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About Steamboat

History


Co-Founders Peer T. Pedersen Jr. (left) and Andrew C. Walter.

Steamboat Foundation was founded in 2003 by Andrew C. Walter and Peer T. Pedersen Jr., Managing Partners of Blue Orchid Capital, LLC, a money management organization based in Greenwich, Connecticut.

In the process of founding Blue Orchid Capital, Andy and Peer also wanted to create a non-profit organization that would receive a significant percentage of Blue Orchid’s fee income each year. The goal was simple and mirrored their investment philosophy: to invest in extraordinary talent.

In 2004, Steamboat launched its Summer Scholar Program by providing the first class of Steamboat Scholars with the opportunity to live and learn together, while experiencing internship experiences hosted by six Grant Partners. Since its inception, Steamboat has made grants to 59 Steamboat Scholars and continues to evolve each year, bringing together more University and Grant Partners in New York and Boston.

Steamboat made its first Special Grant in 2004 to the Sport for Peace Foundation, an HIV and sports education program in Rwanda overseen by Right To Play. A second Special Grant was given to Partners In Health in 2008 in support of its efforts to treat and prevent child malnutrition using locally grown therapeutic foods in rural Haiti. In 2009, Steamboat gave its first Special Grant to an alumnus, Ben Nwachukwu, to perform a needs assessment at the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Nigeria. Steamboat also made a multi-year grant to Starfish Greathearts Foundation in 2009, for a program that gives resources to children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

In the years to come, Steamboat will continue to grow its programs and extend its investments in pioneering leaders, in the United States and internationally. 

2004 Steamboat scholars

Five of the first class of Steamboat Scholars gather at the 2nd Annual Forbes Reception in June 2005.