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Segal Family Foundation Inc

Annual Giving
$15.0M
Grant Range
$5K - $0.3M

Segal Family Foundation Inc

Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: $15 million (2024-2026 average)
  • Success Rate: Not publicly available (referral-based system)
  • Decision Time: Not specified (referral and review process varies)
  • Grant Range: $5,000 - $250,000 (first-time grants typically $10,000-$40,000)
  • Geographic Focus: Sub-Saharan Africa (specifically East Africa: Burundi, Eastern DRC, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe)
  • Total Grants Distributed: 3,000+ grants since 2006
  • Current Partners: 385 organizations across 20 African countries (80% African-led)
  • Awards in 2023: 178 grants

Contact Details

Address:
67 Mountain Boulevard, Suite 201
Warren, NJ 07059

Phone: (908) 279-7881

Website: www.segalfamilyfoundation.org

Contact Form: Available at segalfamilyfoundation.org/contact-us

Key Staff:

  • Andy Bryant, Executive Director
  • Martin Segal, Managing Director and Board Chair
  • Katherine Anderson, Director of Operations

Overview

The Segal Family Foundation was founded in 2004 by Barry Segal, former CEO and founder of BradCo Supply, after a visit to Rwanda inspired him to address the lack of opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sadly, Barry passed away in 2025. The foundation has grown to become the second-largest U.S. grantmaker in Sub-Saharan Africa by number of grants given, according to the Council on Foundations' 2022 report. With net assets of approximately $86.8 million (2023), the foundation distributed 178 grants totaling $5.1 million in 2023. Operating with a fully African grantmaking team—a rarity in the philanthropic sector—the foundation has restructured operations to reflect its commitment to locally-led development, with 70% African-based staff versus 30% U.S.-based personnel. The foundation is recognized as a leader in trust-based philanthropy, providing almost entirely unrestricted, multi-year funding with streamlined reporting requirements to support social justice in East Africa.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

Core Grantmaking ($5,000 - $250,000)

  • First-time grants typically range from $10,000-$40,000
  • Multi-year unrestricted grants averaging $50,000 annually
  • Unrestricted grants ranging from $20,000-$75,000 per year
  • Rolling consideration through referral network (no fixed deadlines)
  • Support generally capped at 20%-30% of an established organization's budget

African Visionary Fellowship (Variable amounts)

  • Two-year training fellowship for stellar leaders from existing grantee partners
  • Only open to current grantees who have completed at least one full grant cycle
  • Includes capacity grants, conference stipends, in-person convenings, and consultation support
  • Provides fundraising platform access (Philantropia) and $500 stipends for organizational development
  • Example impact: Our Sisters Opportunity (Rwanda) reported a 65% budget increase during the first year of fellowship due to referrals

Social Impact Incubator (Program concluded in 2022, may be revived)

  • Historical program ran from 2013-2022 in Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Kenya
  • Provided training sessions, capacity grants, practical learning, mentoring, and coaching
  • May be revived as need dictates in the future

Additional Recognition Programs:

  • Angel for Africa awards (leadership recognition)
  • Systems Innovators designation
  • Luminary Circle (celebrates most successful partners)

Priority Areas

The foundation focuses on six key outcomes:

  1. Child and Family Opportunities - Supporting programs that enhance well-being of children and families
  2. Youth Employment - Creating pathways for young people to enter the workforce
  3. Quality Education - Expanding access to effective educational opportunities
  4. Health Equity - Addressing healthcare disparities and improving health outcomes
  5. Community-Driven Development - Supporting locally-led initiatives that strengthen communities
  6. Inclusive Futures for Marginalized Populations - Advancing equity for underserved groups

Organizational Focus:

  • Early-stage organizations with budgets under $500,000
  • Locally-led entities where decision-makers hail from the country in which they operate
  • Organizations with presence in the communities they serve
  • Groups working on poverty, hunger, health, education, environment, and gender equity

What They Don't Fund

  • Individuals - Only organizations are eligible for funding
  • New Organization Creation - They do not provide funding to create new organizations; must be existing entities
  • Organizations Outside Geographic Focus - Only consider organizations operating in: Burundi, Eastern DRC, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
  • Majority of Budget Support - Support is generally capped at 20%-30% of an organization's budget to ensure diverse funding streams
  • Religious/Evangelical Purposes - Does not fund projects primarily benefiting congregation members or for evangelical purposes

Governance and Leadership

Board of Trustees

Martin Segal - Board Chair and Managing Director

  • Real estate investor who manages the endowment and oversees impact investments
  • Grandson of founder Barry Segal
  • Quote: "A world where development is steered by grassroots leaders and power is shifted into the hands of communities."

Janis Simon

  • Barry Segal's daughter
  • Serves on Nyaka advisory board and SFF development committee

Richard Segal

  • Barry Segal's son
  • Advisor for Powering Potential, a SFF partner

Sue Davis

  • Former president and CEO of BRAC USA
  • Co-founded BRAC USA to advance the global mission of BRAC, described as "the world's largest nonprofit"

Advisory Committee

Dolly Segal - Met Barry Segal on the tennis court in 2005; described as his "doubles partner ever since"

Evelyn Omala - Over a decade of experience in nonprofit and philanthropic sectors; Manager for Africa Local Leaders Portfolio at Partners for Equity

Isabelle Kamariza - President and founder of Solid'Africa; award-winning approach to healthcare and nutrition security in Rwanda

Jason Segal - MBA candidate at Columbia Business School; previously worked in residential real estate development; Barry Segal's grandson

Julius Mbeya - Co-CEO of Lwala Community Alliance; 2018 recipient of SFF's Angel for Africa Award

Kristen Segal - Long-time supporter since foundation's inception; committed to fostering meaningful connections among partners

Matthew Simon - Deputy litigation director at Center for Science in the Public Interest; focuses on consumer class actions; Barry Segal's grandson

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka - International model and founder of Malaika; educates and empowers girls and communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Solomon King Benge - Founder of Fundi Bots; passionate about education, design, business, and technology

Organizational Structure

Since 2016, SFF has invited longer-term and more established grantees, as well as former programmatic staff members, to serve as board members. Grantee board members are selected based on the mentorship they provide to their wider communities and their abilities to collaborate. This structure ensures that those who have lived or worked in target communities bring nuanced understanding to inform the foundation's strategy development and key decisions.

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

The Segal Family Foundation does not have a public application process. The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals and does not have open applications. Instead, all grant recipients are identified through a trusted network of referrals across Africa.

Referral Network Process: The foundation employs a community-driven, participatory grantmaking approach that engages local references and experts in sourcing and screening partners. Partner identification sources include:

  • Current and luminary partners with established trust
  • Local NGO consortiums and community platforms
  • Fellowship and peer networks
  • Civil society and NGO contacts
  • Peer funders and their incubator programs
  • Embassy contacts administering small-scale initiatives

For Those Wishing to Refer an Organization: If you know of an organization that might be a good fit, you can send information about the organization through their contact form. However, important caveats apply:

  • Do NOT connect the foundation directly to the organization
  • The foundation is a small team and cannot commit to specific timelines
  • Referrals do not guarantee funding
  • Country-based teams in East, southern, and francophone West Africa identify prospective partners through these referral networks and ecosystem scouting

Selection Criteria: The foundation uses "visionary criteria" to identify new partners, focusing on:

  • Locally-led organizations where decision-makers are from the communities they serve
  • Early-stage organizations with budgets under $500,000
  • Organizations demonstrating bold visions for community transformation
  • Entities with presence in the communities they serve

Getting on Their Radar

Build Relationships with Current Partners: The foundation's FAQ explicitly states that existing partners can introduce promising organizations, though they request such introductions be made indirectly. Organizations introduced by trusted partners receive consideration as part of the referral network.

Engage in Regional Networks: The foundation actively participates in:

  • Local NGO consortiums and community platforms in East, southern, and francophone West Africa
  • Fellowship and peer networks
  • Civil society forums

Demonstrate Alignment with Their Values:

  • Operate with locally-led decision-making
  • Show commitment to community-driven solutions
  • Focus on early-stage innovation with budgets under $500,000
  • Work in one of their priority outcome areas
  • Operate in their geographic focus countries

Decision Timeline

Not Specified: The foundation does not publish specific decision timelines. As they note in their FAQ, they cannot commit to timelines even when organizations are referred to them. The process is rolling and depends on:

  • Program Officers in regional hubs developing and executing grantmaking strategies
  • Referral strength and fit with current priorities
  • Available resources and capacity

Multi-Year Support: Once partnerships are established, the foundation provides multi-year unrestricted grants with streamlined renewal processes. During the pandemic, SFF automatically renewed grant commitments to all grantee partners in good standing, often with a simple email, without requiring additional reports for the renewed funding cycle.

Success Rates

Not Publicly Available: Because the foundation operates through a referral-based system rather than open applications, traditional success rate metrics are not applicable. The foundation notes: "We are not limited by the number of exemplary visionaries across Africa but by our own time and resource limitations."

Volume Data:

  • 178 awards in 2023
  • 253 awards in 2022
  • 328 awards in 2021
  • 265 awards in 2020
  • Average grant size: $28,933 (historical); moving toward $50,000 average (2024-2026)

Reapplication Policy

Not Applicable: Since there is no application process, there is no formal reapplication policy. However, the foundation emphasizes:

  • Multi-year partnerships with existing grantees
  • Automatic renewal for partners in good standing
  • Flexibility during grant periods to pivot focus without impacting renewal decisions
  • Access to African Visionary Fellowship for stellar partners who complete at least one full grant cycle

Application Success Factors

Since the Segal Family Foundation does not accept applications but works through referrals, success in securing funding depends on different factors than traditional grantmaking:

Relationship Building with Trusted Partners

Organizations that gain funding typically come recommended by the foundation's existing network of current partners, luminary partners, local NGO consortiums, fellowship networks, peer funders, or embassy contacts. Building authentic relationships within the East African civil society ecosystem is essential.

Local Leadership and Community Presence

The foundation's entire grantmaking team is African, and they prioritize organizations where "decision-makers should hail from the country in which they operate." They explicitly seek locally-led entities with presence in the communities they serve. Former in-country program officer Eve Omala stated: "Segal gave me the freedom to learn, innovate, and even fail."

Early-Stage Innovation with Bold Vision

The foundation targets organizations with budgets under $500,000 that demonstrate "visionary criteria." They look for leaders with big visions working on contextual and sustainable solutions to local challenges. Their philosophy centers on the belief that "stellar individuals leading exemplary organizations are best placed to devise contextual and sustainable solutions to local challenges."

Alignment with Trust-Based Principles

The foundation emphasizes that "partners working on the ground are the experts on the issues they are working to address, and they are best placed to determine how they use their funding." Organizations that can demonstrate capacity to use unrestricted funding strategically, with the flexibility to pivot as community needs change, align well with their model.

Demonstrated Community Impact

The foundation learned that "targeted capacity interventions can have an outsized impact in nurturing early-staged organizations." They look for organizations showing measurable community impact, even if early-stage. Success stories like Lwala (which experienced a 17-fold budget increase) demonstrate the type of trajectory they seek to support.

Organizational Sustainability Planning

While providing unrestricted funding, the foundation caps support at 20%-30% of an organization's budget to ensure partners maintain diverse donor networks. Organizations should demonstrate plans for building sustainable funding streams from multiple sources.

Geographic and Thematic Fit

Organizations must operate in one of their target countries (Burundi, Eastern DRC, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe) and align with their six key outcomes: child/family opportunities, youth employment, quality education, health equity, community-driven development, or inclusive futures for marginalized populations.

Specific Examples of Funded Work

Our Sisters Opportunity (Rwanda): Provides education and economic empowerment pathways in its home village. Founder Delphine Uwamahoro, an African Visionary Fellow, reported: "Our organizational budget increased by 65% during the first year of the fellowship due to the referrals made."

Lwala Community Alliance: Co-CEO Julius Mbeya (2018 Angel for Africa Award recipient) led the organization through tremendous growth—experiencing a 17-fold budget increase, according to former director of operations Ash Rogers.

Recent 2023 Grantees Include:

  • African Visionary Fund ($100,000)
  • Anza Tech ($106,000)
  • Bless a Child Foundation ($51,100)
  • FOCCAD ($65,000)
  • FVS Amade ($75,000)
  • Glami ($75,000)
  • Imbuto ($100,000)

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • No Direct Application Process: This foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. The only pathway to funding is through referrals from their trusted network of current partners, local NGO consortiums, fellowship networks, peer funders, or embassy contacts in Sub-Saharan Africa.

  • Relationship Building is Essential: Focus on building authentic relationships with the foundation's existing 385 partners across 20 African countries, particularly those in East Africa. Partnerships can lead to introductions, though these must be made indirectly—never ask to be connected directly to the foundation.

  • Local Leadership is Non-Negotiable: The foundation requires that decision-makers "hail from the country in which they operate." With a 100% African grantmaking team, they prioritize locally-led organizations with deep community presence. International NGOs or organizations with external leadership are unlikely to fit their model.

  • Think Long-Term Partnership, Not One-Off Grants: The foundation provides multi-year unrestricted funding with streamlined reporting and automatic renewal for partners in good standing. They seek organizations ready for sustained partnership focused on community-driven solutions rather than short-term project funding.

  • Early-Stage Budget Sweet Spot: Target organizations have budgets under $500,000, with first-time grants typically $10,000-$40,000 and ongoing support averaging $50,000 annually. If your budget exceeds this range, you may not fit their early-stage focus.

  • Unrestricted Funding Philosophy: The foundation provides flexible, unrestricted funding, trusting partners to allocate resources according to organizational needs. Organizations must be comfortable with this autonomy and able to demonstrate strategic use of flexible funding. They streamlined reporting during the pandemic, allowing grantees to deprioritize agreed-upon milestones when pivoting to urgent community needs.

  • Geographic Limitations: Only organizations operating in Burundi, Eastern DRC, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, or Zimbabwe are eligible. Organizations working in other African countries or outside Africa should not pursue this funder.

  • Future Opportunities for Current Partners: If you become a grantee and complete at least one full grant cycle successfully, you may be eligible for the competitive African Visionary Fellowship—a two-year program offering capacity grants, conference stipends, convenings, consultation support, and connections that have helped partners increase budgets by 65% or more.

References

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