COMMON MAPS
Map version new-york activity top-down
Main site Contact
Menu
↑ parent activity group ·
research dossier

NEO Philanthropy Inc
NEW YORK, NY · EIN 133191113 · Form 990 · FY2024 · NTEE W99Z · Public & Societal Benefit · Very Large (>$50M) · neophilanthropy.org
revenue
$168.9M
expenses
$184.9M
net assets
$164.9M
employees
447
volunteers
8
program ratio
94%
profile · synthesized from sources

NEO Philanthropy is a public charity that serves as an intermediary between funders and grassroots social justice organizations. It provides fiscal sponsorship, manages collaborative funds, and offers strategic support to nonprofit projects focused on issues like voting rights, immigrant justice, and racial equity. With over 40 years of experience, it strengthens movements by offering administrative infrastructure and grantmaking services.

irs program accomplishments · form 990 part iii · fy2024

What they reported doing

  1. #1 primary $35.49M
    THE STATE INFRASTRUCTURE FUND SUPPORTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF STATE-BASED NETWORKS OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT COORDINATE THEIR PROGRAMMING TO INCREASE CIVIC PARTICIPATION AMONG HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES AND TO PROTECT THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE.
  2. #2 $35.25M
    THE DONOR SERVICES PROGRAM PROVIDES STRATEGIC, OPERATIONAL, AND SUPPORT SERVICES TO DONOR-DRIVEN PROJECTS, DEVELOPED IN COLLABORATION WITH FUNDERS. FUNDERS INCLUDE PRIVATE FOUNDATIONS, PHILANTHROPIC AFFINITY GROUPS, CORPORATE DONORS, COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS, AS WELL AS INDIVIDUALS. ALTHOUGH DONOR-DRIVEN, DONOR SERVICES PROJECTS MUST FIRST AND FOREMOST BE ALIGNED WITH OUR ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION AND VALUES AND CAN INCLUDE SIGNIFICANT GRANTMAKING EFFORTS.
named programs · 5 · from sources

What they call their work

Donor Services Program
Offers strategic and operational support to donor-driven projects aligned with social justice values, including grantmaking and program design.
Fiscal Sponsorship Program
Provides administrative, financial, legal, and operational support to nonprofit projects without 501(c)(3) status, enabling them to focus on program work.
Four Freedoms Fund
Collaborative fund investing in immigrant-led organizations to advance immigrant rights and justice at the local level.
Postsecondary Success Impact Fund (PSI Fund)
Provides general operating support to organizations improving postsecondary outcomes for disadvantaged students, with a focus on AI’s impact on higher education.
State Infrastructure Fund (SIF)
Supports state-based networks of nonpartisan organizations to increase civic participation, enhance voter engagement, and protect voting rights.
activities · 4 groups

What they do

  • Nonprofit Capacity Building Services 2 activities
    • Delivering tiered capacity-building and strategic partnership programs
      Offers tiered support including leadership development, field building, risk management, organizational development, wellness, and communications for social justice organizations. Also provides strategic partnership programs that help funders develop and pilot initiatives using participatory decision-making models, along with research, retreats, and convenings to strengthen networks and collaborative funding efforts.
    • Providing fiscal sponsorship and operational infrastructure
      Provides fiscal sponsorship services that manage core administrative, financial, HR, legal, and nonprofit management functions for mission-aligned projects without 501(c)(3) status, currently supporting over 70 social justice initiatives. Services are guided by principles of responsiveness, transparency, and relationship building.
  • Flexible Grants to Grassroots Organizations 2 activities
    • Funding community-driven research for policy change
      Finances community-driven research projects that center lived experience in shaping systems and policy change related to economic mobility, health, and well-being.
    • Funding social justice initiatives through collaborative grantmaking
      Combines financial resources from multiple donors to increase funding impact and supports grassroots organizations advancing social justice through funder partnerships, with nearly $250 million invested over the past five years. Conducts grantmaking processes designed for speed and adaptability, including rapid-response grants and ongoing funding cycles.
  • Refugee and Immigrant Resettlement Services 1 activity
    • Funding immigrant rights and civic engagement at the state level
      Supports immigrant-led organizations through the Four Freedoms Fund to advance immigrant rights locally and finances state-based nonpartisan organizations via the State Infrastructure Fund to increase voter participation and protect voting rights, aligning with broader efforts to strengthen civic infrastructure among underrepresented communities.
  • Multi-Institution Scholarship Funding 1 activity
    • Funding postsecondary education equity initiatives
      Manages the Postsecondary Success Impact Fund with a $4.3M investment from the Gates Foundation, awarding unrestricted general operating support grants across three funding cycles focused on improving outcomes for Black, Latino, Indigenous, and low-income students. The first cycle emphasizes AI's role in transforming higher education teaching, learning, and student support.
financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$168.89M
Contributions & grants$163.80M97%
Program service revenue$1.30M1%
Investment income$3.79M2%
Other revenue$0
expenses
Total expenses$184.94M
Program expenses94%
Admin / overhead6%
Fundraising1%
Salaries & benefits$43.90M
Grants paid out$104.11M
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$185.58M
Cash$133.37M
Investments$0
Liabilities$20.66M
Net assets$164.92M
Liquid reserves8.7 mo
4 years on record · 2020–2024 · YoY revenue +0.7%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024

Who runs it

paid leadership · 12
NameTitleHours/wkCompensation
DWANA FRANKLIN DAVIS PROGRAM DIRECTOR 40 $412K
MICHELE LORD PRESIDENT 40 $384K
RUTLEDGE SIMMONS VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL 40 $326K
ERIN BALLARD COO AND EXECUTIVE VP 40 $325K
MARGARITA RUBALCAVA CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER 40 $319K
ERICA LINNICK VICE PRESIDENT, SIF 40 $312K
ZAINAB SALBI PROGRAM DIRECTOR 40 $298K
RINI CHAKRABORTY VICE PRESIDENT, FFF 38 $298K
ALEXANDRA TOMA PROGRAM DIRECTOR 40 $285K
SU LIM CFO AND VP OF INFRASTRUCTURE 36 $284K
EDWIN REKOSH PROGRAM DIRECTOR 40 $280K
AMANDA NAVARRO PROGRAM DIRECTOR 40 $267K
board members · 11
  • ALEX-HANDRAH AIME — BOARD MEMBER
  • BLAKE STRODE — BOARD MEMBER
  • CATHY ALBISA — VICE CHAIR
  • CHRISTINA SCHATZ — SECRETARY/TREASURER
  • DARREN SANDOW — BOARD MEMBER (THROUGH JANUARY 2024)
  • GLENN HARRIS — BOARD MEMBER
  • JOHN GILROY ESQ — BOARD MEMBER
  • KERRIEN SUAREZ — CO-CHAIR
  • KESI B FOSTER — BOARD MEMBER
  • KRISTEN RUFF — CO-CHAIR
  • SEAN THOMAS-BREITFELD — BOARD MEMBER (THROUGH JULY 2024)
relationships · 27

Who they work with

  • Beloved Community Incubator Partner — Grantee partner focused on building a regional solidarity economy led by poor and working-class immigrants and people of color.
  • Community Foundations Partner — Collaborates with community foundations on donor-driven projects through the Donor Services Program
  • Corporate Donors Partner — Collaborates with corporate donors on donor-driven projects through the Donor Services Program
  • Do Good Connections Partner — Selected to guide NEO’s board and staff through leadership transition planning.
  • Four Freedoms Fund Partner — Collaborative fund co-developed by NEO Philanthropy to support immigrant rights movements.
  • Funders Partner — Collaborates with funders to deepen alignment, strengthen coordination, share information, and build relationships.
  • GALEO Community Development Fund Partner — State Infrastructure Fund grantee organization whose CEO provided a testimonial about NEO Philanthropy.
  • Gates Foundation Funder — Provided a $4.3M investment to establish the Postsecondary Success Impact Fund.
  • Good Insight Partner — Selected to guide NEO’s board and staff through leadership transition planning.
  • Housing Justice For All Partner — Grantee partner coalition led by tenants advocating for affordable housing across New York.
  • Indigenous Commons Partner — Grantee partner advancing an Indigenous-led vision for an economy rooted in ancestral lifeways and community well-being.
  • Individual Donors Partner — Collaborates with individual donors on donor-driven projects through the Donor Services Program
  • Michele Lord Partner — President of NEO Philanthropy, quoted on the organization's enduring values.
  • Philanthropic Affinity Groups Partner — Collaborates with philanthropic affinity groups on donor-driven projects through the Donor Services Program
  • Private Foundations Partner — Collaborates with private foundations on donor-driven projects through the Donor Services Program
  • Prospera Partner — Grantee partner advancing Latina economic empowerment through leadership and cooperative ownership.
  • RestoreHER US.America Inc Partner — Grantee partner founded and led by justice-involved women of color advocating for reentry policy reform and equity.
  • Reuben V. Anderson Center for Justice Partner — Grantee partner advancing social justice through community programs, organizing, and policy advocacy.
  • Roots4Change/Jardines de Espacios Partner — Grantee partner supporting immigrant families through doula services and community-based care in Wisconsin.
  • State Infrastructure Fund Partner — Collaborative fund initiated by NEO Philanthropy to build civic engagement infrastructure and protect voting rights.
  • The Carying Place Partner — Grantee partner providing short-term housing and life skills training to homeless working families in North Carolina.
  • The Children’s Gallery Partner — Grantee partner building youth-centered cultural infrastructure through arts education and leadership development in Chicago.
  • The Community Grocer Partner — Grantee partner reimagining corner stores as community infrastructure integrating Food is Medicine principles and workforce development in Philadelphia.
  • Transformational Prison Project Partner — Grantee partner led by formerly incarcerated individuals advancing restorative justice and systemic prison reform in Boston.
  • YouTube Partner — Hosts organizational content via a YouTube channel.
  • changemakers Partner — Collaborates with grassroots leaders and activists to advance justice movements.
  • funders Partner — Engages philanthropic individuals and institutions to resource social justice initiatives.
strategies · 5

How they approach the work

Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.

  • Intermediary Model to Bridge Funders and Grassroots Movements
    methodology: intermediary_model
    By acting as a trusted intermediary between funders and grassroots organizations, NEO Philanthropy strengthens social justice movements because it overcomes structural disconnects in traditional philanthropy, enabling more responsive and effective resource flow to frontline changemakers.
  • Intersectional and Collaborative Funding Strategy
    methodology: intersectional_funding
    By enabling funders to support work across issue areas and connect local and national giving, NEO Philanthropy addresses complex social problems more effectively because intersectional and coordinated funding breaks down silos and amplifies collective impact.
  • Movement-Centered Philanthropy Based on Trust and Resilience
    methodology: movement-centered_philanthropy
    By prioritizing relational trust, movement leadership, and sustained or rapid-response funding aligned with grantees’ self-identified needs, NEO Philanthropy builds organizational resilience and adaptive capacity because continuous, flexible support enables long-term civic engagement and emergent response.
  • Participatory Grantmaking Centered on Lived Experience
    methodology: participatory_grantmaking
    By incorporating the expertise of grassroots leaders and individuals with lived experience into funding decisions through participatory processes, NEO Philanthropy increases the legitimacy, relevance, and impact of philanthropic support because it shifts power to the communities most affected.
  • Relational Fiscal Sponsorship as Strategic Incubation
    methodology: relational_fiscal_sponsorship
    By providing fiscal sponsorship that emphasizes true partnership and values alignment—not just administrative services—NEO Philanthropy enhances the effectiveness and sustainability of early-stage social justice projects because relational trust fosters long-term resilience and mission integrity.