Parnassus in the Community
Being a socially responsible investment firm means our job starts at home. Parnassus has a 2 to 1 matching program for charitable donations made by its employees, and we give our employees two paid days a year to volunteer at a nonprofit of their choice. We also invest up to 2% of the funds' assets in Community Development investments.
Being an active member in our community, here are some of the organizations that we work with:
Earned Asset Resource Network (EARN)
Founded in 2001, EARN is an asset building organization that works to simultaneously open the door to financial success for the working poor, pilot new solutions to poverty that can be put to work on a large scale, and transform asset policy in California. Parnassus Investments has partnered with EARN to help them achieve their mission to find innovative ways to deal with impoverishment.
Project Homeless Connect
Project Homeless Connect is a San Francisco initiative intended to compel the general public to connect and help the homeless. By consolidating available services and connecting individuals to medical care, substance abuse, mental health counseling and other social services, Project Homeless Connect works to help individuals become self sufficient. Parnassus Investments supports this cause by making donations and offering interested employees a paid day off to volunteer at the program's direct outreach events.
San Francisco Museum & Historical Society
The San Francisco Museum and Historical Society's mission is to preserve, interpret, and present the city's heritage. The Society achieves its mission with a wide range of exhibitions, programs, and special events. Parnassus founder, Jerome L. Dodson, serves as a board member.
University of California Incentive Awards Program
The Incentives Award Program, which Parnassus Investments has supported financially since its inception, is committed to helping advance the education of high achieving students overcoming great socioeconomic disadvantages. The program provides a $28,000 scholarship award to California students from low income backgrounds attending the University of California, Berkeley. The program is designed not only to assist students financially, but also socially by providing services such as extensive academic advising, counseling, and leadership development.
CORO Exploring Leadership Program
Launched in 1998, the CORO Exploring Leadership Program provides Bay Area youth with experiential leadership training and internships. As part of this intensive program, participants spend five weeks working at an internship in a non-profit organization, business or government office. In 2005, Parnassus hosted its first CORO intern.