Four staffers at Laurene Powell Jobs’ $3.5 billion climate foundation either left or were let go between the end of last year and mid-March, a significant development for a newly formed team that had just 13 members in November.
Waverley Street Foundation removed four employees from its website during that time period, based on records from the Internet Archive. Two of the four individuals have updated their LinkedIn profiles to reflect that their employment ended in March, in both cases after nine months or less at the foundation.
The former team members include well-respected climate leaders who had been hired away from peer funders by Waverley Street as the emerging climate powerhouse was building up its team. The move raises questions as to whether the still-growing, three-year-old philanthropy is already changing directions or still trying to find its footing.
All four of the staff had strategy-related roles, suggesting shifts may be already underway for a philanthropy that made its first known grants in 2020, first announced its existence in late 2021, and launched its website late last year. Despite the recent start, Waverley’s annual grantmaking already ranked among the 15 largest environmental funders in the United States in 2021.
The turnover comes as the Palo Alto, California-based grantmaker works to grow rapidly to meet Powell Jobs’ pledge to spend down the foundation’s remaining $3 billion in assets on climate action by roughly 2035. Waverley needs to nearly double its 2021 grantmaking — which totaled $125 million — in order to keep pace with that promise, a rate that could put it among the nation’s five biggest green funders.
Waverley declined a request for an interview, as the foundation’s policy is not to comment on personnel changes, according to a spokesperson.
Perhaps the best-known of the former staffers is Alison Corwin, who was hired by Waverley from the racial-justice-focused Surdna Foundation, where she spent more than a decade and was leading the environment program when recruited. Corwin, who also previously served as the board chair for Neighborhood Funders Group, was a strategy director at Waverley, according to archived pages from the foundation’s website. Another is Jorge Madrid, also a strategy director at Waverley, who earlier worked for the Energy Foundation and also spent 10 years at the Environmental Defense Fund. Two strategy associates are also no longer on staff. All four declined requests for interviews or did not respond to messages.
Someone from outside Waverley but familiar with the situation, who requested not to be identified out of concern for ongoing relationships, said all staff were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements. In addition to widespread use in the private sector, such contracts are often used by philanthropies in exit agreements, including during recent restructuring by Open Society Foundations.
Amid the departures, Waverley is still hiring. The foundation currently has two open positions on its website: head of communications and board liaison. It has posted three additional positions on LinkedIn within the past month: head of global campaigns, director of learning and chief communications officer. All but the latter are still accepting applications.
The foundation also announced last November it had hired two additional senior leaders, Dr. Lande Ajose, a former vice president and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, and Jagadha Sivan, previously of ImpactMapper, which supports evaluation for philanthropies, businesses and other institutions.
Waverley is led by Jared Blumenfeld, who left his position as California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s environmental protection secretary to head the foundation. His appointment was announced in August 2022, but he officially started at the grantmaker in September. According to LinkedIn, two of the former staffers began their tenure in August, the month before Blumenfeld was in place, and a third joined in September.
With all those involved keeping quiet, we can only speculate about the reason for the turnover. It’s hard to imagine it was related to performance, given the employees’ impressive track records and short stints at Waverley Street. At a fast-moving startup philanthropy working on a high-stakes issue, a disagreement or a shift over strategic direction seems more likely. That’s sometimes the case when a philanthropic professional leaves after a relatively short stint; it could also signal some kind of tension or change of heart among leadership.
“It suggests to me there is some conflict going on at the management level,” said Stanley Katz, a Princeton historian whose focus is philanthropy, when asked about the departures, while noting that he had no inside knowledge of the situation. “They were building a staff from scratch, and they’re experienced people, and how often do you let go of so many people all at once?”
Given Powell Jobs’ extensive philanthropic footprint, it’s also theoretically possible these staffers could land at one of her other ventures, though no sources suggested that possibility to IP. Her primary giving vehicle is the Emerson Collective, an LLC that spans grantmaking and investing, as well running its own fellowship programs, and whose funding spans more than a half-dozen issues, including immigration, health and education. It does not disclose how much money it is moving, but is believed to rank among the nation’s largest philanthropies. The donor also has other projects, such as Earth Alliance, a joint effort with actor Leonardo DiCaprio and investor Brian Sheth.
Waverley is also still announcing grants. The foundation recently publicized a slate of grants to what it calls “climate hubs,” with funds going primarily to environmental justice organizations and universities, particularly those serving Black, Hispanic and Tribal communities. Grantees include the Bullard Center for Environmental Justice at Texas Southern University ($5 million) and a joint project by City University of New York and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance ($4 million over two years).
Powell Jobs is still keeping a busy schedule, and not just through her philanthropy. She, along with other family, friends and colleagues of her late husband Steve Jobs, have compiled a “memoir” of the tech icon that will be released for free next month. And last month, she met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, alongside a journalist and editor from The Atlantic magazine, which she owns.
The former natural foods entrepreneur and her family control a fortune that’s said to be between $11 billion and $13 billion, but she told the New York Times in 2020 that their wealth “ends with me.”
We’ll be watching closely for any new developments at Waverley Street, which remains on track to be one of the most powerful climate funders in the country. If you have any insights or tips, email michaelk@insidephilanthropy.com.
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