Prominent Foundation Invests Locally
June 2023
Melissa Freeman
The Gray Family Foundation, founded in 2011, is built upon the spirit and generosity of John and Betty Gray. Both Oregonians, John was raised in Monroe and Betty in Portland. After John served in World War II, attended Harvard Business School, and sold Omark Industries, he became a prominent developer creating beautiful spaces and resorts including Sunriver Resort in Bend, Salishan on the Oregon Coast, Skamania Lodge in the Columbia Gorge and John’s Landing in Portland. Betty attended Oregon State University going on to get a graduate school degree at Columbia University in counseling. She was passionate about early childhood education.
Together, John and Betty engaged their children and grandchildren in their philanthropy. To date, the Gray Family Foundation has awarded over $22M to nonprofits that promote environmental and geography education, provide outdoor school, improve camp facilities, and strengthen youth leadership for the environment. One of the Foundation’s successful initiatives enabled a statewide ballot measure to pass in 2016 ensuring all fifth or sixth graders in Oregon can attend a week in an immersive, outdoor learning environment called Outdoor School. By attending Outdoor School, Oregon youth develop a lifelong sense of environmental stewardship.
This month, the Gray Family Foundation demonstrated their deep commitment to Oregon by investing a portion of their endowment in Oregon Venture Fund’s XV Fund.
Oregon Venture Fund’s values align well with the Gray Family Foundation’s mission which is to engage people in Oregon as active stewards of our communities and natural environments. OVF investors and entrepreneurs greatly appreciate the natural spaces and places that this region offers and recognize they must be cherished and protected as they are not only beautiful, make the region healthier and promote a high quality of life for all species, they are also important assets for attracting and retaining the next generation of founders and investors to create and build companies here.
“John Gray was an iconic entrepreneur, humble philanthropist and wise steward of Oregon’s natural places,” said Nancy Bales, Executive Director. “We’re excited to partner with Oregon Venture Fund to support the region’s next generation of entrepreneurs who are building world-class companies in Oregon, and we hope they will have a passion to preserve our world-class environment as well.”
OVF is in its 17th year of backing Oregon and Southern Washington-based startups. The OVF XV Fund is currently open to accredited investors, please contact Melissa Freeman, Director of Capital Raising and Investor Relations, 503-539-8021 or Melissa@oregonventurefund.com.
