The Foundation is not run by a board. It is carried by the people who built it — and by the daughters who will carry it forward.
We did not build this Foundation to be managed by institutions, overseen by committees, or handed to strangers when we are gone. We built it to be carried by family — with the same care, the same values, and the same sense of responsibility that guided every decision we made together.
A family foundation is only as strong as the people who run it. That means every member of this family has a role. Not a passive one. An active one. Understanding how the Foundation works, what it stands for, and what it expects of the people who govern it is not optional — it is the price of stewardship.
We wrote these principles not as a description of what we have built, but as instructions for what comes next. The Foundation does not belong to any one generation. It belongs to the mission — and to whoever is willing to carry it forward with integrity.
That is the standard. We hold ourselves to it. We expect every member of this family to hold themselves to it too.
"This Foundation is not intended to create a complicated long-term control system for its own sake. It is intended to protect the mission, preserve continuity, and ensure that the next generation is prepared to carry forward our commitment — before a crisis, not after one."— Pham Family Founding Documents, 2026
Every member of this family carries a defined responsibility to the Foundation. Not as a title — as an obligation. The Foundation rises or falls on the quality of the people who govern it.
Responsible for the Foundation's infrastructure, financial governance, legal compliance, and long-term direction. Oversees the endowment model, scholarship program architecture, and technology systems. Sets the standard for how the Foundation is managed and documented.
Responsible for scholarship program development, partner relationships, and the Foundation's cultural integrity. An alumna of Trần Quốc Tuấn High School — the school the Foundation's first Vietnam scholarship serves. Carries the personal connection that gives the mission its meaning.
In 2027, our eldest daughter reaches the first milestone on the stewardship pathway — the point at which she is invited to begin learning, observing, and carrying real responsibility alongside us. She is the first of the next generation to step into this work.
Our youngest daughter follows the same pathway — the same obligations, the same expectations, the same opportunity. The timing is different only because she was born later. Her role in this Foundation is no less important than anyone else's.
These are not suggestions. They are the principles that have guided every decision we have made — and the standard we expect every person who governs this Foundation to uphold.
Before you make any decision on behalf of this Foundation, understand what it does, how it works, and why it was built this way. Ignorance is not an excuse — it is a failure of stewardship. Every member of this family is expected to learn the Foundation's structure, its programs, its finances, and its obligations to the people it serves.
A foundation that does not grow cannot fulfill a growing mission. Our obligation is twofold: to contribute from family resources over time, and to invest what we hold with discipline and care — so that the Foundation's capacity expands steadily, year after year. We have made a commitment to grow the Foundation's assets substantially over the next ten years — through ongoing family contributions and, in time, through the transfer of business assets we have spent our lives building. This is not a gesture. It is a plan — one we made deliberately, and one we expect the next generation to understand and honor. We are seeding this Foundation for generations we will not live to see. Every member of this family who governs the Foundation carries the responsibility to protect and grow what has been entrusted to them. Carelessness with these assets is a failure of the people who will depend on them long after we are gone.
No one in this family holds authority over this Foundation by birthright. It is earned through readiness, demonstrated judgment, and the willingness to serve. We do not hold power indefinitely — and we do not hand it over prematurely. The transition from one generation to the next should be gradual, earned, and real.
The Foundation exists to support students, teachers, and educational institutions. Over time, leadership may change, priorities may shift, and partnerships may need to find a new path forward. In those moments, the Foundation’s responsibility is to remain steady, thoughtful, and focused on the good the work was created to serve. Students, teachers, and institutions that have already been recognized should never be placed in uncertainty because of organizational transition. Once a grant or award has been announced, it becomes a commitment that should be honored with dignity, fairness, and care. This principle keeps the mission above any transition and ensures that the Foundation’s work remains grounded in trust, responsibility, and the common good.
The Foundation was not designed for one generation. It was designed to be handed forward — intact, funded, and understood — to each generation that follows. Treat the Foundation's assets as borrowed from your children, not inherited from your parents. The standard is long-term preservation, not short-term convenience.
This Foundation does not advertise. It does not seek recognition. It does not solicit donations from strangers. Growth comes through the quality of the work and the trust of the people who have seen it. When someone asks how they can help, that is when we invite them in — not before.
You are not required to serve this Foundation. But if you choose to, this is the pathway — and the standard it carries.
Every milestone on this path is an invitation, not a deadline. What matters is that when you step into real responsibility, you are genuinely ready for it.
At 18, you are invited to begin. Observe how decisions are made. Attend meetings. Read the records. Ask questions. You do not yet govern — but you have earned the right to be in the room and to understand what is being governed on your behalf.
This is not a waiting period. It is a formation period. You will learn by doing — reviewing reports, participating in decisions, taking on bounded responsibilities. We expect you to show up, ask hard questions, and begin forming your own judgment about what this Foundation should be.
By 25, we expect you to carry real operating authority — not observation. You will co-manage programs, oversee entities, and participate in strategic decisions. This is when the transition from learning to leading begins in earnest.
At 30 — if we are still actively involved — you become eligible for full governing authority. If we are gone before you reach 30, that milestone does not apply. The Foundation will need you earlier, and we trust that the preparation will have been enough.
Give from a structure, not from impulse. The Foundation is designed to make commitments that can be honored across generations. To do this, we first protect an operating reserve for administration, compliance, accounting, legal needs, technology, and program management. The remaining assets are then organized into dedicated internal endowment funds. Each $100,000 block is pledged to a defined mission, invested with care, and used to support annual grants from the Foundation’s long-term financial capacity. This allows programs such as the SJSU scholarship, the Trần Quốc Tuấn scholarship, science education grants, the planned UC Berkeley scholarship, and future commitments to continue in perpetuity. The goal is simple: every promise should have a financial foundation beneath it.
This chart shows the Foundation’s current internal planning model. It is not a separate legal fund structure; it is a stewardship discipline for assigning purpose to the assets already held by the Foundation.
The Foundation, the real estate holdings, and the family governance framework are not separate concerns. They form a single integrated structure — each part sustaining the others, all of it serving the mission.
The charitable engine. A California private family foundation funding education scholarships in the United States and Vietnam. The terminal destination of the family structure — and the keeper of the mission regardless of what the future holds.
The economic foundation. Real estate holdings across California generate the financial capacity that sustains both the family and the Foundation's grantmaking. The portfolio is held within the family governance structure and is not to be liquidated for short-term convenience.
The governing framework that holds the entities, defines the stewardship pathway, and positions the Foundation as the ultimate mission keeper. Designed to operate without improvisation — so that when difficult moments come, the structure is already in place.
We did not build this to last one generation. We built it to be handed forward — understood, funded, and faithfully governed — by every person in this family who chooses to carry it.
The Foundation's work is quiet. The giving is steady. The records are clear. The standards are high. That is what we leave you — not just assets, but a way of doing things that is worth preserving.
Take it seriously. It was built with everything we had.