Sheri Sobrato

Sheri Sobrato has been an active philanthropist, impact investor and community volunteer for decades, as a trustee of the Sobrato Family Foundation and as the founder of Resonance Philanthropies.

Sheri has made it her life’s mission to empower children and teens facing serious or chronic illnesses. Starting as a pediatric playroom volunteer, she has continually supported kids and families through their journey with illness. Driven by her own experience with brain cancer in her early 20’s, Sheri has a deep-seated empathy for others facing similar battles and has played a pivotal role in improving children’s health and addressing unmet medical needs.

As an investor and philanthropist, Sheri provides catalytic funding to nonprofits, emerging companies and venture funds specializing in select areas with major funding gaps. Key priorities are children’s health, youth mental wellness and rare disease research.

Related funding priorities include support for families struggling with neurodegenerative and neuromuscular conditions, and innovative education, especially helping young people discover and pursue their passions and purpose. Sheri has also supported numerous impact media initiatives specializing in visual storytelling around topics she cares deeply about.

Sheri has made over 800 grants and impact investments since the 2000s.  Among the innovative social ventures and programs Sheri was instrumental in launching are:

  • Catalytic Impact Foundation, an evergreen impact fund specializing in children’s health
  • UCSF’s Sheri Sobrato Brain Tumor Survivorship Program
  • American Cancer Society’s BrightEdge impact fund
  • Center for Advancing Innovation – Accelerator Programs for Children’s Health and Brain Health
  • Telosity Ventures Youth Mental Health Startup Challenge
  • Purpose Commons for all organizations helping teens pursue their passions
  • Impactly software that powers multi-generational philanthropy and impact investing
  • Springhood Ventures investing in startups focused on rare pediatric conditions

In addition, Sheri is deeply passionate about advancing youth emotional wellness, with a focus on psychosocial support, social-emotional learning, and technology-driven solutions. She is the co-author of Digging Deep: A Journal for Young People Facing Health Challenges, and the creator of the Digging Deep Project, which has published the Shadow’s Edge mobile game to guide young people through their emotional journeys. Several foundations in regions like Colombia and Türkiye have collaborated in recent years to embed these tools in workshops designed specifically for young survivors of disasters or trauma.

Sheri is a member of various philanthropic collaboratives, including The Philanthropy Workshop, Future Mental Health Collective, Hopelab Youth Mental Health Collective and XPrize. She is a Dame of Honor of the Knights of St. John and an alumna of the Pipeline Fellowship. Sheri holds a B.A. in Biology from Stanford University and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University.  Sheri resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.