Ann B. Stern has served as president and CEO of Houston Endowment since 2012. She leads a team of dedicated experts to shape the 87-year-old foundation’s grantmaking priorities with an eye toward equity of opportunity and community-centered solutions. Under her leadership, the private foundation with $2.5 billion in assets directs more than $100 million a year to strengthening public education, increasing civic engagement, supporting Greater Houston’s arts and culture sector, enhancing greenspace, and responding to emerging opportunities and challenges in the region.
Inspired by the vision of Houston Endowment founders Jesse H. and Mary Gibbs Jones, Stern works with others across public, private, and nonprofit sectors to build partnerships that drive change in the nation’s fourth-largest city.
A native Houstonian, Stern brings a commitment to addressing systems-level challenges that directly affect Greater Houston’s families and the unique communities where they live. She previously served as executive vice president of Texas Children’s Hospital, where she witnessed the cascading impacts of poverty on patients and their families. Stern believes Houston Endowment is well positioned to expand opportunity for all who live here by listening to communities, supporting the work of on-the-ground nonprofits, and convening grantees, civic leaders, the business community, local government, and other funders to solve the region’s most pressing problems and improve quality of life for all Houstonians.
Under Stern’s leadership, the foundation has balanced long-term investments with emerging, high-impact opportunities. Over the past decade, Houston Endowment has funded more than 800 grantees who boldly address complex social issues such as homelessness; barriers to access and participation in civic life; inequities in public education; and a need for vibrant parks and cultural centers. A common thread in the foundation’s grantmaking strategy is a deep commitment to sustainable change — an approach that requires time, partnerships, constant evaluation, and openness to social innovation.
This collaborative work has contributed to numerous advances affecting all Houstonians, including a 64 percent decrease in homelessness since 2012; the ongoing transformation of bayous and greenspaces into interconnected parks and trails that nurture nature while protecting communities from flooding; new programs to address teacher shortages; collective efforts to improve voter participation; community-oriented, independent journalism accessible to all; support for eligible immigrants on the path to citizenship; and the uplifting of Houston-based artists who represent our region’s diversity and independent spirit.
Stern began her career in private law practice and earned her bachelor’s and law degrees at the University of Texas at Austin. She serves on the boards of the University of Texas Law School Foundation, Greater Houston Partnership, The Holdsworth Center, Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, and Houston Landing. She is also an independent member of the Audit Committee for MD Anderson Cancer Center. Before her role as executive vice president at Texas Children’s Hospital, Stern served as vice president and general counsel for the hospital. She previously served as chairman of the board of St. John’s School and on the boards of Texas Children’s Hospital, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and Invesco Funds.