Vanguard Public Foundation
| Founded | 1972 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Peter Stern |
| Dissolved | 2011 |
| 94-2369262 | |
| Focus | Social justice |
| Location |
|
| Services | Grantmaking |
| Mission | Vanguard Public Foundation strives to eradicate racism in all its manifestations and promote civil rights, economic justice, gender equality and community empowerment. |
| Website | www.vanguardsf.org at the Wayback Machine (archived May 13, 2009) |
Vanguard Public Foundation was an American social justice foundation focused on providing grants to social justice nonprofits. One of the first of the "rich kid foundations," Vanguard was a model for a new generation's philanthropy. Vanguard rose as a leader among some two dozen new progressive foundations that comprised a network called the Funding Exchange.
The Vanguard Public Foundation established in 1972 by a group of inheritors of corporate fortunes, including Peter Stern and members of the Pillsbury and du Pont families. who were devoted to supporting a progressive social and political agenda.
In 2002, Samuel "Mouli" Cohen was introduced to Vanguard CEO Hari Dillon by actor Danny Glover. Mouli said he would help the foundation by allowing Vanguard and its donors with buying shares in the privately owned Ecast, Inc.. Dillon and Glover formed general partnerships through which they thought they had purchased several million dollars' worth of Ecast. At least three partnerships with Hari Dillon's Dillon Group, and an additional one with Glover, were used as vehicles to funnel investments from Vanguard Public Foundation donors to a deal with Mouli. The Vanguard donors ultimately put in over $20 million more in philanthropic money and personal investment cash.
Mouli stated that Ecast was to be acquired by Microsoft, which would then generate a significant return on investment, as high as 1000%. The Microsoft acquisition reportedly got delayed over EU rules, which generated a need for more fees to cover transaction costs. It was further delayed when reports that Ecast was considering a competing bid from Google. Ultimately, there was no Microsoft purchase, no Google bid, and the money was fraudulently taken by Cohen. Further, as reported by American Greed, a show on CNBC, Cohen had already been forced out of Ecast and was no longer affiliated with the company by the time he had become involved with Dillon.
Vanguard was forced to close in 2011 as a result of the fraud. Cohen and Dillon were later successfully prosecuted, with Dillon pleading guilty, for their role in the scandal.
...
Wikipedia