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Non-profit

Resources Legacy Fund

Website:

resourceslegacyfund.org/
Location:

SACRAMENTO, CA
Tax ID:

95-4703838
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2023):

Revenue: $131,040,478
Expenses: $85,936,667
Assets: $174,728,294
Type:

Land conservation group
Formation:

2000
President:

Matt Armsby (Interim president)

Phil Ginsburg (future president, starts January 2026)

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

Resources Legacy Fund (RLF) is a grantmaking conservation group that advocates for increased protections for California coastal territories. The RLF also promotes left-of-center policies towards environmental causes. 1

RLF was founded in 2000 through funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. 1 It has also received donations from several grantmaking organizations such as the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Walton Family Foundation. 2 3

As of 2022, RLF claims to have generated $30 billion in government funding for public lands and to have protected over five million acres of land. 1

Background

In the 1990s, Jeanne Sedgwick, the conservation program director at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, asked Michael Mantell, the undersecretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, to increase support for coastal Californian land protection. Mantell soon left the agency and began working with Sedgwick. In 1998, with financial support from David Packard, they launched the Conserving California Landscapes Initiative, a five-year program designed to protect 250,000 acres of coastline. 1

In 2000, Sedgwick and Mantell consolidated their effort into two independent but linked organizations: the Resources Legacy Fund (RLF) and the Resources Law Group. 1

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Resource Legacy Fund (RLF) explicitly prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles in its grantmaking process “by directing funds to those who have been marginalized” historically. 4 RLF’s website states that “Modern society is built, in part, on a foundation of elitism, racism, sexism, ageism, and other forms of oppression” and therefore, “Advancing DEI is a moral imperative and essential to our mission.” 5

In 2019, RLF launched an initiative to increase its commitment to DEI. Since then, its staff and board have gone through “trainings covering topics such as implicit bias, anti-racism, cultural humility, and the history of the conservation movement, which has been marred by exclusion and racism” 6

Partner Organizations

Resources Legacy Fund (RLF) lists three partner organizations. The Resources Law Group is an environmentalist law group established as an offshoot of RLF. Fund for a Better Future is a left-of-center grantmaker that funds advocacy groups and lobbyists that promote environmentalism and oppose Republicans. The Shared Ascent Fund is a left-wing grantmaking group primarily focused on “advancing economic, racial, and gender equity.” 7 The Shared Ascent Fund, Fund for a Better Future, and RLF are all led by Avi Garbow. 8 9

Activities

Public Health Alliance Project

Resources Legacy Fund (RLF) has financed a project by the Public Health Alliance of Southern California to develop a “Green Infrastructure, Climate Resilience, and Health Equity Policy Agenda” at the local, state, and federal levels. The agenda primarily consists of promoting environmentalist infrastructure projects (like rainwater collection) with an emphasis on supporting minority communities, particularly indigenous groups. 10 11

Funding

In 2020, the Resources Legacy Fund (RLF) earned $37,185,698 in revenue, almost $32 million of which came from grants. 12

RLF has received funding from left-of-center organizations including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 2 Arnold Ventures, 13 the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, 1 the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, 14 and the Walton Family Foundation. 3

Leadership

In September 2025, it was announced that Phil Ginsburg, the general manager for the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, would step down from his role with the Department to serve as president of the Resources Legacy Fund (RLF) as well as its partner groups Fund for a Better Future and the Shared Ascent Fund. He will begin the new role in January 2026. 15

Matt Armsby is the interim president for RLF as of September 2025, serving in the role until Phil Ginsburg takes over in January 2026. Prior to RLF, Armsby was an environmental law and policy fellow as well as clinical attorney for Stanford Law School’s Environmental Law Clinic as well as an Early Career Legal Fellow at the Center for Ocean Solutions. 16 15

Avi Garbow was the former president of the Resources Legacy Fund, as well as its partner groups Fund for a Better Future and the Shared Ascent Fund. Garbow became president in 2021, succeeding Michael Mantell, the co-founder of RLF who had run the group since 2000. 17 Garbow stepped down from his position in November 2024 with Armsby taking over the role as Interim President. 18 Garbow had previously worked as an environmental advocate for clothing company Patagonia. Prior to this, Garbow served as senior counselor to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Biden Administration, the general counsel of the EPA under then-President Barack Obama, and as a federal environmental crimes prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice. 8

Controversy

In an op-ed at the left-wing Daily Kos, Dan Bacher criticized the Resources Legacy Fund for successfully backing the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), a bill in California which supposedly put a significant portion of the California coastline under environmental protection. According to Bacher, the protected areas only prohibit fishing, and do not prohibit “offshore oil and gas drilling, environmentally destructive energy projects, military testing, pollution by corporations and cities.” Bacher attributes the passage of the MLPA to Nancy Vogel, the communications director of the RLF, who has a long history with the California government, including serving as deputy secretary for communications at the California Natural Resources Agency from 2015 through 2017, and assistant director for communications at the Department of Water Resources from 2012 through 2015. 19

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation gave more than $8 million to the RLF to support its efforts to push the passage of the MLPA. 14

References

  1. “The RLF Story.” Resources Legacy Fund. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://resourceslegacyfund.org/partner-organizations/.
  2. “Resources Legacy Fund.” Macarthur Foundation. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/resources-legacy-fund-10114587/.
  3. Bacher, Dan. “Walton Family Foundation Dumped $91.4 Million Into Greenwashing in 2012: Walmarting the Rivers and Oceans.” Truthout. December 11, 2013. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://truthout.org/articles/walmarting-the-rivers-and-oceans/.
  4. “Grantmaking.” Resources Legacy Fund. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://resourceslegacyfund.org/grantmaking/.
  5.  “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” Resources Legacy Fund. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://resourceslegacyfund.org/diversity-equity-inclusion/.
  6. “Overview of RLF’s Plan for Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” Resources Legacy Fund. 2020. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://resourceslegacyfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/RLF-DEI-plan-overview.pdf.
  7. “About Us.” Shared Ascent Fund. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://sharedascentfund.org/#About-Us.
  8. “Avi Garbow.” Resources Legacy Fund. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://resourceslegacyfund.org/our-team/.
  9. “Partner Organizations.” Resources Legacy Fund. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://resourceslegacyfund.org/partner-organizations/.
  10. “Green Infrastructure, Climate Resilience, & Health Equity.” Public Health Alliance of California. May 2022. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://phasocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Public-Health-Alliance-Green-Infrastructure-Policy-Agenda_final-May-2022.pdf.
  11. “Green Infrastructure: Advance Climate Resilience and Promote Health Equity.” Public Health Alliance of Southern California. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://www.thepublichealthalliance.org/california-green-infrastructure-and-health-equity-policy.
  12. Resources Legacy Fund. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/954703838/download990pdf_03_2022_prefixes_86-95%2F954703838_202012_990_2022030219678910.
  13. “Resources Legacy Fund.” Arnold Ventures. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://www.arnoldventures.org/grants/resources-legacy-fund-2.
  14. “The alarming ties between Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels and his faux Marine Protected Act.” Red Green and Blue. October 12, 2017. Accessed June 15, 2022. http://redgreenandblue.org/2017/10/12/alarming-ties-jerry-browns-delta-tunnels-faux-marine-protected-areas/.
  15. PR Newswire. “Potrero Group Places Phil Ginsburg as Next President of Resources Legacy Fund.” Yahoo Finance, September 23, 2025. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/potrero-group-places-phil-ginsburg-123600744.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEWYMw0ZdCgLCXEDEMxekrWQeK0fGq0axtlWmdHZggkuReFTumOI0gJDKBWIzEVR4GzMRF4jweEu-EutKkGT-MT0nkSMypAWiYxx9HNzYT8RXfPcbsdZMuO3WDMldb9qOgW05XYrICKY-GB6nBkvXx-WCt9cyKK9NGW4swaX4OBG
  16. “Our Team.” Resources Legacy Fund, accessed September 25, 2025. https://resourceslegacyfund.org/our-team/
  17. “Announcement: Resources Legacy Fund Welcomes Avi Garbow as New President.” Resources Legacy Fund. November 18, 2021. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://resourceslegacyfund.org/news/announcement-resources-legacy-fund-welcomes-avi-garbow-as-new-president/.
  18. “Avi Garbow.” LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/avi-garbow-12a36a45
  19. Bacher, Dan. “The Revolving Door from the Resources Legacy Fund to Director of Newsom’s Water Portfolio Program.” Daily Kos. May 2, 2019. Accessed June 15, 2022. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/5/2/1855004/-Nancy-Vogel-moves-from-Resources-Legacy-Fund-to-Director-of-Water-Portfolio-Program.
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: December 1, 1998

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2023 Dec Form 990 $131,040,478 $85,936,667 $174,728,294 $13,363,409 N $122,194,661 $1,981,894 $4,023,462 $1,506,244
    2022 Dec Form 990 $88,915,279 $90,017,805 $121,669,997 $8,067,947 N $87,162,278 $1,900,315 $1,782,972 $2,101,866
    2021 Dec Form 990 $84,084,998 $63,195,737 $131,343,495 $9,404,411 N $79,516,309 $1,441,201 $1,357,137 $1,602,617
    2020 Dec Form 990 $37,185,698 $52,971,056 $108,829,932 $10,246,906 N $31,625,799 $1,589,677 $1,916,676 $1,584,674 PDF
    2019 Dec Form 990 $46,839,654 $43,732,870 $119,775,483 $7,361,263 N $43,117,911 $757,481 $2,878,186 $2,202,795 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $53,881,281 $42,257,855 $111,513,686 $7,975,843 N $50,591,348 $361,626 $2,481,018 $1,255,464 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $48,699,055 $45,079,223 $105,688,396 $9,457,385 N $46,709,215 $112,229 $1,702,424 $1,227,226
    2016 Dec Form 990 $96,724,079 $43,480,869 $104,767,349 $7,407,450 N $96,196,546 $75,320 $452,213 $1,466,048 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $34,151,251 $27,041,225 $53,504,978 $9,469,320 N $33,718,590 $252,985 $179,676 $1,157,826 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $25,370,774 $29,078,900 $46,785,507 $9,922,302 N $25,146,258 $67,105 $156,992 $987,010 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $31,733,662 $33,189,494 $51,285,262 $11,017,214 N $31,554,634 $29,519 $149,509 $173,102 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $34,990,333 $36,116,778 $54,205,287 $12,495,964 N $34,779,223 $13,815 $197,258 $183,472 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $33,650,280 $29,305,110 $60,764,559 $17,948,264 N $33,446,600 $42,545 $161,993 $267,390 PDF
    2010 Dec Form 990 $35,512,265 $32,033,145 $60,612,444 $22,137,562 N $35,315,000 $42,562 $154,550 $175,016 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Resources Legacy Fund

    555 CAPITOL MALL STE 1095
    SACRAMENTO, CA 95814-4608