Welcome

 The mission of the Laird Norton Family Foundation is to fund programs that honor, support, and reflect the philanthropic values of the Laird Norton family.  We do this through a number of fund advisory committees, each focused on a specific area of interest and each with its own grant-making process.

The Laird and Norton families, related to each other from their pioneer origins in Pennsylvania, settled in Winona, Minnesota, in the mid 1850s. There, William Harris Laird and his cousins Matthew George Norton and James Laird Norton formed the Laird Norton Company. This was the first of several family-owned companies engaged in the lumber business, first in the Midwest, later in the Pacific Northwest, and finally all over the West including Alaska.

The family’s collective philanthropy began in 1940 in Winona when descendants of these three men set up the Briarcombe Fund. Since then the foundation has undergone several name changes, different funding areas, and a variety of operating styles.

In 2006, the family company donated $25 million to the foundation, which increased our investment fund considerably. As a result of that increase, the foundation, now called the Laird Norton Family Foundation, has been through a process of re-invention. Eighty-five family members (about 25% of the entire family) gathered in fall 2006 to discuss how to focus the foundation’s giving.  After considering 35 different interests proposed by family members, we agreed on four funding areas: Climate Change, Global Fundamentals, Arts in Education, and Watershed Stewardship.

Please check the web pages of the specific funding area for information about each program.  Each is composed of family members who serve on the funding committees, supported by staff.  Each differs in its approach and grantmaking process.  What they have in common is a deep commitment to the values of: collaboration, integrity, commitment to diversity, change, growth, intrepid courage, acceptance, visionary, community, stewardship, humor, playfulness, levity, and celebration. 

CONTACT US

Nick MacPhee, Managing Director
nmacphee at lairdnorton dot org or 206.501.4514

Katie Briggs, Program and Operations Manager
kbriggs at lairdnorton dot org or 206.501.4510

801 Second Ave., 13th Floor
Seattle, WA  98104

206.501.4512 main number
FAX: 206.501.4511
888-901-4512 toll free