SDK FOUNDATION
FROM FAMILY
AMBITION TO A
WORKING
FOUNDATION.
Helping a family turn broad philanthropic ambition into a focused foundation, portfolio strategy and operating rhythm for grants and impact investments.
01
The challenge
The family had significant ambition, multiple areas of interest and a desire to build a foundation that could do more than make reactive grants.
The challenge was turning that ambition into something focused and usable: where to concentrate first, how to deploy different forms of capital, how to assess opportunities consistently and how to build the foundation without creating an oversized institution around it.
02
What we did
Worked alongside the family to sharpen the mission and initial focus areas, design the first portfolio approach across grants and impact investments, and build practical criteria for assessing opportunities.
We then moved into live execution: researching priority issues, sourcing and assessing organisations and investments, supporting diligence and decision-making, and creating an ongoing rhythm for portfolio review and learning.
03
What we built
A lean operating system for the foundation: mission and focus, portfolio architecture, decision criteria, opportunity pipeline, research and diligence processes, and an ongoing cadence for making and learning from real funding decisions.
- MISSION · STRATEGY · PORTFOLIO DESIGN
- GRANTS + IMPACT INVESTING
- ONGOING SENIOR ROLE ALONGSIDE THE FAMILY
Editor note — hidden on the live site.
WHAT HAPPENED (hidden until you confirm a result you are comfortable publishing): add a fourth numbered block “What happened” with the outcome, e.g. participants, prototypes taken forward, commitments kept, capital deployed.
Bring us the next important thing.
Tell us what’s pressing, what you’ve tried and why it matters now. A few sentences are enough.
