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The community foundation in Marin County, Calif., that handles hundreds of millions of dollars in donations is shaking up its approach to grantmaking.
The Marin Community Foundation, which has $3 billion in assets, announced this week that it is dissolving its nine-member board that oversees grantmaking, the Marin Independent Journal reports.
"It was definitely my initiative but not mine alone," says Rhea Suh, the foundation's president and CEO.
The foundation was created in 1987 after a legal battle over control of a $435 million charitable fund that grew from a bequest by the late Beryl Buck, who lived in the area.
Under a legal settlement, the foundation was required to distribute 5% of the Buck Trust assets annually based on a five-year rolling average.
The rest of the money is split between the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, the Buck Institute for Education and Alcohol Justice, and donor-advised funds.
In its most recent fiscal year, the foundation allocated $38 million in local grants.
The legal settlement also specified that the foundation's board members be appointed by a variety of authorities, including the Marin County Board of Supervisors, which was to select two of its members.
Other appointing authorities included the Marin Interfaith Council, the president of the University of California, the Center for
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