Funding search · EIN 263241764 · Houston, TX

Laura and John Arnold Foundation

A private foundation (files IRS Form 990-PF). Most private foundations do not take unsolicited applications; the route in is usually a program officer.

2,588
grants reported
$754.5M
total given
2020–2024
filing years
$138,933
median grant

Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 20202024. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.

What they fund

researchpolicyrandomizedtrialcontrolledstateconductcare

Funder website ↗Full IRS filings ↗How this is builtReport an error

Funding pattern

What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.

Where the money goes

  • Criminal justice research: pretrial, policing, sentencing, community supervision
  • Health care cost and drug pricing policy analysis for policymakers
  • Randomized controlled trials and evidence-to-policy infrastructure (J-PAL, MDRC)
  • Medicare Advantage, dual-eligibles, and insurance market research
  • K-12 and postsecondary education reform, student lending accountability
  • Housing supply, zoning reform, fiscal and tax policy analysis

Typical grant

Median grant is $138,933, with the middle half between $50,713 and $297,174. University research projects and evaluations cluster in the $500,000 to $1,000,000 range; the eight-figure checks go to long-term intermediary partners like The City Fund and MDRC receiving general operating support. Repeat funding is heavy, with MIT, RAND, Yale, Penn, Brown, Harvard, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Urban Institute appearing multiple times across years.

Their words

Phrases from their own grant descriptions, worth speaking back to them.

  • randomized controlled trial
  • to inform policy discussions
  • evidence-based
  • technical assistance to policymakers
  • policy translation
  • nonpartisan

Positioning adjacent work

  • Lead with a causal design: RCT or rigorous evaluation, not descriptive work or program delivery.
  • Name the specific policymaker audience and the decision your findings will inform.
  • Ask $500K to $1M for a single university research project; larger only with institutional track record.
  • Connect to a live reform: pretrial assessment, Medicare Advantage payment, zoning, drug pricing, or supervision revocations.
  • Pair research with a dissemination or technical assistance arm; they fund translation, not just findings.

Worth knowing: Money concentrates in DC think tanks and a small set of elite research universities, and the same institutions recur year after year, so this reads as a relationship-driven portfolio built around known research teams. Recent years show heavy weighting toward health care cost containment and criminal justice evaluation, with education flowing mostly through a few large intermediaries rather than individual scholars.

155 grants matching “criminal · $35.1M

  • $1.0M

    Fwdus Education Fund · Washington, DC · 2024

    To support policy analysis, advocacy, and education work to safely reduce prison terms, recidivism, and the incarcerated population, reduce racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and expand opportunities for read all
  • $945,308

    Nacdl Foundation for Criminal Justice · Washington, DC · 2024

    To support a pilot evaluation on the adoption of counsel at first appearance in virginia.

  • $833,262

    National Conference of State Legislatures · Denver, CO · 2024

    To raise awareness in state legislatures on criminal justice data and causal research, to increase knowledge of policy options, and support legislator-driven policy change.

  • $515,277

    University of Notre Dame Du Lac · Notre Dame, IN · 2024

    To expand grantee's lab for economic opportunities? ("leo") capacity to work with organizations and agencies in the criminal justice space, with the overall goal of increasing rigorous criminal justice impact evaluation read all
  • $500,000

    The Marshall Project · New York, NY · 2024

    To support grantee's investigative reporting on criminal justice issues.

  • $493,037

    Southern Methodist University · Dallas, TX · 2024

    To be used by the deason criminal justice reform center to identify and promote strategies for improving access to counsel at the earliest stages of the criminal legal process by launching a campaign to support changes read all
  • $456,955

    Nacdl Foundation for Criminal Justice · Washington, DC · 2024

    To support the first step act resource center, which works to maximize the impact of the first step act ("fsa").

  • $400,000

    Research Triangle Institute · Research Triangle Park, NC · 2024

    To document the universe of factors that impact witness participation across different stages of the criminal legal system.

  • $347,331

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2024

    To support the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab ("j-pal") north america community safety and criminal justice reform initiative, with the overall goal of spurring new evaluations and evidence on criminal legal poli read all
  • $328,554

    Rutgers the State University of New Jersey · Branchville, NJ · 2024

    To continue non-partisan analytical and advisory work for the new jersey sentencing commission and engaging in investigator-initiated studies that contribute to criminal justice policy reforms.

  • $300,000

    Fund for the City of New York · New York, NY · 2024

    To build an active bridge between government and researchers by translating data to simple digestible reports for policymakers, with the overall goal of facilitating evidence-based policy in the criminal justice field.

  • $254,750

    Council On Criminal Justice · Atlanta, GA · 2024

    To explore current crime trends and build consensus for significant improvements in the nation's data infrastructure and capacity to produce timely, accurate, and complete crime data.

  • $200,000

    Callisto · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    To enable the grantee to build a data infrastructure that will enable future research on the effects of the grantee's platform on reporting and criminal investigations of sexual assault.

  • $184,973

    University of Notre Dame Du Lac · Notre Dame, IN · 2024

    To support scholars to conduct rigorous impact evaluations in the criminal justice policy space, with the overall goal of increasing current and future capacity for strong, causal cj research.

  • $174,889

    The Justice Management Institute · Arlington, VA · 2024

    To support the evaluation of a study on the lack of prosecution of misdemeanor offenses and its impact on subsequent criminal justice system involvement.

  • $145,866

    The Council of State Governments · Lexington, KY · 2024

    To explore solutions to reduce barriers to employment for people with criminal records.

  • $134,053

    Loyola University of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2024

    This project uses interrupted time series and difference-in-differences designs to measure the effect of statewide policy changes on the use of monetary bail, level of pre-trial detention, and case outcomes. It also use read all
  • $120,782

    Alliance for Criminal Justice Innovation Llc · Sedalia, CO · 2024

    To lessen the burdens of government by preparing state agencies in maryland to successfully initiate and implement a community partnership initiative, with the overall goal of improving outcomes for young adults under s read all
  • $118,323

    Research Foundation of the City University of New York · New York City, NY · 2024

    For the purpose of analyzing the impact of new york's criminal justice reform.

  • $102,729

    Partners for Justice · Brooklyn, NY · 2024

    To evaluate grantee's collaborative defense model (the "cdm"), an approach that augments public defense with stronger social service connections, mitigation, and court navigation, with the overall goal of undertaking a read all
  • $100,000

    National Bureau of Economic Research · Cambridge, MA · 2024

    To support grantee's crime working group, with the overall goal of advancing the pace of research discoveries on the determinants of crime and the effects of the criminal justice system.

  • $100,000

    The Political Report · Washington, DC · 2024

    To provide general operating support to bolts to help facilitate high-impact, non-ideological reporting on criminal justice policy and politics.

  • $99,935

    The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York · New York, NY · 2024

    To conduct research investigating the effects of debt relief from legal fines and fees on financial, criminal justice, and health outcomes to answer newly emerging questions relate to jail incarceration, supervision rev read all
  • $99,866

    Fund for the City of New York · New York, NY · 2024

    To support vital city's data for everyone project, which is designed to make data about the criminal justice system and neighborhood life easily accessible to the public, including researchers and journalists, with the read all
  • $99,557

    Oregon State University Foundation · Corvallis, OR · 2024

    To conduct exploratory research to test the possibility of rigorously evaluating if evictions increase criminal activities among evicted tenants.

  • $96,489

    Southern Methodist University · Dallas, TX · 2024

    To be used by the deason criminal justice reform center to provide guidance to public defense providers seeking support in improving delivery systems, with the overall goal of improving access to counsel at the earliest read all
  • $93,740

    Southern Methodist University · Dallas, TX · 2024

    To support pretrial reform work at the deason criminal justice reform center.

  • $89,131

    University of Maryland Baltimore · College Park, MD · 2024

    To investigate racial disparities in the prosecution of criminal cases in three maryland counties and identify policies that reduce these disparities.

  • $88,126

    Drug Policy Alliance · New York, NY · 2024

    To provide information to inform the federal policy debate on removing snap benefits for people with criminal records.

  • $75,951

    Justice Initiative of Texas · Austin, TX · 2024

    To conduct research and create a publicly available dataset documenting and analyzing the circumstances under which people are dying in the custody of texas prisons and jails, with the overall goal of improving transpar read all
  • $75,000

    Council On Criminal Justice · Atlanta, GA · 2024

    To develop an initiative that improves information sharing across cities and strengthens government capacity to respond to crises, with the overall goal of enabling mayors to be effective and trusted leaders in creating read all
  • $60,000

    Jobs for the Future · Boston, MA · 2024

    To support a roundtable hosted by grantee's center for justice and economic advancement, with the overall goal of bringing researchers and employers with fair chance employment programs together to advance criminal just read all
  • $59,854

    Council On Criminal Justice · Atlanta, GA · 2024

    To examine trends in correctional populations with the goal of identifying reforms that can safely reduce incarceration and racial disparities.

  • $53,448

    Vera Institute of Justice · Brooklyn, NY · 2024

    To support the development of strategies to increase housing access for people with criminal records.

  • $50,000

    Urban Institute · Washington, DC · 2024

    To leverage the well-being and basic needs survey to ask a subset of questions on fines, fees, and court debts, with the overall goal of expanding the evidence base on national prevalence of criminal legal fines, fees, read all
  • $38,241

    Rand Corporation · Santa Monica, CA · 2024

    To construct and field a survey about the opioid crisis, its interaction with the criminal justice system, and the prevalence of naloxone use.

  • $36,560

    Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia · Charlottesville, VA · 2024

    To review data and surveys with the overall goal of laying the groundwork for an experimental intervention to provide data-driven information to prosecutors about police and criminal records.

  • $34,500

    Cornell University · Ithaca, NY · 2024

    To bring together and support junior scholars conducting cutting edge causal research on criminal justice issues in grantee's law, economics, and policy seminar, with the overall goal of increasing the understanding and read all
  • $31,233

    Regents of the University of California at Irvine · Irvine, CA · 2024

    To conduct an educational seminar series with criminologists and socio-legal scholars on criminal justice issues and research conducted by economists and other applied social scientists with the goal of increasing their read all
  • $26,500

    London School of Economics and Political Science · 2024

    To support the workshop on the economics of crime for junior scholars which aims to bring together graduate students and junior researchers to present their research on topics related to the economics of u.s. Crime and read all
  • $25,717

    The Niskanen Center · Washington, DC · 2024

    To collect data and support a risks, needs, review survey of the criminal justice system.

  • $25,000

    Regents of the University of Michigan · Ann Arbor, MI · 2024

    To support criminal justice reform litigation.

  • $24,670

    West Virginia Univ Foundation · Morgantown, WV · 2024

    To support the workshop on the economic and criminogenic impacts of the opiate epidemic, with the overall goal of bringing researchers who conduct strong causal research in the criminal justice field together to present read all
  • $24,097

    American Bar Association Fund for Justice and Education · Chicago, IL · 2024

    To study misdemeanor courts and public defense in an effort to better understand and improve indigent criminal defense.

  • $22,272

    Education Trust · Washington, DC · 2024

    To provide access to higher education for justice-impacted students and reduce barriers to successful reintegration for people with criminal records.

  • $21,000

    Minnesota Justice Research Center · Saint Paul, MN · 2024

    To convene an interdisciplinary group of researchers and community partners to discuss research methods around voter outreach field experiments aimed at eligible voters with criminal convictions.

  • $19,243

    National Academy of Sciences · Washington, DC · 2024

    To produce a consensus report on how public policy can reduce racial inequities in the criminal justice system.

  • $17,000

    The Justice Management Institute · Arlington, VA · 2024

    To support the 2024 annual meeting of the national network of criminal justice coordinating councils.

  • $13,014

    Regents of the University of Michigan · Ann Arbor, MI · 2024

    To pilot an intensive training workshop to both educate and train researchers about the strengths of the criminal justice administrative records system.

  • $12,247

    Just City · Memphis, TN · 2024

    To support bail system data collection and data democratization, with the overall goal of providing an accurate and holistic picture of the criminal justice system and evaluating the fidelity and impact of the changes m read all
  • $11,155

    Oregon State University · Corvallis, OR · 2024

    To bring together and support junior scholars conducting cutting edge causal research on criminal justice issues to increase the understanding and appreciation of casual reasoning and cutting-edge econometric methodolog read all
  • $10,000

    Fair Chance Institute · Brooklyn, NY · 2024

    To explore business-sector support for building a new approach to criminal background checks in hiring.

  • $7,000

    Regents of the University of Michigan · Ann Arbor, MI · 2024

    To support grantee's american law and economics association conference, with the overall goal of advancing high-quality criminal justice research.

  • $6,404

    Rand Corporation · Santa Monica, CA · 2024

    To support the dissemination of grantee's research portfolio regarding the behavior of people with criminal records and its implications for policy reform and unemployment.

  • $4.0M

    Justice Action Network Foundation · Washington, DC · 2023

    To support grantee's charitable and non-partisan criminal justice reform activities.

  • $457,017

    Research Triangle Institute · Research Triangle Park, NC · 2023

    To document the universe of factors that impact witness participation across different stages of the criminal legal system.

  • $394,134

    The Council of State Governments · Lexington, KY · 2023

    To explore solutions to reduce barriers to employment for people with criminal records.

  • $324,561

    Rutgers the State University of New Jersey · Branchville, NJ · 2023

    To continue non-partisan analytical and advisory work for the new jersey sentencing commission and engaging in investigator-initiated studies that contribute to criminal justice policy reforms.

  • $300,000

    Southern Methodist University · Dallas, TX · 2023

    To support pretrial reform work at the deason criminal justice reform center.

  • $289,416

    Radio & Television News Directors Foundation · Washington, DC · 2023

    To deepen and expand efforts to improve broadcast television's coverage of crime and criminal justice issues.

  • $257,712

    Council On Criminal Justice · Atlanta, GA · 2023

    To explore current crime trends and build consensus for significant improvements in the nation's data infrastructure and capacity to produce timely, accurate, and complete crime data.

  • $221,711

    University of Maryland · College Park, MD · 2023

    To investigate racial disparities in the prosecution of criminal cases in three maryland counties and identify policies that reduce these disparities.

  • $218,432

    Drexel University · Philadelphia, PA · 2023

    To understand the impact of fines and fees or alternative policies on individuals in the criminal justice system.

  • $200,000

    Council On Criminal Justice · Atlanta, GA · 2023

    To examine trends in correctional populations with the goal of identifying reforms that can safely reduce incarceration and racial disparities.

  • $179,353

    The Justice Management Institute · Arlington, VA · 2023

    To support the evaluation of a study on the lack of prosecution of misdemeanor offenses and its impact on subsequent criminal justice system involvement.

  • $138,850

    Regents of the University of California at Irvine · Irvine, CA · 2023

    To partner with mid-size prosecutors' offices to learn whether, how, and why racial differences exist at various stages of a criminal case.

  • $100,000

    National Bureau of Economic Research · Cambridge, MA · 2023

    To support the crime working group to advance research on determinants of crime and the effects on the criminal justice system.

  • $100,000

    Return Strong · Las Vegas, NV · 2023

    To support criminal justice reform in nevada, including advancing fines and fees reform, generating support for second look policies, and expanding and strengthening prison oversight mechanisms.

  • $100,000

    Council On Criminal Justice · Atlanta, GA · 2023

    To communicate results and policy recommendations following a year-long consensus-building effort on the effects of long sentences on the criminal justice system and the population it serves.

  • $94,788

    The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York · New York, NY · 2023

    To conduct a randomized controlled trial on the effects of legal financial obligations on criminal defendants' recidivism and other life outcomes.

  • $90,000

    Fair Chance Institute · Brooklyn, NY · 2023

    To explore business-sector support for building a new approach to criminal background checks in hiring.

  • $86,758

    Regents of the University of Michigan · Ann Arbor, MI · 2023

    To pilot an intensive training workshop to both educate and train researchers about the strengths of the criminal justice administrative records system.

  • $80,379

    University of Delaware · Newark, DE · 2023

    To examine how disasters reveal the pre-existing and routine strains of criminal legal involvement for individuals on community supervision.

  • $75,000

    Vera Institute of Justice · Brooklyn, NY · 2023

    To support the development of strategies to increase housing access for people with criminal records.

  • $56,031

    Rutgers the State University of New Jersey · Branchville, NJ · 2023

    To provide research and analysis to the new jersey criminal sentencing and disposition commission.

  • $53,982

    National Academy of Sciences · Washington, DC · 2023

    To produce a consensus report on how public policy can reduce racial inequities in the criminal justice system.

  • $46,272

    Council On Criminal Justice · Atlanta, GA · 2023

    To support a washington post live convening on violent crime and evidence-based solutions.

  • $40,739

    Rand Corporation · Santa Monica, CA · 2023

    To conduct a randomized controlled trial on the impact of having a public defender at a criminal defendant's preliminary arraignment.

  • $39,067

    Rand Corporation · Santa Monica, CA · 2023

    To support the dissemination of grantee's research portfolio regarding the behavior of people with criminal records and its implications for policy reform and unemployment.

  • $35,000

    The Council of State Governments · Lexington, KY · 2023

    To support reducing barriers to employment for people with criminal records in up to 10 states.

  • $31,201

    The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York · New York, NY · 2023

    To support the columbia justice lab's evaluation of the human and fiscal costs of incarceration in manhattan to inform criminal justice policy.

  • $25,829

    National Criminal Justice Association · Washington, DC · 2023

    To continue the national criminal justice reform project.

  • $18,359

    Dane County Criminal Justice Council · Madison, WI · 2023

    To assist dane county with data collection for completing a randomized controlled trial and other research.

  • $17,929

    The National Press Foundation · Washington, DC · 2023

    To support a convening of broadcast journalists, hosted by the national press foundation and rtdna, to discuss challenges and opportunities for criminal justice coverage.

  • $17,000

    The Justice Management Institute · Arlington, VA · 2023

    To support the 2023 annual meeting of the national network of criminal justice coordinating councils.

  • $1.0M

    New Venture Fund · Washington, DC · 2022

    To support the clean slate initiative to automate record clearance for certain individuals with criminal records and expand eligibility criteria.

  • $916,622

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2022

    To conduct research with the philadelphia district attorney's office to evaluate which prosecutor-driven policies can improve fairness and efficiency in the criminal justice system.

  • $790,000

    Research Foundation of the City University of New York · New York, NY · 2022

    For the purpose of analyzing the impact of new york's criminal justice reform.

  • $694,602

    Drexel University · Philadelphia, PA · 2022

    To understand the impact of fines and fees or alternative policies on individuals in the criminal justice system.

  • $584,035

    Rutgers the State University of New Jersey · Branchville, NJ · 2022

    To provide research and analysis to the new jersey criminal sentencing and disposition commission.

  • $519,270

    Nacdl Foundation for Criminal Justice · Washington, DC · 2022

    To support a pilot evaluation on the adoption of counsel at first appearance in virginia.

  • $418,385

    Council On Criminal Justice · Atlanta, GA · 2022

    To examine trends in correctional populations with the goal of identifying reforms that can safely reduce incarceration and racial disparities.

  • $400,000

    The Council of State Governments · Lexington, KY · 2022

    To support reducing barriers to employment for people with criminal records in up to 10 states.

  • $393,740

    Southern Methodist University · Dallas, TX · 2022

    To support pretrial reform work at the deason criminal justice reform center.

  • $333,222

    The Regents of the University of California Irvine · Irvine, CA · 2022

    To partner with mid-size prosecutors' offices to learn whether, how, and why racial differences exist at various stages of a criminal case.

  • $300,000

    The National Press Foundation · Washington, DC · 2022

    To support a convening of broadcast journalists, hosted by the national press foundation and rtdna, to discuss challenges and opportunities for criminal justice coverage.

  • $275,524

    University of Maryland · College Park, MD · 2022

    To investigate racial disparities in the prosecution of criminal cases in three maryland counties and identify policies that reduce these disparities.

  • $275,000

    Regents of the University of Michigan · Ann Arbor, MI · 2022

    To support criminal justice reform litigation.

  • $250,000

    The Aspen Institute · Washington, DC · 2022

    To drive new ideas about criminal justice reform in america.

  • $200,000

    Council On Criminal Justice · Atlanta, GA · 2022

    To support a washington post live convening on violent crime and evidence-based solutions.

  • $199,353

    The Justice Management Institute · Arlington, VA · 2022

    To support the evaluation of a study on the lack of prosecution of misdemeanor offenses and its impact on subsequent criminal justice system involvement.

  • $175,000

    Research Foundation of the City University of New York · New York, NY · 2022

    To promote data-driven prosecution reform and safely reduce the imprint of the criminal justice system.

  • $166,011

    Rand Corporation · Santa Monica, CA · 2022

    To conduct a randomized controlled trial in allegheny county, pennsylvania on the impact of having a public defender at a criminal defendant's preliminary arraignment.

  • $121,171

    National Academy of Sciences · Washington, DC · 2022

    To produce a consensus report on how public policy can reduce racial inequities in the criminal justice system.

  • $100,000

    The Council of State Governments · Lexington, KY · 2022

    To provide technical support in states reducing legal barriers to employment and economic opportunity for people with criminal records.

  • $90,640

    Vera Institute of Justice · Brooklyn, NY · 2022

    To support the development of strategies to increase housing access for people with criminal records.

  • $90,179

    Tides Center · Los Angeles, CA · 2022

    To support research and education on evidence-based criminal justice reform policies.

  • $88,189

    National Conference of State Legislatures · Denver, CO · 2022

    To provide key stakeholders with resources to support evidence-based decision making related to criminal justice policy.

  • $65,349

    The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York · New York, NY · 2022

    To support the columbia justice lab's evaluation of the human and fiscal costs of incarceration in manhattan to inform criminal justice policy.

  • $50,000

    The Niskanen Center · Washington, DC · 2022

    To collect data and support a risks, needs, review survey of the criminal justice system.

  • $50,000

    Georgetown University · Washington, DC · 2022

    To support high-impact litigation challenging the criminalization of poverty as it relates to cash bail and pretrial fines and fees.

  • $46,444

    New York University · New York, NY · 2022

    To create a novel dataset from publicly available jail rosters and criminal case records and assess the causal impacts of pretrial decisions.

  • $46,267

    Regents of the University of California at Berkeley · Berkeley, CA · 2022

    To fund a randomized controlled trial of a cognitive behavioral therapy program for individuals with mental illness who are involved in the criminal justice system.

  • $42,130

    Impact for Equity · Chicago, IL · 2022

    Policy analysis and research around criminal justice reform in illinois.

  • $40,000

    National Center for Youth Law · Oakland, CA · 2022

    To promote fairness in the juvenile and criminal justice systems

  • $36,916

    Rutgers the State University of New Jersey · Branchville, NJ · 2022

    To provide technical assistance to the new jersey criminal sentencing and disposition commission.

  • $30,000

    American Civil Liberties Union Foundation · New York, NY · 2022

    To support efforts to reform criminal justice practices that disproportionately punish people experiencing poverty.

  • $21,085

    New York City Criminal Justice Agency · New York, NY · 2022

    To evaluate the impact of new york state bail reform.

  • $19,000

    The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York · New York, NY · 2022

    To conduct a randomized controlled trial on the effects of legal financial obligations on criminal defendants' recidivism and other life outcomes.

  • $10,569

    Research Foundation of the City University of New York · New York, NY · 2022

    To educate the public of evidence-based criminal justice research.

  • $5,435

    New York City Criminal Justice Agency · New York, NY · 2022

    To investigate the impact of pretrial detention on different defendant populations in new york city.

  • $4,386

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2022

    To fund a study of the effects of vertical and horizontal defense representation models on case and criminal justice outcomes.

  • $3.2M

    Coalition for Public Safety · Washington, DC · 2020

    To support nonpartisan criminal justice reform efforts in 2020.

  • $538,262

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2020

    To conduct research with the philadelphia district attorney's office to evaluate which prosecutor-driven policies can improve fairness and efficiency in the criminal justice system.

  • $412,634

    New York City Criminal Justice Agency · New York, NY · 2020

    To investigate the impact of pretrial detention on different defendant populations in new york city.

  • $390,000

    National Center for Youth Law · Oakland, CA · 2020

    To promote fairness in the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

  • $340,000

    New York City Criminal Justice Agency · New York, NY · 2020

    To evaluate the impact of new york state bail reform in regards to studying failure to appear.

  • $325,000

    National Conference of State Legislatures · Denver, CO · 2020

    To provide key stakeholders with resources to support evidence-based decision making related to criminal justice policy.

  • $275,000

    Public Justice Foundation · Washington, DC · 2020

    To support strategic litigation to combat the criminalization of poverty.

  • $250,000

    The Aspen Institute · Washington, DC · 2020

    To drive new ideas about criminal justice reform in america.

  • $250,000

    Georgetown University · Washington, DC · 2020

    To support high-impact litigation challenging the criminalization of poverty as it relates to cash bail and pretrial fines and fees.

  • $250,000

    Johns Hopkins University · Baltimore, MD · 2020

    To (i) assess beliefs and attitudes about medication treatment for opioid use disorder ("moud") among decision makers within the criminal justice system and (ii) evaluate the delaware department of corrections' moud pro read all
  • $245,000

    Southern Center for Human Rights · Atlanta, GA · 2020

    To support efforts challenging the criminalization of poverty and wealth-based discrimination in detention and access to services in georgia.

  • $245,000

    New York City Criminal Justice Agency · New York, NY · 2020

    To evaluate the impact of new york state bail reform.

  • $220,000

    Ideas42 · New York, NY · 2020

    To study and promote the use of proportional fines in the criminal justice system.

  • $219,822

    National Center for State Courts · Williamsburg, VA · 2020

    To help reduce the amount of time it takes to process criminal cases.

  • $200,000

    The Council of State Governments · Lexington, KY · 2020

    To provide technical support in states reducing legal barriers to employment and economic opportunity for people with criminal records.

  • $200,000

    New York University · New York, NY · 2020

    To create a novel dataset from publicly available jail rosters and criminal case records and assess the causal impacts of pretrial decisions.

  • $180,000

    Research Foundation of the City University of New York · New York, NY · 2020

    For the purpose of analyzing the impact of new york's criminal justice reform.

  • $175,000

    Research Foundation of the City University of New York · New York, NY · 2020

    To promote data-driven prosecution reform and safely reduce the imprint of the criminal justice system.

  • $150,000

    New Venture Fund · Washington, DC · 2020

    To support the fines and fees justice center, with the overall goal of increasing fairness in the criminal justice system.

  • $145,000

    Education Trust · Washington, DC · 2020

    To provide access to higher education for justice-impacted students and reduce barriers to successful reintegration for people with criminal records.

  • $115,000

    American Civil Liberties Union Foundation · New York, NY · 2020

    To support efforts to reform criminal justice practices that disproportionately punish people experiencing poverty.

  • $100,000

    National Press Foundation · Washington, DC · 2020

    To conduct reporting trainings on issues including criminal justice, statehouse and local issues and topics pertaining to this election year.

  • $100,000

    Public Policy Institute of California · San Francisco, CA · 2020

    To examine whether proposition 47 has affected racial disparity in the first stages of the criminal justice process.

  • $90,000

    President and Fellows of Harvard College · Cambridge, MA · 2020

    To conduct comprehensive legal and policy research regarding how each state uses community supervision to monitor and enforce payment of criminal justice debt.

  • $90,000

    Rand Corporation · Santa Monica, CA · 2020

    To estimate the prevalence of criminal histories among small business owners.

  • $72,848

    Rand Corporation · Santa Monica, CA · 2020

    To conduct a randomized controlled trial in allegheny county, pennsylvania on the impact of having a public defender at a criminal defendants preliminary arraignment.

  • $37,058

    President and Fellows of Harvard College · Cambridge, MA · 2020

    To fund grantee's criminal justice policy program.

  • $34,767

    Volcker Alliance · New York, NY · 2020

    To host a criminal justice convening in the fall of 2019 that defines the criminal justice policy and research agenda over the next year.

  • $26,583

    Fund for the City of New York · New York, NY · 2020

    To publish a practitioner brief on current ability-to-pay bail and criminal justice fines and fees practices.

  • $25,000

    Regents of the University of Michigan · Ann Arbor, MI · 2020

    To support research into the criminal justice exclusions of the covid-19 payment protection program.

  • $15,804

    National Press Foundation · Washington, DC · 2020

    To hold a three-day workshop in san francisco, california to educate journalists on criminal justice issues.

  • $12,000

    The Justice Management Institute · Arlington, VA · 2020

    To cover meeting costs for an annual convening of the national network of criminal justice coordinating councils.

  • $2,000

    The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York · New York, NY · 2020

    To conduct a randomized controlled trial on the effects of legal financial obligations on criminal defendants' recidivism and other life outcomes.

Top recipients

Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.

  • The City Fund3 grants · $30.9M
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology19 grants · $28.2M
  • Urban Institute76 grants · $26.4M
  • Mdrc40 grants · $24.7M
  • Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania41 grants · $21.6M
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College65 grants · $21.1M
  • Center for Effective Public Policy5 grants · $17.0M
  • Research Triangle Institute39 grants · $14.5M
  • Accelerate - the National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning2 grants · $13.3M
  • Regents of the University of California at Berkeley56 grants · $11.1M

Giving over time

$212.4M
2020
$185.8M
2022
$162.9M
2023
$193.3M
2024

Grant history

The 100 largest of 2,588 grants.

  • $17.3M

    The City Fund · Falls Church, VA · 2020

    To provide general operating support.

  • $12.5M

    The City Fund · Beaverton, OR · 2024

    To provide general operating support to support grantee's efforts to partner with local leaders to create innovative public school systems, with the overall goal of improving the quality of public education in cities ac read all
  • $10.0M

    Accelerate - the National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning · Nashville, TN · 2023

    To support the national tutoring program.

  • $10.0M

    America Achieves · New York, NY · 2022

    To support a national tutoring program and accompanying research to improve academics and wellness for students.

  • $10.0M

    Civica Foundation · Lehi, UT · 2022

    To support the grantee's program to produce nonprofit biosimilar insulin.

  • $6.4M

    Evidence for Healthcare Improvement · Boston, MA · 2020

    To support the institute for clinical and economic review research that provides independent analyses of the comparative cost effectiveness for newly-introduced pharmaceutical drugs.

  • $5.0M

    Urban Institute · Washington, DC · 2020

    To support research to advance and elevate tax and spending policy.

  • $5.0M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2024

    To support grantee to develop and advance multiple strategies to significantly increase its organizational impact in areas including: (i) strengthening connections between its research and policymakers; (ii) building a read all
  • $5.0M

    Habitat for Humanity International · Americus, GA · 2023

    To provide a program-related investment in support of habitat affiliates with early-stage capital for affordable housing development.

  • $5.0M

    Habitat for Humanity International · Americus, GA · 2022

    To provide habitat affiliates with early-stage capital for affordable housing development.

  • $4.8M

    Center for Effective Public Policy · Kensington, MD · 2020

    To provide training and technical assistance for the public safety assessment and pretrial reform.

  • $4.6M

    Center for Effective Public Policy · Kensington, MD · 2023

    To provide training and technical assistance for the public safety assessment and pretrial reform.

  • $4.0M

    Justice Action Network Foundation · Washington, DC · 2023

    To support grantee's charitable and non-partisan criminal justice reform activities.

  • $4.0M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2020

    To support the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab's north america regional office.

  • $3.5M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2024

    To support j-pal north america, including by funding landmark randomized evaluations, expanding the capacity and diversity of researchers who work on randomized evaluations, translating findings into actionable insights read all
  • $3.5M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2023

    To support the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab north america in its work to generate randomized controlled trials that measure the impact of social programs and policies.

  • $3.5M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2022

    To support the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab north america in its work to generate randomized controlled trials that measure the impact of social programs and policies.

  • $3.5M

    Center for Effective Public Policy · Kensington, MD · 2022

    To provide training and technical assistance for the public safety assessment and pretrial reform.

  • $3.3M

    Accelerate - the National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning · Nashville, TN · 2024

    To support grantee's states leading recovery grant program.

  • $3.2M

    Coalition for Public Safety · Washington, DC · 2020

    To support nonpartisan criminal justice reform efforts in 2020.

  • $3.2M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2020

    To study the impacts of preschool, summer curricula, and enhanced teacher training on early childhood learning.

  • $3.1M

    Children'S Hospital Corporation Dba Children'S Hospital Boston · Boston, MA · 2020

    To fund a randomized controlled trial analyzing how carbohydrates, fat, and added sugar affect body fat and metabolism.

  • $3.1M

    Persistent Surveillance Systems Llc · Xenia, OH · 2020

    To conduct a six-month pilot test of the aerial investigative research program to assist the baltimore city police department.

  • $3.0M

    Center for Effective Public Policy · Kensington, MD · 2024

    To provide training and technical assistance for the public safety assessment and pretrial reform.

  • $3.0M

    Coalition for Public Safety · Washington, DC · 2022

    To provide general operating support.

  • $3.0M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2024

    To support the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab north america in its work to generate randomized controlled trials that measure the impact of social programs and policies.

  • $3.0M

    Urban Institute · Washington, DC · 2023

    To fund the tax policy center.

  • $3.0M

    President and Fellows of Harvard College · Cambridge, MA · 2022

    To provide general operating support.

  • $3.0M

    Urban Institute · Washington, DC · 2022

    To fund the tax policy center.

  • $3.0M

    President and Fellows of Harvard College · Cambridge, MA · 2020

    To provide general operating support.

  • $2.8M

    President and Fellows of Harvard College · Cambridge, MA · 2020

    To support the operations of the harvard healthcare markets and regulations lab.

  • $2.5M

    Research Triangle Institute · Research Triangle Park, NC · 2020

    To conduct research on the public safety assessment in up to ten research and implementation sites.

  • $2.5M

    Charter Fund · Broomfield, CO · 2020

    To support the expansion and replication of high-quality schools in camden, new jersey.

  • $2.5M

    Pew Charitable Trusts · Philadelphia, PA · 2020

    To support improved management of state and local public retirement systems.

  • $2.5M

    William Marsh Rice University · Houston, TX · 2020

    To provide operational support to launch the texas policy lab.

  • $2.4M

    Urban Institute · Washington, DC · 2022

    To launch a prison research and innovation initiative to infuse transparency, accountability, and innovation into the prison sector.

  • $2.3M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2022

    To support the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab's north america regional office.

  • $2.3M

    New Venture Fund · Washington, DC · 2020

    To support the clean slate campaign.

  • $2.2M

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2020

    To support implementation of the transitional care model across four hospital systems.

  • $2.1M

    Vera Institute of Justice · Brooklyn, NY · 2022

    To help reimagine the american prison system through strategic communications and expanding and evaluating the restoring promise initiative.

  • $2.0M

    Johns Hopkins University · Baltimore, MD · 2024

    To continue to develop and publicly disseminate policy options to regulate and control drug spending.

  • $2.0M

    Vera Institute of Justice · Brooklyn, NY · 2024

    To support the restoring promise initiative that partners with state departments of corrections to design and facilitate rigorous evaluation of reimagined housing units for incarcerated young adults in a way that center read all
  • $2.0M

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2022

    To support improvement of the penn wharton budget model.

  • $2.0M

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2020

    To support the analysis and impact of federal budget policy reform proposals for policymakers.

  • $2.0M

    Urban Institute · Washington, DC · 2020

    To launch a prison research and innovation initiative to infuse transparency, accountability, and innovation into the prison sector.

  • $2.0M

    Georgetown University · Washington, DC · 2024

    To support grantee's center on health insurance reforms in providing policymakers and key stakeholders with educational resources and non-partisan technical assistance to support effective cost containment strategies.

  • $1.9M

    American Journalism Project · Washington, DC · 2022

    To support civic news organizations' business development.

  • $1.9M

    American Journalism Project · Washington, DC · 2020

    To support civic news organizations' business development.

  • $1.9M

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2024

    To expand pwbm's ability to provide accurate, accessible, and transparent budget and economic analysis of public policy by providing more access to the model and data while deepening the model's capabilities.

  • $1.8M

    Center for Health Policy Development · Portland, ME · 2020

    To provide educational resources for prescription drug and commercial health care prices.

  • $1.8M

    Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center · New York, NY · 2020

    To support grantee's continued efforts to communicates viable, evidence-based methodologies and solutions to drug pricing that balance patient affordability with sustained incentives for innovation.

  • $1.7M

    Research Triangle Institute · Research Triangle Park, NC · 2022

    To conduct research on the public safety assessment in up to ten research and implementation sites.

  • $1.7M

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2022

    To support implementation of the transitional care model across four hospital systems.

  • $1.7M

    Social Finance · Boston, MA · 2022

    To support the acceleration of donor-advised fund capital toward impact investing.

  • $1.6M

    Oregon Health & Science University · Portland, OR · 2020

    To fund the state medicaid alternative reimbursement and purchasing test for high cost drugs (smart-d) and support the development of value-based alternative drug purchasing models through pharmacy policy interventions, read all
  • $1.5M

    Brown University · Providence, RI · 2020

    To develop and fund initial operations of the brown policy lab.

  • $1.5M

    Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    To support grantee's work in bringing greater attention and visibility to hospital and health system spending, prices, finance, and business practices that impact access to care and lead to higher costs for families, em read all
  • $1.5M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2024

    To construct a cyclotron facility and procuring the installation of the first 30 mev proton beam within the cyclotron facility.

  • $1.5M

    The Brigham and Women'S Hospital · Boston, MA · 2024

    To support the program on regulation, therapeutics, and law ("portal") project on prescription drug policy and promoting meaningful drug innovation and regulation.

  • $1.5M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2023

    To advance evidence-based policy through high-quality research and technical assistance to generate sustainable, measurable change across several grantee divisions.

  • $1.5M

    The Brigham and Womens Hospital · Boston, MA · 2023

    To support the program on regulation, therapeutics, and law ("portal") project on prescription drug policy and promoting meaningful drug innovation and regulation.

  • $1.5M

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2023

    To support improvement of the penn wharton budget model.

  • $1.5M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2022

    For continued support of the state and local government innovation initiative.

  • $1.5M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2022

    To advance evidence-based policy through high-quality research and technical assistance to generate sustainable, measurable change across several grantee divisions.

  • $1.5M

    Johns Hopkins University · Baltimore, MD · 2020

    To develop and disseminate research on policy options that maximize access to and affordability of prescription drugs without stifling innovation.

  • $1.5M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2020

    To support the state and local government innovation initiative at the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab's regional office in north america.

  • $1.5M

    Regents University of California Los Angeles · Los Angeles, CA · 2020

    To conduct a randomized controlled trial of the michigan contraceptive access research and evaluation program.

  • $1.5M

    Per Scholas · Bronx, NY · 2020

    To scale up grantee's workforce development program that provides information technology training for low-income adults.

  • $1.4M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2020

    To advance evidence-based policies that offer concrete, measurable, and lasting improvements to society.

  • $1.4M

    Reason Foundation · Los Angeles, CA · 2020

    To improve state and municipal pension systems.

  • $1.4M

    Social Finance · Boston, MA · 2024

    To support the acceleration of donor-advised fund capital toward impact investing.

  • $1.4M

    Per Scholas · Bronx, NY · 2022

    To scale up grantee's workforce development program that provides information technology training for low-income adults.

  • $1.3M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2023

    To study the impacts of preschool, summer curricula, and enhanced teacher training on early childhood learning.

  • $1.3M

    The Council of State Governments · Lexington, KY · 2020

    To implement a scalable technology solution to reduce revocations and recidivism in three states.

  • $1.3M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2022

    To advance evidence-based policies that offer concrete, measurable, and lasting improvements to society.

  • $1.3M

    Colorado Seminary · Denver, CO · 2020

    To help establish a policy lab in the state of colorado.

  • $1.3M

    Rand Corporation · Santa Monica, CA · 2022

    To conduct research on how to reduce gun violence.

  • $1.3M

    Social Finance · Boston, MA · 2023

    To support the acceleration of donor-advised fund capital toward impact investing.

  • $1.3M

    Mathematica · Princeton, NJ · 2022

    To support a randomized controlled trial to evaluate a nurse-led hospital discharge and home follow-up program for chronically ill older adults.

  • $1.3M

    Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget · Washington, DC · 2024

    To support fiscal policy work related to tax and budget policy.

  • $1.3M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2024

    To support the state and local innovation initiative ("slii") of grantee's abdul latif jameel poverty action lab ("j-pal") north america.

  • $1.2M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2020

    To launch phase i of the scaling up community college efforts for student success (success) project to pilot and evaluate lower-cost student success interventions to improve such outcomes as completion and time-to-degre read all
  • $1.2M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2022

    To study the impacts of preschool, summer curricula, and enhanced teacher training on early childhood learning.

  • $1.2M

    Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget · Washington, DC · 2023

    To support fiscal policy and higher education analysis work.

  • $1.2M

    Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget · Washington, DC · 2022

    To support fiscal policy and higher education analysis work.

  • $1.2M

    University of Utah · Salt Lake City, UT · 2020

    To provide technical support, capacity building resources, and training to reproductive health providers in utah.

  • $1.2M

    University of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2020

    To pilot a project aimed at improving outcomes for youth ages 16 to 24 who are out of school and work in chicago.

  • $1.2M

    Terner Housing Innovation Labs · Oakland, CA · 2024

    To support (1) the scaling of grantee's housing supply simulator tool to new states and municipalities to assist policymakers and researchers in determining the market effects of individual land use policies and (2) pub read all
  • $1.2M

    Southern Poverty Law Center · Montgomery, AL · 2020

    To support litigation and public education efforts concerning indigent incarceration and drivers license suspensions.

  • $1.1M

    The Trustees of Princeton University · Princeton, NJ · 2023

    To develop a research infrastructure that helps cities better understand and respond to waves of gun violence.

  • $1.1M

    Center for Effective Public Policy · Kensington, MD · 2022

    To provide technical assistance for pretrial reform implementation in illinois.

  • $1.1M

    The City Fund · Falls Church, VA · 2020

    To improve the quality of public education in cities across the united states.

  • $1.1M

    Project On Predatory Student Lending · Jamaica Plain, MA · 2024

    To provide general operating support.

  • $1.1M

    University of Washington · Seattle, WA · 2022

    To conduct research exploring the impacts of monetary sanctions and identifying alternative legal system reforms.

  • $1.1M

    Rand Corporation · Santa Monica, CA · 2024

    To support and expand grantee's gun policy in america initiative which provides the public, policymakers, and journalists with needed information on the effects of gun policies.

  • $1.1M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2020

    To evaluate the least burdensome release conditions and supervision practices that improve court appearance.

  • $1.1M

    University of Southern California · Los Angeles, CA · 2020

    To support further research and policy development on surprise medical billing, analysis on the relationship between private equity and commercial health care prices, and the development of affordability policies and st read all
  • $1.1M

    Regents University of California Los Angeles · Los Angeles, CA · 2020

    To support the operations of the california policy lab, which seeks to improve california state and local government programs and policy.

  • $1.1M

    Regents of the University of California at Berkeley · Berkeley, CA · 2020

    To support the operations of the california policy lab, which seeks to improve california state and local government programs and policy.

  • $1.1M

    Arizona State University Foundation for a New American University · Tempe, AZ · 2023

    To develop domestic violence pretrial assessments.

View all 2,588 grants →

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Source: IRS Form 990-PF, Part XV, as filed by the foundation. These are grants already paid — a record of what this funder backs, not an open call.