Vincent Ayar and the Ooze Foundation

The Ooze Foundation is a private foundation organized in Michigan and based in Oak Park, the same community where Ooze is headquartered. It received its IRS ruling in 2020. A private foundation gives a company and its owners a structured, lasting way to direct charitable giving rather than relying on one-off donations.

Vincent Ayar's role as President connects the foundation to the same leadership that built the Ooze brand — and to the same commitment to Metro Detroit that has kept the company in Oak Park.

The Ooze Foundation has made grants to Michigan organizations including:

The grant list is a portrait of Metro Detroit community life. The Shades of Pink Foundation supports people affected by breast cancer. The Chaldean Community Foundation, connected to the Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce, serves one of the region's most established communities. The Shelby Jane Seyburn Foundation is a Michigan family foundation, and Habitat for Humanity helps families build and improve homes.

What they share is a focus on Michigan — on neighbors, families and organizations close to where Ooze was founded and where its team lives and works.

Beyond grants, the foundation runs Oozegiving — community giveaways that put help directly into people's hands. Holiday food donations are one example: practical support delivered at the time of year when many families feel the strain most.

Oozegiving reflects the same spirit as the brand itself — approachable and hands-on — applied to the community around the company.

Vincent Ayar has described Ooze's expansion as being about job creation, and much of the company's shipping, marketing and design staff is local. The Ooze Foundation extends that commitment past payroll, into grants and giveaways that support the wider Metro Detroit community.

Learn more about Vincent Ayar's Michigan roots, or read his full biography.

Type: Michigan private foundation. Location: Oak Park, Michigan. IRS ruling: 2020. President: Vincent Ayar. Grantees include the Shades of Pink Foundation, the Chaldean Community Foundation (Chaldean American Chamber of Commerce), The Shelby Jane Seyburn Foundation and Habitat for Humanity. Programs include Oozegiving community giveaways such as holiday food donations. The foundation shares its home community with Ooze, the brand Vincent Ayar co-founded in 2015.