Retired attorney Jim Lauer characterizes his philanthropy through San Diego Foundation that is focused on education and youth as “a drop of water in a very big ocean.”
The homeless high school student who was living in his car and taking showers at the beach, yet was able to enroll at a top-flight university with the help of the Jim’s Lauer Scholarship Fund, might feel differently.
“It would be a shame for some smart, accomplished kid, to be prevented from going to college just because they could not afford it,” Jim says. “That just doesn’t sit right with me.”
Jim Lauer embodies the best of SDF, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary through the Fifty & Forward Campaign, an effort that will grant $500 million to realize our region’s greatest opportunities in three areas: education; children and families; and the environment – while raising $1 billion to help shape a better future for San Diego.
Jim is doing his part. The former Barrio Logan College Institute (BLCI) Executive Board member has been an SDF fundholder since 2002. Among the numerous organizations he supports, in addition to BLCI, are: Feeding San Diego, Coastal Roots Farm, Casa de Amparo, the Harlem Children’s Zone and Just in Time for Foster Youth.
He doesn’t just write a check.
“He’s interested in learning how we do what we do and why we do it,” says Ali Colbran, Feeding San Diego’s senior director of development.
Setting an Example
Born and raised in the San Bernardino County town of Redlands, Jim learned at an early age about the value of giving back. His grandmother tutored children at a low-income elementary school and his mother was a selfless volunteer and donated to various causes.
After earning a business administration degree from the University of Southern California and his Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law in San Diego, Jim set out as a prosecutor with the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office and later landed positions with the House Judiciary Committee, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the FDIC in Washington, DC. After returning to Southern California, then-Presiding San Diego Juvenile Court Judge James Milliken appointed him to serve as a juvenile court Pro Tem Referee, which he did in addition to his private law practice.
“It involved hearing difficult cases, but I absolutely loved the work and found it fascinating,” says Jim, who moved to San Diego in 1999.
It was an eye-opening experience and led directly to his philanthropic focus on the too-often ignored factors behind so many juvenile offenses – poverty, substandard education, and a lack of support. That’s because so many of those caught up in the juvenile justice system are foster youth.
It should be no mystery as to why.
According to San Diego-based Promises2Kids, 61% of children entering the foster care system experience developmental delays, compared to a general population average of 4 to 10%. More than 1 in 3 former foster youth will be homeless during their first two years after leaving the foster care system, 47% of youth leaving foster care are unemployed, and just 4% of former foster youth secure a bachelor’s degree by age 26.
“A lot of what I did in juvenile court impacted what I’m doing in philanthropy,” says Jim. “It grew my interest in foster kids and what happens to them when they leave the foster care system. I saw children who were struggling in different ways, and I felt I needed to get involved.”
Food Insecurity
Fighting childhood hunger is also among Jim’s passions. And he’s making a difference.
“Jim was instrumental in helping to launch programs at Feeding San Diego, specifically after-school and summer meal programs,” Colbran says. “His seed funding has allowed us to expand and grow those programs, which have enabled us to serve hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of meals since their inception. He’s just made a huge difference in making sure kids have access to food. He believes it is a basic human right.”
He also believes in staying out of the way.
“I don’t want to micromanage these organizations,” says Jim. “I give grants and expect them to use the funds wisely. If I tell them you can only use it for X or only spend it on Y, it really handcuffs the organization. It may not allow them to effectively utilize the funds.”
Why SDF?
“San Diego County is the second largest county in the state and there are a lot of nonprofits here,” Jim shares. “I find it very helpful to have SDF guide me in this process. It is useful to have their input in assisting me in deciding which organizations I should recommend for a grant from my donor-advised fund.
“You can always read about an organization or look at their website, but I find it more beneficial to visit the nonprofit in person and to talk to the people running it. It helps me to see first-hand what they are doing,” he adds. “The foundation is critical in making these connections.”
If you’re inspired by Jim’s story, or other stories of generosity, you too can join the Fifty & Forward Campaign. Whether through an endowment, donor-advised fund, planned gift, or online donation, support our efforts in a way that makes the most sense to you.
Let’s take the past 50 years of investment and impact into the next 50 years of possibility and promise.
