The Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation

• Published in: Catalysts for Change pp. 92 - 108
• Main Authors: Martinez-Cosio, Maria, Rabinowitz Bussell, Mirle
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2013
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Holistic Community Development; Owner Occupied Housing Units; Founding Ceo; Sunset Date; Jacobs Engineering; Price Charities; Trolley Stop; Affordable Housing; Community Development Efforts; Diamond Neighborhoods; Systems Change Theory; Broke Ground; Jacobs Family Foundation; Neighborhood Innovation; ACCION International; CCI; Defined Community Development; Comprehensive Community Initiatives; Jacobs Center; Nonprofit; Nonprofit Organization; Comprehensive Community Change; Local Community Development Activist; International Community Assistance; Social Justice Philanthropy
• ISBN: 9780415683227; 9780415683234; 0415683238; 041568322X
• DOI: 10.4324/9780203405512-9

The Jacobs Family Foundation was established in 1988. Joseph Jacobs, the family patriarch, accrued his wealth from the success of his engineering consulting firm, the Jacobs Engineering Group, which he established in 1947 in Pasadena, California, and which eventually went on to become a Fortune 500 company. After Jacobs Engineering went public, the family discussed ways to distribute its wealth and subsequently decided to establish a foundation. Jacobs relinquished control of the decision-making authority and turned the foundation over to his daughters. However, his personal beliefs and views on philanthropy have integrally shaped the direction of the foundation. A self-described compassionate conservative (Jacobs, 1996), Jacobs sought to uphold the primary principles of responsibility, respect, and empowerment at the grassroots level through his foundation's work. Joseph Jacobs was an engineer who understood the value of calculated and well-developed plans, reflected in the "Four Rs" that serve as the framework for the Jacobs Family Foundation's work: risk, respect, responsibility, and relationships. With one of Jacobs' daughters as the foundation's first executive director, the Jacobs Family Foundation had all the hallmarks of a traditional family foundation. The initial focus was conventional grant-making, and many of the first grants were awarded to international microlending organizations such as the Foundation for International Community Assistance and ACCION International.