Home · San Jose, CA · 2024

    To provide general operating support

  • $500,000

    Abode Services · Fremont, CA · 2024

    General operating support for abodes core operations, and project support for abodes guaranteed income program and randomized control trial.

  • $500,000

    Sunnyvale Community Services · Sunnyvale, CA · 2024

    Transition grant to provide general operating support. And funding for succession planning.

  • $500,000

    The Tower Foundation of San Jose State University · San Jose, CA · 2024

    24-50128 - to provide project support.

  • $500,000

    Valley Health Foundation · San Jose, CA · 2024

    To support public schools and districts in east and downtown san jose and gilroy develop, enhance, or expand school-based behavioral health wellness centers.

  • $500,000

    Abode Services · Fremont, CA · 2023

    General operating support for abode's core operations, and project support for abode's guaranteed income program and randomized control trial.

  • $500,000

    Castilleja School · Palo Alto, CA · 2023

    To support the open their world capital campaign

  • $500,000

    Gilroy Foundation · Gilroy, CA · 2023

    Capital support for gilroy youth impact center

  • $500,000

    Valley Health Foundation · San Jose, CA · 2023

    To support public schools and districts in east and downtown san jose and gilroy develop, enhance, or expand school-based behavioral health wellness centers.

  • $500,000

    Latino Community Foundation · San Francisco, CA · 2022

    To support racial equity and justice

  • $500,000

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2022

    General support to the john matthew and andie sobrato fund, #4846 (from i53-8 to svcf daf #4846)

  • $500,000

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2022

    To support the black freedom fund.

  • $482,000

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2024

    General support to the abby sobrato scholarship fund (from i53-8 to svcf daf #5115)

  • $400,000

    Ayudando Latinos a Soar · El Granada, CA · 2024

    To provide general operating support.

  • $400,000

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2024

    General support to the john matthew and andie sobrato fund, #4846

  • $400,000

    Working Partnerships USA · San Jose, CA · 2024

    To support rapid response

  • $400,000

    Unidosus · Washington, DC · 2023

    To coordinate el advocacy and uplift el policy priorities at the california state and federal levels.

  • $400,000

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mountain View, CA · 2022

    General support to the john m. Sobrato fund (daf #3764)

  • $369,000

    Gardner Family Health Network · San Jose, CA · 2023

    General operating support

  • $365,000

    Californians Together · Long Beach, CA · 2024

    To lead, align, and coordinate advocates, policymakers, educators, and other stakeholders to improve how californias education systems support els.

  • $365,000

    Californians Together · Long Beach, CA · 2023

    To lead, align, and coordinate advocates, policymakers, educators, and other stakeholders to improve how california's education systems support els.

  • $350,000

    Cast · Lynnfield, MA · 2024

    To inform policy, practice, and research on english learners with special needs in california

  • $350,000

    Center for Tech and Civic Life · Chicago, IL · 2024

    To provide general operating support.

  • $350,000

    Institute for Responsive Government · Chicago, IL · 2024

    To provide general operating support.

  • $350,000

    New Venture Fund · Washington, DC · 2024

    To support the center for secure and modern elections.

  • $350,000

    Somos Mayfair · San Jose, CA · 2024

    To support rapid response

  • $350,000

    Loyola Marymount University · Los Angeles, CA · 2023

    To increase the quality and supply of bilingual educators in california.

  • $350,000

    The Tower Foundation of San Jose State University · San Jose, CA · 2023

    Silicon valley k-16 collaborative: year 2

  • $348,500

    Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center · Union City, CA · 2023

    General operating support

  • $345,000

    Early Edge California · Los Angeles, CA · 2023

    This project will grow and mobilize a network of policymakers, advocates, educators, parents, and other stakeholders to improve early childhood education policy for english learner children statewide.

  • $337,500

    Onegoal · Chicago, IL · 2023

    Strengthening postsecondary access and success for first generation students of color in southern alameda, san mateo and santa clara counties

  • $334,000

    Wested · San Francisco, CA · 2022

    To inform public investments, state and local guidance, and advocacy on teacher preparation, special education, and district budgeting that will lead to improved outcomes for english learners.

  • $333,332

    Coop Careers · New York, NY · 2023

    Renewal grant support to coop careers to launch a formal partnership with 1-2 colleges in silicon valley with clear enrollment targets, data sharing agreements, administrative champions, co-branding, and access to shred read all
  • $325,000

    Californians Together · Long Beach, CA · 2022

    To lead, align and coordinate the efforts of advocates, policymakers, educators and other key stakeholders to improve how education systems statewide support english learners.

  • $320,000

    California Association for Bilingual Education · Walnut, CA · 2023

    To increase access to quality bilingual education by increasing the capacity of and advocating on behalf of bilingual teachers, administrators, and english learner (el) families.

  • $309,000

    New Venture Fund · Washington, DC · 2024

    To build a sustainable infrastructure for collective advocacy on behalf of el children in california

  • $307,500

    The Education Trust · Oakland, CA · 2024

    24-50104 - to provide project support.

  • $307,500

    The Education Trust-West · Oakland, CA · 2023

    To advocate for greater investment and strong on-the-ground implementation of california's english learner roadmap and other state policies to advance english learner (el) success.

  • $300,000

    California Association for Bilingual Education · Walnut, CA · 2024

    To increase access to quality bilingual education by increasing the capacity of and advocating on behalf of bilingual teachers, administrators, and english learner (el) families.

  • $300,000

    Latino Education Advancement Foundation · San Jose, CA · 2024

    The leaf center for college success

  • $300,000

    Loyola Marymount University · Los Angeles, CA · 2024

    To increase the quality and supply of bilingual educators in california.

  • $300,000

    Latino Education Advancement Foundation · San Jose, CA · 2023

    The leaf center for college success

  • $300,000

    Year Up · San Francisco, CA · 2023

    To support year up's san jose program.

  • $300,000

    California Association for Bilingual Education · Walnut, CA · 2022

    To advance state level reforms that promote and increase access to quality bilingual education by building the capacity of bilingual teachers, administrators and english learner (el) families to serve and advocate for e read all
  • $300,000

    Destination Home · San Jose, CA · 2022

    To support silicon valley guaranteed income pilot, a partnership of destination: home and s se puede collective.

  • $300,000

    Latino Education Advancement Foundation · San Jose, CA · 2022

    The leaf center for college success

  • $300,000

    Year Up · San Francisco, CA · 2022

    To support year up's san jose program.

  • $275,000

    Juma Ventures · San Francisco, CA · 2023

    Juma ventures bay area youthconnect program

  • $275,000

    Juma Ventures · San Francisco, CA · 2022

    Juma ventures bay area youthconnect program

  • $275,000

    The Education Trust-West · Oakland, CA · 2022

    To improve opportunities and outcomes for english learners (els) in california by conducting policy analysis, advocacy, and engagement with educators and the community for systemic reforms.

  • $262,500

    Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County · San Jose, CA · 2023

    General operating support

  • $262,500

    Second Harvest of Silicon Valley · San Jose, CA · 2023

    General operating support

  • $262,500

    South County Community Health Center · East Palo Alto, CA · 2023

    General operating support

  • $262,500

    Abode Services · Fremont, CA · 2022

    General operating support

  • $262,500

    Lifemoves · Menlo Park, CA · 2022

    General operating support

  • $255,000

    Start Small Think Big · New York, CA · 2024

    To provide general operating support

  • $250,000

    10000 Degrees · San Rafael, CA · 2024

    To support 10,000 degrees' college success south bay programming

  • $250,000

    Alameda County Community Food Bank · Oakland, CA · 2024

    To provide general operating support

  • $250,000

    Amigos De Guadalupe Center for Justice & Empowerment · San Jose, CA · 2024

    To provide general operating support

  • $250,000

    Ayudando Latinos a Soar · El Granada, CA · 2024

    Project support for the pre-development of a farmworker resource center in half moon bay

  • $250,000

    Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula · Menlo Park, CA · 2024

    General operating support (youth development)

  • $250,000

    Braven Incorporated · Chicago, IL · 2024

    Grant renewal to continue and expand braven at san jose state university (sjsu), which equips low-income, first-generation students with the skills, confidence, experiences and social capital to secure strong first jobs read all
  • $250,000

    California Community Foundation · Los Angeles, CA · 2024

    To develop and implement a narrative change initiative with the consortium for english learner success, a coalition of 100 organizations working to improve english learner (el) policy and practice in los angeles, one of read all
  • $250,000

    California Competes · Oakland, CA · 2024

    To partner with san jose city college (sjcc) and community-based organizations to facilitate focus groups and feedback sessions with low-wage workers in east san jose and co-create a model for sjccs east san jose expans read all
  • $250,000

    Catalyst California · Los Angeles, CA · 2024

    To prioritize young el children also known as dual language learners (dlls) in the roll-out of the governors 10-year master plan for early childhood education.

  • $250,000

    Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County · San Jose, CA · 2024

    To provide general operating support.

  • $250,000

    Collective Impact Solutions · Vista, CA · 2024

    To provide general operating support. To an organization that works on systems transformation

  • $250,000

    Fresh Lifelines for Youth Inc (Fly) · Milpitas, CA · 2024

    General operating support

  • $250,000

    Futures Without Violence · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    To support the courage museum & education center

View all 1,376 grants →

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Source: IRS Form 990-PF, Part XV, as filed by the foundation. These are grants already paid — a record of what this funder backs, not an open call.