# The Cleveland Foundation

> The Cleveland Foundation is a VC fund backing Non Profit and Charity. See 42 investments, round sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Sep 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Cleveland, United States
- Total investments: 42
- Last investment: Nov 2022
- Lead investor: 95%
- Last updated: Sep 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleveland-foundation
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/CleveFoundation
- Website: http://clevelandfoundation.org
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/clevelandfoundation

The Cleveland Foundation is a VC fund in Cleveland focused on Non Profit and Charity. Established in 1914, the Cleveland Foundation is the world's first community foundation and the nation’s third-largest today, with assets of $1.8 billion.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for The Cleveland Foundation. Shizune tracks 3 team members at The Cleveland Foundation. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/the-cleveland-foundation?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Non Profit | 31 | 74% |
| Charity | 15 | 36% |
| Communities | 12 | 29% |
| Education | 7 | 17% |
| Wellness | 3 | 7% |

35 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grant | 41 | 98% |
| Pre-Seed | 1 | 2% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fredrick Harris Goff | Founder | 0 | — |
| Leta Obertacz | Senior Vice President for Advancement | 0 | — |
| Ronald B. Richard | President & CEO | 1 | — |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Signal Cleveland | Signal Cleveland offers community members access to the news they require. It publishes authoritative, trustworthy daily journalism on a variety of topics, such as government, economy, education, health, safety, and resilience. Their website is chock-full of explainers and guides to help Cleveland residents navigate life in the city, and it servesas a growing civic tool for the city. | $7.5M | Grant | Nov 15, 2022 |  |
| Bessie’s Angels | Bessie’s Angels is a nonprofit organization, with a mission to nurture, empower, educate and to provide low-income housing to young women touched by the foster care system. | $25K | Grant | May 02, 2022 |  |
| Black Environmental Leaders | Black Environmental Leaders Association is a tax-exempt 501 (c)(3) organization. Black Environmental Leaders Association (BEL) are aligned as stewards of the natural and built environment through collaboration and partnership, to raise awareness and advocate for environmental and economic justice. | $25K | Grant | May 02, 2022 |  |
| National Basketball Retired Players Association | National Basketball Retired Players Association is a non-profit association comprised of former professional basketball players of the NBA, ABA, WNBA, and Harlem Globetrotters. | $25K | Grant | May 02, 2022 |  |
| Daughters of Hadassah House | Daughters of Hadassah House operates as a non-profit charitable organization. | $25K | Grant | May 02, 2022 |  |
| Enlightened Solutions | Enlightened Solutions is a research and advocacy firm that specializes in individual equity, and organizational change. | $50K | Grant | May 02, 2022 |  |
| Youth Empowering Society | Youth Empowering Society is an innovative, creative, and cutting edge 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that exists to organize, primarily through the vehicles of educational programs and housing services, a positive, enriching environment contributing to an improved quality of life for our underserved communities. | $25K | Grant | May 02, 2022 |  |
| Thea Bowman Center | Thea Bowman Center is a non-profit organization. They specialize in providing food support, children’s programs, and adult education. Their services include a food pantry, meals, adult computer classes, children’s learning activities, summer youth camp, and emergency help to individuals by appointment. | $50K | Grant | May 02, 2022 |  |
| New Life Community Development Corp. | New Life Community Development Corp. create communities that are conducive to sustainable economic growth where the dollar circulates through the community multiple times with residents having increased levels of educational attainment, home ownership, business ownership, and increased levels of health and fitness. | $25K | Grant | May 02, 2022 |  |
| Contractors Assistance Association | Contractors Assistance Association is to strengthen contracting, education and employment opportunities among minorities and women in construction. | $25K | Grant | May 02, 2022 |  |

10 of 42 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [American Journalism Project](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/american-journalism-project) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Knight Foundation](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/knight-foundation) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- Saint Luke's Foundation — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- the Center for Community Solutions — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- the Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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## FAQ

### What does The Cleveland Foundation invest in?

The Cleveland Foundation invests primarily in Non Profit, Charity and Communities startups, most often at Grant and Pre-Seed stage. Most of the 42 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### How do I contact The Cleveland Foundation?

Public channels for The Cleveland Foundation include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at The Cleveland Foundation?

The team at The Cleveland Foundation includes Fredrick Harris Goff (Founder), Leta Obertacz (Senior Vice President for Advancement) and Ronald B. Richard (President & CEO). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Sep 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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