Grant Oliphant

Grant Oliphant is the CEO of the Prebys Foundation, the largest independent private foundation in San Diego County. With a mission to create an inclusive, equitable, and dynamic future for all San Diegans, Prebys advances excellence and shared opportunity by investing in groundbreaking institutions, ideas, and people to ensure more residents are financially secure, healthy, empowered, and connected. With assets exceeding $1 billion and annual grantmaking surpassing $45 million, Prebys works in partnership with community to advance the region through arts and culture, medical research, healthcare, and youth development. 

Since joining the foundation in 2022, Grant’s mission has been to help the foundation fulfill its potential as a major philanthropic and regional institution. During his tenure, the foundation has built a respected professional staff, expanded and diversified its board, engaged deeply with community, laid out a strategy for impact, launched multiple ambitious initiatives, and embraced a commitment to using not only its grants dollars but also its investments to advance its mission and goals. The foundation also recently launched Prebys Ventures, a $50 million impact investment fund dedicated to driving growth and technological advancement in San Diego through venture capital.

As a leader, Grant believes that lasting change comes not from isolated brilliance but from collective curiosity, caring, and connection. Major current initiatives reflecting this belief include efforts to reinvent San Diego’s civic center, curtail pollution in the Tijuana River Valley, explore the intersection of health and wellness with nature and art, strengthen nonprofit leadership, enhance the pipeline of opportunities for talented up-and-coming medical researchers, and shape a regional narrative embracing belonging and well-being as key community values. 

A published author and frequent public speaker, Grant is currently in his third season of hosting Stop & Talk, a Prebys Foundation podcast that elevates meaningful conversations about San Diego, nonprofits, philanthropy, and the importance of pursuing big dreams. Dedicated to uplifting the role of artists, storytellers, and culture bearers, Grant’s work reflects a deep commitment to San Diego County as a place where creativity and civic life intersect.

Previously, Grant served as president of The Heinz Endowments in Pittsburgh, where he focused the foundation’s giving on sustainability, creativity, and learning, and launched initiatives to support democracy, public media, and social justice. Before joining Heinz, Grant was president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation, one of the nation’s largest community foundations, where he doubled the foundation’s size while helping to reinvent the national model of community philanthropy through an emphasis on regional leadership. An outspoken advocate of bold and effective philanthropy, Grant is a former chair of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, a national organization working to promote better giving, and of the Communications Network, which advances the strategic use of communications in philanthropy.

Earlier in his career, Grant launched a magazine in Washington, D.C., focused on American politics and co-hosted a radio talk show before joining U.S. Senator John Heinz as his press secretary. He is also the author of the novel Ring of Years.

Grant serves on the board of San Diego’s Economic Development Corporation, He and his wife, Aradhna, reside in Carlsbad.