Steven Cole-Schwartz

As vice president of grantmaking at Inatai Foundation, a 501(c)(4) grantmaking organization that is committed in its bones to transforming the balance of power in Washington, Steven oversees the foundation’s grantmaking processes, practices, and systems—as well as more than $40 million of annual grants across its core grantmaking funds. He is a member of Inatai’s executive team.

Steven joined Inatai (then, Group Health Foundation) in the summer of 2019 to build the foundation’s first grantmaking team and to define Inatai’s grantmaking program, through which the organization provides support to organizations that share our vision of a more racially just, equitable world. Four years later, Steven leads a team of 16 people, who are collectively responsible for the organization’s grantmaking operations and grants management systems, for program management, and for building enduring relationships with the 500 community organizations that Inatai’s grants support each year. He partners closely with the Inatai Investment Management Company to develop the foundation’s Program Related Investments portfolio, through which Inatai will deploy even more resources in support of community power in Washington and beyond.

Steven is nationally recognized for moving philanthropy toward greater investment in organizing, multi-racial independent political power, and voter engagement efforts led by community-based organizations. He is particularly committed to supporting community leaders in becoming increasingly influential advocates and changemakers.

Prior to joining Inatai, Steven served as the founding executive director of The Partnership Funds, a national funder collaborative dedicated to winning accountable, multi-racial political power in states around the country. Steven has built and owned his own small business, consulting for philanthropies, donors, and labor unions. He served as a senior leader at the Tides family of organizations and was an early staff member at Ballot Initiative Strategy Center.

Steven serves on the Board of the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, an organization that supports donors to move money efficiently to leaders and organizations on the frontlines of social change. He is past co-chair of the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation, a membership organization committed to voter engagement and community participation in policy advocacy and elections. He served on the governing board of the Alliance for Youth Organizing and was a founding board member of the Ohio Transformation Fund, among other grantmaking collaborations.
Steven grew up outside of Minneapolis, MN. He went to college in Omaha, NE, where he learned some of his most formative lessons about organizing, politics, and his queer community. After doing some political campaign work, Steven settled down in Washington DC for 15 years, where he met his husband. He and Michael now live in Seattle as guests on the homelands of the Duwamish and Suquamish people.