Robert F. Smith

Smith’s Support for The Outdoors

Based in Denver, CO, Lincoln Hills Cares creates opportunities for personal growth, education and connection through outdoor experiences.  Smith’s work to preserve and provide access to natural spaces is not limited to Lincoln Hills Cares. Fund II Foundation, of which Smith is the founding director and President, works to protect the environment, expand access to parks and connect young people with outdoor recreational opportunities.

In 2015, Smith and Fund II Foundation partnered with the National Park Foundation (NPF) to create the Fund II Civil Rights Historic Preservation program. The program protects and enhances U.S. national parks and landmarks tied to Civil Rights history for current and future generations. To date, the program has helped several sites, including the Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site and Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site. In 2019, Smith donated to the NPF to preserve the homes of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ensuring these historic landmarks remain accessible to future generations. 

That same year, Smith personally donated $560,000 to Morehouse College to develop a new outdoor study space on campus. In addition, Smith is a primary donor to the River Deep Foundation, which provides military veterans and people who have experienced forms of trauma with opportunities to heal through outdoor recreation. Smith and Burkett also helped create a River Deep alliance program — Anglers of Honor. Based in Colorado, Anglers of Honor is an organization that strives to provide individuals with physical disabilities and their families with access to therapeutic fly-fishing experiences.

Smith’s Other Philanthropic Work

Smith supports philanthropic causes beyond those that provide outdoor access and opportunities. Throughout his career, Smith has created academic and career opportunities at his alma maters. In 2016, Smith and Fund II Foundation provided a combined $50 million gift to Cornell University’s College of Engineering. The college was renamed the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. A year later, Smith became the first Black American to sign the Giving Pledge, committing to investing more than half of his net worth in charitable projects throughout his lifetime.

That same year, Smith gifted $15 million to Columbia Business School to help with the university’s fundraising goal to build a new state-of-the-art campus in Manhattanville. In 2022, Smith donated an additional $10 million to Columbia University and $15 million to Cornell University. These gifts helped establish new scholarship funds, creating pathways for students from communities with limited opportunities at both schools.

In 2019, Smith eliminated the student loan debt of the Morehouse College graduating class. He later expanded the commitment to include the loans their guardians held on their behalf. The positive impact of Smith’s commitment inspired him to do more. In 2021, Student Freedom Initiative (SFI) was launched. SFI provides eligible students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) with academic, professional and financial support. 



To further expand access to opportunities for communities that lack resources, Smith co-leads Southern Communities Initiative (SCI). SCI is a catalytic consortium that works to accelerate wealth creation and economic growth in six Southern communities through locally led, measured and sustained initiatives.