Our Story

It all began in December 2015 when entrepreneurs, Nasrin and Mark Thierer, pooled their technology and healthcare experience and success and founded Thierer Family Foundation to help nonprofits leverage technology to be more effective, efficient and sustainable.

The Thierer’s strongly believe that by investing in technology, their Foundation can help organizations better deliver on their mission and greatly impact their reach. To do this, the Foundation strategically funds innovative technology projects to significantly change the way an organization can serve their target audience.

Their hope is that this approach will pave the way for other funders to see the value of investing in technology in the nonprofit sector.

We focus on these three

Program Areas

Food Insecurity

When neighbors can digitally access and find food and resources nearby to meet their unique needs, everyone benefits, and the community thrives.

Shelter & Human Services

Adequate housing provides people with dignity and the opportunity to lead a normal life and focus on self-improvement.

Arts & Culture

Helping improve the quality of life and boost well-being for communities and individuals alike through art and culture in our life.

The Universal Challenge

We asked local charities about their biggest challenges and found many nonprofits do not have the resources – people, time, money – they need to effectively run their organizations. This, coupled with heavily manual processes, limited the organizations’ ability to deliver on their missions.

We wondered, why aren’t these organizations leveraging technology to help overcome the gaps? Most lacked the internal expertise needed to select and implement the right solution, and they struggled to help donors see the value of a long-term investment in technology.

Our Vision

We envision a world where we can bridge the technology divide to better serve communities and create greater impact.

Our Mission

The Thierer Family Foundation’s mission is to increase the impact of nonprofits working throughout Chicagoland by helping them leverage technology to be more effective, efficient, and sustainable.

Our Programs

Integrity & ImpactPassion & VisionPartnership & Collaboration

We are guided by our

Core Values

We do the right thing

and believe our biggest mission is to do good, always.

We are passionate problem solvers

that choose the best path, not the easiest path.

Our clients guide our vision

and we strive to approach their needs with empathy and understanding.

We champion big ideas to solve the big problems

never losing sight of our awesome opportunity to enact impactful change.

We are stronger together

achieving greatness as a team through our diversities of thought, skills, and backgrounds.

Our Team

We’re not your average foundation. Our team is comprised of entrepreneurs, marketers, artists, and technology lovers who are passionate about doing some good in this world. We are creative thinkers and innovative problem solvers. We care deeply. We invest strategically. We commit fully. We’re not your average foundation… but we think you’ll be happy that we’re not.