Carmen Rojas

Carmen Rojas’s philanthropic mantra is “If not now, when?” Rojas, who leads the Marguerite Casey Foundation (MCF), made waves in 2025 by challenging foundations to stop hoarding their endowment funds. The daughter of a Venezuelan union truck driver father and a Nicaraguan bank worker mother, she encouraged her fellow grant makers to move money “like it's our only job," in response to federal funding cuts and threats to nonprofits. 

 MCF, which focuses on supporting grassroots groups and defending democracy, also walked the talk, committing to raise its own annual grant making from around $30 million most years to $130 million in 2025. Meeting the moment required the foundation to draw from its endowment, a rarity in a sector where most foundations stay within the legally required 5% annual payout of their assets.

The foundation prioritized donating to groups on the frontlines—nonprofits that offer immigrants safety and services and those that support journalism, as well as tenant unions that address housing concerns and community organizations that are committed to fighting for racial and economic justice. It gifted funds to existing and new nonprofit partners.

Rojas notes the foundation’s endowment didn’t even take much of a hit: MCF started January 2025 with $870 million and ended the year with well above $800 million, the foundation says. It’s proof, Rojas says, that foundations can make strategic, values-aligned investments, serve communities in crisis, and still maintain their own financial security.