Juliana Sprott: mother’s refugee experiences drove family’s philanthropy

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Having personal experience, meaning and history attached to one’s philanthropic venture can drive and maintain a family foundation.

“In order to have meaning, philanthropists who understand their motivation(s) and charitably align their intentions with their expectations feel satisfaction and personal fulfillment aka: meaning,” explains Bri Trypuc, Principal Advisor and Founder of Trypuc Philanthropic Office.

“When there’s misalignment, feelings of dissatisfaction arise, or that continual search for meaningful contributions. Why this is important? At the root, values drive philanthropy. These values frame key motivations and determinants for giving.”

This sense of personal experience creating meaning within philanthropic activity is at the centre of The Sprott Foundation.

Founded in 1988 by Canadian billionaire businessman Eric Sprott and his wife, Vizma, the foundation’s mission was to help address the homelessness and hunger crisis in Canada. Their daughter, Juliana Sprott, is the foundation’s Chief Giving Officer, and here she shares her family’s strength and determination through both challenging and triumphant times.

She discusses how her mother’s journey to Canada as a refugee from Latvia has influenced the foundation’s desire to bring humanity and respect to the people they help, and how the family’s trust-based approach to doing business aligns with their vision for the foundation’s future.

How did your foundation or philanthropic initiatives first come to be?

“In 1988, my parents, Eric and Vizma, decided to create The Sprott Foundation, after many years of dedicated volunteerism to causes that are important to them.

They chose homelessness and hunger as their focus areas because they strongly believe that without the fundamentals of life, all other areas in which someone can thrive and excel will not be attained. For example, if you are gifted when playing soccer, but you don’t have access to fresh, healthy food, your potential to develop your gift and attain greatness will be tough to achieve due to malnutrition.

My mother arrived in Canada with her family as refugees after the Second World War. Due to the massive disruption of that conflict, she was born in a Red Cross camp in Germany, although the family is from Latvia and her connection to the country remains strong.

They came to Canada with nothing but each other and struggled for many years to get on their feet. As a result, my mother, and by extension our whole family, takes nothing for granted and feel gratitude for every day we have together.

When it came time to focus the family’s philanthropic efforts, my mother’s guiding thought was that hope is central to a person’s journey from merely surviving to thriving, and she and my father felt strongly that good, healthy, and accessible food and housing was the critical component for people to meet their true potential.”

How have the philanthropic initiatives evolved, and what are the goals and prominent projects of your foundation today?

“In the early days of The Sprott Foundation, the style of philanthropy at the time was that donors predominantly wrote cheques and stayed in the background, often as anonymous donors. The Foundation cared deeply about the causes but were not particularly engaged with grantees. This was a symptom of the time when charities also didn’t engage much with their donors.

When I took on the job of running the Foundation, I took a course called The Philanthropy Workshop, which taught me how to collaborate and create connections with our grantees. Today, our goal is to embody the philosophy of Trust Based Philanthropy with every single grantee.

Our prominent projects focus on addressing food insecurity through innovative ideas. For example, we were one of the initial funders of a new idea from FoodShare to send a fresh food truck into food deserts so that people could buy fresh, nutritious fruits and vegetables at discounted prices. It was – and remains – a brilliant idea that shows how the entrepreneurial spirit we as a family so value can be utilized to turn charity into social action and enterprise.

When my parents first started giving to food programs, there was a societal attitude that people going to food banks should feel lucky to get anything at all. Today, we fund programs that provide nutritious food, with lots of choice for dietary needs and preferences, and centres dignity and respect for the client.

Two of the organizations that embody this and are good examples of our trust-based approach are Community Food Centres Canada and Second Harvest. When the pandemic hit, and my father wanted to get immediate help directly to people, Nick Saul and Lori Nikkel, the CEO’s at CFCC and Second Harvest respectively, immediately came to mind. Each of their organizations had been long-time grantees, had national presence, and I had very close, collegial relationships with Nick and Lori. Because of our close relationships – and their excellent track records in stewarding over $50 million collectively in donations from The Sprott Foundation over 16 years – we were able to call them with our bold idea, and they were able to run with it.

Within a week we had plans in place, our board met virtually to discuss, and we were able to deploy $20 million dollars to Second Harvest and CFCC to disburse $12 million in grocery gift cards, through their partners in almost every corner of the country, and $8 million through programming, such as hamper delivery and small grants to partner agencies for on-the-ground needs. This could not have happened without mutual trust and a solid, unwavering commitment to our mission.”

How did the next generations get involved in the philanthropic ventures, and how were they prepared for that role?

“In the mid-2000’s, following my departure from a job with an NFL team in the media department, my mother handed me a banker’s box of the Foundation records, with a hand-written cheque log, and invited me to spend some time exploring whether I wanted to take on the Foundation’s work – or if there even was a job involved in managing it. That’s when I took a course called The Philanthropy Workshop and a world of possibilities unfolded. Following that course, I explored, educated myself, networked, and began intentionally shifting the Foundation into the trust-based philanthropy model. My sister, Larisa, also took the TPW course, and strongly supported our evolution to trust-based philanthropy.

I think for our family, formalizing this style of giving was a natural evolution because we do fundamentally believe in the power of the entrepreneurial spirit. We love funding new, untested ideas that push the limits of what traditional charities have typically done – and we love risk. We believe that philanthropy should be nimble and fast, should try new things, and not be afraid to fail. That approach inherently requires trust!

In 2020 we welcomed three cousins to the Board – Sharman Learie, Lizzie McNeely, and Mark Sprott. We deliberately chose to expand the Board to family members who bring diverse perspectives and experiences to the Board. These new Board members spent a year auditing the Board meetings and taking courses, and have also participated in The Philanthropy Workshop sessions.

In addition, we will be launching a Next Generation Giving Fund next year, through which Eric and Vizma’s grandchildren, nieces and nephews can begin to experience the joy of philanthropy. Kids as young a 6 will be encouraged to participate in an annual gathering to discuss the charitable causes that are meaningful to them. The Board will then award small grants to the children’s charities of choice. By sharing the joy of giving with our children, in an intentional way, we hope to prepare them for life-long engagement in giving and supporting others.”

Did the philanthropic ventures reflect other, larger family dynamics?

“The transition from transactional to trust-based philanthropy has not been without its challenges. Inter-generational conflict in families and family foundations is well-known and we have not been immune.

The shift from casual cheque writing to intentional, impact-driven grants has taken time. We have given gifts well beyond hunger and homelessness. Over the years the family board room has evolved, and we have thought-provoking discussions, and we are able to come to consensus because we are always asking: Are we funding programs that treat people with dignity and respect, and will they be closer to achieving their potential if this initiative is supported?

We inevitably are able to answer yes, and we leave our board discussions united in knowing that The Sprott Foundation is doing our best to have a positive impact on communities.”

Do you have any advice for other families that may be looking at preparing next generations for leadership roles in the family’s philanthropy?

“I would encourage people to approach philanthropy through a lens of gratitude and appreciation for the privilege that we enjoy, rather than a place of guilt or feeling badly about the success of the family. Give to make a meaningful impact; give to improve the world; give because the cause speaks to you; and give where you are best positioned to help. Take time to study and learn best-practices, become a student of effective philanthropy, and build yourself a solid-gold reputation as a reliable, thoughtful, collaborative donor – this will encourage others to give mindfully as well.

I would also encourage that early in your journey, volunteer. Dedicate your time, energy, and expertise to causes that are meaningful to you. Volunteering is so important to charities and a great way to give back to your community and determine areas for your philanthropic contributions.”

Do you have any stories about a memorable moment in your philanthropic initiatives?

“One of the most transformative and inspirational experiences I have ever had in my philanthropic journey is when Shirley Cheechoo came into my life – I truly believe that was the universe bringing me the right person at the right time.

Shirley is the founder and director of Weengushk Film Institute on Manitoulin Island, and we met in 2008 at a gathering in Winnipeg of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who had a common interest in supporting Indigenous programs. The gathering, hosted by The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples, spanned a number of days and locations and I spent one particularly long bus ride sitting, talking, and bonding with Shirley.

It so happened that The Circle’s gathering was taking place at the same time as the Government of Canada’s apology to residential school survivors, so an arrangement was made for the gathering attendees to watch the apology together in an auditorium. Just prior to the viewing, at The Circle’s closing ceremony, Shirley gifted me a Cree spirt name that had come to her in a dream the previous night. In front of The Circle’s full attendance, in a formal ceremony she bestowed on me this honour. Before the apology viewing, this beautiful gift of trust was given to me, and I entered the auditorium with Shirley and our gathering colleagues to then experience another life-changing moment.

The intensely traumatic emotional response to the apology blindsided me: I certainly did not understand at the time the magnitude of suffering and deep horrors inflicted on Inuit, Metis and First Nations Peoples. I was completely unprepared for the deep anguish surrounding me as the apology was delivered. I had never in my life seen such trauma and raw emotion in so many elder adults in one space. It hit me that I did not know the reality of Indigenous People’s experience with residential schools. I felt scared and confused in that moment.

On that day, my life changed, and with it, our philanthropy changed. Over time and with education and experiences, my fear turned to anger, and my anger turned to resolve. I made a promise to myself to uphold all of the responsibility that came with Shirley’s gift of a spirit name, and to pursue the truth. I am motivated to do everything within my power to learn the truth and then to support Indigenous Peoples and be a respectful ally. And I am still on this journey – I know it will never end – because I believe we must continuously evolve our thinking and our approach.

The Sprott Foundation is an original signatory of the Philanthropic Community’s Declaration of Action (committing to ensure that positive action on reconciliation continues), which I humbly signed at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s closing events in Ottawa in 2015.

Today, we are an active member of a group of philanthropists who support food sovereignty granting collaboratives in Northern Manitoba and Northern Ontario, and we are a launch funder of the Indigenous People’s Resilience Fund, with a $4 million initial contribution. I am proud that the Foundation gives 20 per cent of our annual gifts to Indigenous-led and serving organizations, with most of that going to pooled funds administered by and distributed directly to projects conceived by and for Indigenous communities, and we aim to increase this.

We do not fund areas of work in which success is immediately obvious, or easily quantified. The amount of food distributed, the number of people who slept indoors instead of out, the expansion of areas served, are ways to keep track. I do this work not to collect stats or gather grant reports, but to contribute to the holistic improvement of our community.”

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

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