Our Story

Sarah and Rich Barton formed the Barton Family Foundation in 2004 with the goal of creating hope for people in despair. Initial efforts focused on funding education and mentoring programs for at-risk youth in Seattle, but later shifted concentration to reform of the criminal legal system. After learning about the myriad structural inequities and nonsensical policies that have severely harmed so many in our society, we resolved to commit our resources to help develop a justice system and society that is truly fair and equal for all.

Sarah Barton

After earning her B.A. at Williams College in Massachusetts and MD at Chicago’s Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Sarah moved to Seattle to complete her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Washington. She started her career as an OB/GYN at Northwest Hospital in Seattle in 2000 and then volunteered at Rainier Park Medical Clinic from 2005 to 2020. Since 2014, through her connection with The IF Project, she has taught women’s health classes at the Washington Corrections Center for Women and has gained additional insight about the need for justice reform while visiting with incarcerated people in California, Oregon and Washington. Sarah currently serves on the nonprofit boards of Lakeside School and Weld Seattle.

Rich Barton

Rich Barton is Sarah’s husband, an internet entrepreneur and founder of Expedia (1994), cofounder of Glassdoor (2007) and Zillow Group (2004), where he currently serves as co-executive chairman. He was a venture partner at Benchmark Capital from 2005 to 2018. Rich served on numerous boards for public companies and nonprofit organizations, including Common Sense Media and Year Up. He is currently a board director at Zillow Group, Netflix, Qurate, and Stanford University, where he earned an Engineering B.S. in 1989. Rich is actively involved in the Barton Family Foundation, but works for Sarah, who directs and oversees the bulk of the foundation operations and giving.