The San Diego Women's Foundation
The San Diego Women’s Foundation is a San Diego, California–based public charity that brings people together to learn, give, and support nonprofit organizations serving San Diego County. Founded in 2000, it describes its approach as collective philanthropy: members learn about community needs, pool resources, and participate in grant decisions.
The San Diego Women's Foundation at a glance
In short: The San Diego Women's Foundation gave $268K across 10 grants in 2025 (avg $27K), mostly in California. 60% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $267,500
- +1.3% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 10
- +25.0% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $26,750
- -18.9% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $20,000
- Total assets
- $6,355,367
- +5.1% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 60% first-time grantees (6 of 10, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- California (100% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to The San Diego Women's Foundation
- Contact
Mailing address: 2508 Historic Decatur Road 200, San Diego, CA 92106
Phone: (619) 235-2300
Website: https://sdwomensfoundation.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Open Grants
2 open opportunities from The San Diego Women's Foundation
Cycle 25 Grants - Senior Isolation and Loneliness
The San Diego Women's Foundation
Amount
$240,000
Deadline
Deadline not published
SDWF- Expanding Affordable, Accessible, and Quality Child Care Grant
The San Diego Women's Foundation
Amount
US $60,000
Deadline
Deadline not published
Who The San Diego Women's Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Elderhelp of San Diego ($60K). Together the top 10 received $268K.
Grant Size Distribution
48 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 36 grants of 48 (75%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The foundation says it supports nonprofit organizations serving San Diego County. All 2025 grant dollars in the itemized filing went to recipients in California; listed grantees were located in San Diego, San Ysidro, and National City.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 10 itemized grants.
States
Cities
Is The San Diego Women's Foundation open to new grantees?
60%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 6 of 10 grantees (60%) were first-time recipients. With only 10 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 10 points. First grants averaged $13K; repeat grants $47K. How we count
Medians: $10K first-time, $49K repeat.
- 10% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving held roughly steady from 2022 to 2025 (+1%). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990 filings (2019–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $263K (2019) to $360K (2021). In 2025 it made 10 grants totaling $268K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Elderhelp of San Diego San Diego, CA | For Unrestricted Funding | $60,000 |
| Serving Seniors San Diego, CA | For Unrestricted Funding | $60,000 |
| Say San Diego San Diego, CA | For Unrestricted Funding | $37,500 |
| Bayside Community Center San Diego, CA | For Unrestricted Funding | $30,000 |
| CASA Familiar San Ysidro, CA | For Unrestricted Funding | $30,000 |
| Environmental Health Coalition National City, CA | A sdwf & sdf collaboration: environmental justice civic engagement and community organizing | $10,000 |
| Harvey Family Foundation San Diego, CA | A sdwf & sdf collaboration: environmental justice civic engagement and community organizing | $10,000 |
| Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center National City, CA | A sdwf & sdf collaboration: environmental justice civic engagement and community organizing | $10,000 |
| SANDIEGO350 San Diego, CA | A sdwf & sdf collaboration: environmental justice civic engagement and community organizing | $10,000 |
| Urban Collaborative Project San Diego, CA | A sdwf & sdf collaboration: environmental justice civic engagement and community organizing | $10,000 |
Ready to take the next step with The San Diego Women's Foundation?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
The 2025 filing describes an endowment whose principal is not spent and whose purpose is to provide income for the foundation’s future and mission. It reports the value of assets held at the San Diego Foundation as $6,355,000 as of June 30, 2025.
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Net Investment Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $6,355,367 | $807,744 | $797,201 | $267,500 | 10 | $329,042 |
| 2024 | $6,049,000 | $823,600 | $719,416 | $264,000 | 8 | $331,529 |
| 2023 | $5,738,521 | $1,026,080 | $723,115 | $290,645 | 10 | $162,760 |
| 2022 | $5,234,239 | $828,217 | $604,153 | $265,000 | 9 | $336,584 |
| 2021 | $5,496,047 | $1,033,328 | $679,819 | $360,061 | 11 | $317,709 |
| 2020 | $4,342,511 | $933,016 | $763,739 | $341,528 | 8 | $181,768 |
| 2019 | $4,227,837 | $719,694 | $640,130 | $263,226 | 7 | $142,128 |
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated October 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
The foundation’s mission is to connect, educate, and inspire women to engage in collective philanthropy. It says it supports nonprofits across San Diego County addressing community challenges, with a focus on equity and opportunity in underserved communities. Its website describes each grant cycle as centered on one priority area identified through research and community insight, with members involved in learning, proposal review, site visits, and grant voting.
For Cycle 27, the foundation says it plans to award unrestricted funding in June 2027 to nonprofit organizations that help transition-age youth enter the workforce and advance toward long-term economic stability in San Diego County. Its announced Cycle 26 priority was expanding affordable childcare for infants and toddlers.
Examples of 2025 grantees illustrate the range of organizations it supported. Serving Seniors describes its work as providing programs and services to older adults living in poverty. ElderHelp of San Diego says it provides personalized services and coordinated care to help seniors remain independent. Casa Familiar describes its mission as improving quality of life in underserved and underrepresented communities, while Bayside Community Center says it works through services, education, and advocacy. SanDiego350 describes its work as building a movement against climate change and climate injustice.
Grantmaking
The foundation’s 2025 filing itemizes 10 grants totaling $267,500. Grant amounts ranged from $10,000 to $60,000, with a median of $20,000. The largest listed awards were $60,000 each to ElderHelp of San Diego and Serving Seniors, followed by $37,500 to SAY San Diego and $30,000 each to Bayside Community Center and Casa Familiar. Four $10,000 awards supported a collaboration on environmental justice, civic engagement, and community organizing.
The filing’s narrative separately reports that $240,000 was granted to four community partnership grantees for the fiscal year’s primary priority of senior social isolation and loneliness. The itemized grants and the narrative figures are distinct reported totals.
Cycle 26 concerned childcare for infants and toddlers ages 0–4, with unrestricted funding intended to expand affordable, accessible, quality childcare and support long-term improvements to the childcare landscape. The listed deadline was June 30, 2026, and the award announcement was scheduled for June 2026; this is a past cycle. The foundation’s Cycle 27 guidelines say grants will be awarded in June 2027 and announce a grantseekers forum in mid-October.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Stephanie Cook as executive director; Krishna Kabra as president; Rosette Garcia as president-elect and GEC co-chair; Julie McKay as immediate past president through June 2025; Nadia Farjood as governance chair; Rocky Hershfield as secretary and GEC co-chair; Carolyn Taylor as treasurer and finance chair; Sabrina Carnell-Williams as program vice-chair; Tiffany Ayres as membership chair through June 2025; and Kathleen Lennard as DIG co-chair.
The foundation’s website lists Angela Fujii as programs and grants manager and Ahtziri Ayala as senior specialist, membership and communications.
The San Diego Women's Foundation is led by Stephanie Cook, Executive Director on every filing since 2021; 1 of 19 officers listed in 2025 is compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Stephanie Cook
Executive Director
On filings since 2021
40 hrs/week
$44K (2021) → $145K (2025)
Krishna Kabra
President
Director → President-Elect, 2024
President-Elect → President, 2025
On filings since 2021
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Tiffany Ayres
Membership Chair
Membership Vice Chair → Membership Chair, 2023
On filings since 2022
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Carolyn Taylor
Treasurer & Finance Chair
Finance Vice Chair → Treasurer & Finance Chair, 2025
On filings since 2024
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Nadia Farjood
Governance Chair
Governance Vice Chair → Governance Chair, 2025
On filings since 2024
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Td Smith
Fellowship Chair
New on the 2025 filing
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Annie Rodriguez
Director
Dei Vice Chair → Dei Chair, 2024
Dei Chair → Director, 2025
On filings since 2021
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Tonya Torosian
Director
Director → Gec Chair, 2023
Gec Chair → Director, 2024
On filings since 2022
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Shannon Pavell
Director
Membership Vice Chair → Director, 2025
On filings since 2023
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Amanda Lopez
Director
On filings since 2024
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Keshia Javis-Jones
Director
On filings since 2024
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Susan Perkins
Director
On filings since 2024
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Kelsey Wadman
Director
New on the 2025 filing
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Rosette Garcia
President-Elect & Gec Co-Chair
Gec Vice Chair → Gec Chair, 2024
Gec Chair → President-Elect & Gec Co-Chair, 2025
On filings since 2022
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Rocky Hershfield
Secretary & Gec Co-Chair
Director → Secretary & Gec Vice Chair, 2024
Secretary & Gec Vice Chair → Secretary & Gec Co-Chair, 2025
On filings since 2023
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Kathleen Lennard
Dig Co-Chair
On filings since 2024
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Ellie Bucklin
Dig Co-Chair
New on the 2025 filing
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Julie McKay Immediate
Past President
New on the 2025 filing
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Sabrina Carnell-Williams
Program Vice Chair
New on the 2025 filing
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (30)
- Former: Shari Miller (2019–2024) — Immediate Past President & Gov Chair · Filing note: Thru 624
- Former: Helena Xu (2020–2024) — Treasurer & CFO
- Former: Julie McKay (2020–2024) — President
- Former: Hema Lall (2021–2024) — Director
- Former: Leslie Klein (2021–2024) — Director
- Former: Thespine Kavoulakis (2021–2024) — Director
- Former: Dani Zupic (2023–2024) — Collaboration Vice Chair
- Former: Michelle Candland (2019–2023) — Immediate Past President
- Former: Amanda Chin (2020–2023) — Director
- Former: Carol Tellez (2020–2023) — Secretary & Programs Co-Chair · Filing note: Thru 623
- Former: Bridget Strickland (2019–2022) — Treasurer & CFO
- Former: Cindi Hill (2019–2022) — Immediate Past President
- Former: Janice Kurth (2019–2022) — Grants Trainer
- Former: Tina Williams (2019–2022) — Governance Chair
- Former: Marnie Klein (2020–2022) — Secretary & Grants Executive Chair
- Former: Andrea Puente-Catan (2021–2022) — Director
- Former: Arlyne Brown (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Dale Spector (2019–2021) — Governance Chair
- Former: Susan Howe (2019–2021) — Immediate Past President
- Former: Alexis Lasheras (2019–2020) — Collaboration Chair
- Former: Jean Kaiser (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Jill Smith (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Katherine Sawyer (2019–2020) — Executive Director
- Former: Kathy Jones (2019–2020) — Secretary
- Former: Sara Bennett (2019–2020) — Immediate Past President
- Former: Carolyn Konecki (2019) — Director
- Former: Joan Jones (2019) — Director
- Former: Mary-Rose Mueller (2019) — Programs Chair
- Former: Susan Hennenfent (2019) — Director
- Former: Valerie Jacobs (2019) — Immediate Past President
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Compensation Overview
From 2025 IRS filing
The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $145K, to Stephanie Cook (Executive Director).
Frequently asked questions about The San Diego Women's Foundation
How much does The San Diego Women's Foundation give each year?
The San Diego Women's Foundation gave $268K across 10 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $264K across 8 grants.
What is The San Diego Women's Foundation's typical grant size?
The San Diego Women's Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $20,000, and its average grant was $26,750, across 10 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Organizations receiving their first grant from The San Diego Women's Foundation that year got $13K on average.
Where does The San Diego Women's Foundation give grants?
The San Diego Women's Foundation gives mostly in California: 100% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990 went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were San Diego, CA (7 grants) and National City, CA (2 grants).
Does The San Diego Women's Foundation give general operating support?
Yes: 50% of The San Diego Women's Foundation's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (5 of 10) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990.
Who are The San Diego Women's Foundation's largest grantees?
The San Diego Women's Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Elderhelp of San Diego ($60,000), Serving Seniors ($60,000) and Say San Diego ($37,500), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. Together they received 59% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is The San Diego Women's Foundation?
The San Diego Women's Foundation reported $6.4M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $808K.
What does The San Diego Women's Foundation fund?
The foundation’s mission is to connect, educate, and inspire women to engage in collective philanthropy. It says it supports nonprofits across San Diego County addressing community challenges, with a focus on equity and opportunity in underserved communities. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from The San Diego Women's Foundation?
The San Diego Women's Foundation has no public application process in the sources Grantable reviewed. Check sdwomensfoundation.org for current guidelines, or contact the foundation directly before submitting a request.
What is The San Diego Women's Foundation's EIN?
The San Diego Women's Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 33-0907092. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings. Research dossier generated October 2026.
Data update history
(8)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS April 15, 2020)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS May 6, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS May 5, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS May 9, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS April 29, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS April 30, 2025)
- Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS April 28, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2024
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in The San Diego Women's Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). The San Diego Women's Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 5, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/the-san-diego-women-s-foundation-morg_89548f4b20154248ae29d5656b1a344f
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_330907092_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{The San Diego Women's Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/the-san-diego-women-s-foundation-morg_89548f4b20154248ae29d5656b1a344f},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-05. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.
Figures come from The San Diego Women's Foundation's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.
The San Diego Women's Foundation down — hundreds of funders to go?