Amy and Steve Unfried Foundation

Background

The Amy and Steve Unfried Foundation is a small private family grantmaking foundation based in Wilson, Wyoming. In 2025, it donated to 14 charities dedicated to a range of issue areas, including environmentalist activism and climate policy, education, and the arts, with its largest contribution to the left-of-center environmentalist law firm Earthjustice. ¹

Funding

The Unfried Foundation’s funding comes strictly from its investment portfolio with no outside donors or fundraising. ¹

Starting 2001, the earliest year for which IRS filings of the organization are available at ProPublica’s nonprofit organization records database, ² the Unfried Foundation has donated to Earthjustice nearly every year, up to and including 2025, with increases in allocation amounts. ^{3  4} In 2001, the allocation amount was $2,500, ² but in 2025, the allocation amount was the highest given to any organization that year totaling $210,000. ¹

The Unfried Foundation has allocated money to Yale Law School, including in 2024, ⁵ 2023, ⁶ and 2022. ⁷ It regularly granted money to the Milton Academy, the Westminster School, Princeton University, and Yale Law School, all of which are alma maters of the foundation’s founders. ⁸

People

Steve Unfried, the co-founder and trustee of the Amy and Steve Unfried Foundation, was previously an investment banker with Credit Suisse First Boston from 1969 to 1999. ⁹ He was actively involved in conservation issues in the Northern Rockies, including as a vice-chair and chair of the board of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. ^{10  11  9} Steve Unfried sat on Earthjustice’s board of trustees ¹² and as of June 2026, was considered an Honorary Life Trustee of the organization. ¹³

In 2012, Unfried was listed as Earthjustice’s treasurer and vice chair of finance. ¹² As a trustee of Earthjustice and the founder and trustee of Amy and Steve Unfried Foundation, Steve Unfriend’s foundation has awarded money to Earthjustice nearly every year since 2001. ^{1  2} Steve Unfried graduated from the Westminster School, obtained a bachelor’s from Princeton University, and earned a master’s degree and a law degree from Yale University. ^{9  8}

Amy Unfried, the co-founder and trustee of the Amy and Steve Unfried Foundation, was a sculptor and her work has been exhibited since 1991. ¹⁴ She attended the Milton Academy and Wellesley College. She received her master’s degree from Yale University. ⁸