The Conference of Southwest Foundations is a non-profit membership association of grantmaking organizations that provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences, and expertise among grantmakers, and resources to enhance the ability of each organization to fulfill its charitable mission.
The conference began shortly after World War II when Dr. Robert Sutherland, director of the Hogg Foundation at the University of Texas at Austin, suggested a meeting of Texas foundations. Ms. Lemuel Scarbrough and Ms. H.E. Butt, who headed considerable family foundations, agreed and the first meeting convened in Austin in 1949. Today the conference consists of over 200 member foundations from Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Arkansas.
From the guide to the Conference of Southwest Foundations, Inc. Records 98-339; 2009-131; 2011-363., 1949-2010, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)
