Our People
The Shavlik Family Foundation is a private family charitable trust located in White Bear Lake, Minnesota exclusively serving Minnesota-based nonprofits. The foundation was created by Rebecca and Mark Shavlik with part of the proceeds from the acquisition of their company Shavlik Technologies in 2011. The foundation chose to focus on investing in technology for the nonprofit community to align with the expertise of its founders.
Grants are reviewed by family members and outside consultants with the goal of making the biggest impact from an investment made by the foundation.
Rebecca Shavlik, Founder and Executive Director
Rebecca has been active in the nonprofit community for decades. She has an Master in Library Science and worked for several nonprofits early in her career with a focus on research and planning and more recently has served on a number of nonprofit boards.
In addition, she has overseen operations in two entrepreneurial organizations taking them from early growth stages to recognized leaders in their sectors and serving on their boards after her employment until each was acquired.
Since 2013 she has run the Shavlik Family Foundation as its founder and Executive Director.
Mark Shavlik, Founder and Trustee
Mark Shavlik has over 30 years of technical and business leadership experience starting his career at Microsoft, and working for several Fortune 500 companies before founding his own company.
As CEO Mark Shavlik made his company, Shavlik Technologies, into one of the most trusted and respected names in IT security. Mark also served as a VP and General Manager at VMware after they acquired Shavlik Technologies.
Mark currently is an early stage investor in select startup companies. He also has experience serving on nonprofit and corporate boards.
Kelsey McKenna, Grants Manager
Kelsey has previously worked in nonprofit development and grant management. She recently served as the Development Manager at Travis Audubon, an environmental nonprofit in Austin, Texas where she launched several initiatives that resulted in increased budgeted grant income and membership. She has also served as a Development Coordinator at Girls on the Run MN managing the marketing and outreach of their annual events producing an expansion of their corporate support. She is thrilled to bring her experiences and commitment to building nonprofit capacity to the Shavlik Family Foundation.
As the Grants Manager she will work to communicate the Foundation's objectives and their grant process to the nonprofit community. She looks forward to helping a wide range of nonprofits further their mission and better serve their communities through the implementation of technology projects. Kelsey is a graduate of the University of Minnesota.
Our Board Members and Reviewers
Our Board of Directors is composed of family members and outside consultants who each bring a unique set of skills and perspectives from the nonprofit sector. We rely on each member’s expertise to review LOI’s and Applications, and make funding recommendations. See below a list of past and present members along with their areas of expertise.
What We’ve Funded
To view what type of projects Shavlik Family Foundation has funded in the past, please view our past recipients.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
To learn more about our grantmaking process, priorities, and limitations, please view our frequently asked questions.