Code of Conduct

Board and Staff of the Surdna Foundation are committed to being responsible, transparent and accountable stewards of the public trust. We are committed to fulfilling our mission with personal and professional integrity – working with colleagues in supportive and fair relationships, avoiding conflicts of interest and complying with the spirit and letter of applicable laws. We recognize and act upon our obligations to multiple stakeholders: the donor and the donor’s family, grantees and grantseekers, the public and governmental bodies.

The Foundation has established the following to support ethical conduct:

Responsible Stewardship

We manage our funds responsibly and prudently. We make it a priority to: spend appropriately on administrative expenses to ensure efficient internal operational capacity; compensate staff, and any others, reasonably and appropriately; prudently draw from endowment funds consistent with donor intent and to support the public purpose of the Foundation; ensure that all spending practices and policies are fair, reasonable, and appropriate to fulfill the mission of the Foundation; and ensure that all financial reports are factually accurate and complete in all material respects.

Whistleblower Policy

The Foundation’s Directors, Officers and Staff comply with the laws and regulations applicable to private foundations and faithfully implement the Foundation’s own policies and procedures—particularly regarding matters that affect the Foundation’s finances, audits and governance.

For these purposes, Directors, Officers, and Staff have the responsibility to report any circumstance that they have actual knowledge of or a reasonable good faith belief that the Foundation’s internal controls, auditing function, accounting systems, or governance policies are compromised or threatened.

Conflict of Interest Policy

We acknowledge that due to the privilege of tax exemption, we have an obligation to adhere to the highest ethical standards and must continually earn the “public trust.” We also acknowledge allegiance to the values of John E. Andrus, a man of high ethical standards. We want to avoid any conflicts of interest in grantmaking and business operations. Just as importantly, we want to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest.