Catena Foundation

The foundation is headquartered in Colorado and focuses on giving to fund Native American community programs, environmentalist groups, and left-of-center nonprofits in western states including Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, conducting some of its grantmaking in concert with other foundations funded by members of the Walton family, such as the Walton Family Foundation. The foundation has also contributed to national left-of-center organizations such as the Center for American Progress and the League of Conservation Voters. ^{2 3} The foundation is also a funder of the Global Disinformation Index. ⁴

In 2023, the foundation donated to organizations that advocated for left-of-center immigration policies including amnesty for illegal immigrants as well as media outlet. ⁵

Background

The Catena Foundation was founded in 2016 by Sam R. Walton, the grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton. The foundation was founded with a gift of 1 million shares of Walmart stock, which were worth $72 million at the time. In 2018, the Walton Family Foundation transferred $13 million to the foundation. Early grantmaking from the foundation included $2 million in grants in 2017, and $5.3 million in 2018. The foundation also made a $1.4 million investment in the form of a loan to the Trust for Public Land in 2018. The foundation has historically maintained a low profile since its founding. ²

Grantmaking

In 2020, the foundation made a total of $33.5 million in grants, according to a 2021 interview with then-Catena executive director Clare Bastable for Inside Philanthropy. Bastable also confirmed that the foundation’s primary focus area is the southwestern states along with some funding toward Latin America. She noted that the organization has funded several programs designed to benefit Native American communities. ²

In 2023, the foundation awarded $30,178,715 in grants and had $573,725,610 in assets. ⁵

COVID-19 Response Funding

The Catena Foundation provided significant funding to the state of Colorado’s COVID-19 response efforts and in 2020 partnered with three funders including the Zoma Foundation, which is funded by Sam R. Walton’s brother and sister-in-law, to launch a COVID-19 relief fund for businesses in rural Colorado. ²

Colorado Government Funding

The foundation was also contributed to the state of Colorado’s COVID Relief Fund and paid $252,000 to fund the salary of a climate advisor within the office of Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D). ⁶

Colorado River Basin

The Catena Foundation has also received criticism from far-left publication In These Times for its funding along with funding from other Walton Family-connected foundations of media coverage of water management policy in the Colorado River Basin. ⁷

Global Disinformation Index

The Catena Foundation is listed as a funder of the Global Disinformation Index, a London-based think tank focused on combatting alleged disinformation on online news sites. GDI has been criticized for associating fact-based right-leaning news outlets and beliefs with disinformation and encouraging the deplatforming and demonetization of right-leaning voices online. ^{8 9}

Immigration

In 2023, the Catena Foundation funded numerous liberal expansionist immigration groups. The group gave $900,000 to the National Immigration Forum to “support building positive narrative on immigration.” The group gave $900,000 to the FWD.us Education Fund, $600,000 to the American Immigration Council, $500,000 to Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors to “build a positive narrative around newcomers,” $400,000 to the International Refugee Assistance Project, $400,000 to America’s Voice Education Fund, $375,000 to Welcoming America to “unite the movement of welcomers to counter xenophobia,” $325,000 to Immigrant Legal Resource Center to fund additional lawyers for immigrants, $300,000 to Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services to fund additional lawyers for immigrants, $250,000 for American Business Immigration Coalition, $250,000 for the Vera Institute for Justice to procure representation for immigrants facing deportation, $235,858 to the Innovation Law Lab to fund additional attorneys for immigrants, $200,000 to the National Partnership for New Americans, and $175,000 to the Niskanen Center. All these groups support a more liberal expansionist immigration policy including amnesty for illegal immigrants and many of these groups oppose border and immigration enforcement. ⁵

In addition, the group gave $350,000 to National Public Radio to support immigration coverage in Texas and $240,000 to the Poynter Institute for Media Studies to support outreach on immigration. ⁵

Other

In 2023, the Catena Foundation donated $1,000,000 to the Republic Affairs, then known as the Defending Democracy Together Institute. Republic Affairs is a nominally right-leaning group founded by former Weekly Standard editor William Kristol opposed to President Donald Trump and which previously published The Bulwark commentary website. ⁵

Also in 2023, the group donated $1,150,000 to the State Leadership Project which is the sister network to the left-of-center Committee on States, which is the state-level counterpart of the left-of-center donor network Democracy Alliance. The Committee on States is based in part on the networks built during the Democratic takeover of Colorado in 2006. ⁵

Also in 2023, the group donated to numerous left-of-center voter registration and civic engagement groups including $800,000 to Civic Nation, $565,000 to NEO Philanthropy, $550,000 to the Workmoney Foundation which is the sister group to the labor-union backed “dark money” group WorkMoney Inc. for “addressing disengaged and disaffected citizens,” $500,000 to the Protect Democracy Project, $450,000 to the racial agitation group Western States Center, $250,000 to Public Democracy America for its Better Angels Program which helps left-of-center groups apply for Google Grants, $175,000 to Arizona Native Vote, $170,000 to Rural Arizona Engagement, $150,000 to the North Carolina Black Alliance, $150,000 to Education Reform Now, $100,000 to the Voter Formation Project, $65,000 to the Texas Organizing Project Education Fund, and $50,000 to the Jolt Initiative. ⁵

In 2023, the Catena Foundation’s largest single donation was $1,587,500 to the Environmental Defense Fund. ⁵

The Catena Foundation is listed as one of several left-of-center organizations that has donated roughly $2 million in grants to the One America Movement, a collection of religious organizations that lists the After Party as one of its partners. The After Party is a religious program started by Duke Divinity School professor Curtis Chang, New York Times columnist David French, and Christianity Today editor in chief Russell Moore. The program’s curriculum claims to be a space where pastors and other groups can reframe, “Christian political identity from today’s divisive partisan options.”  ¹⁰ Other organizations listed include the Tides Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and the John Pritzker Family Fund. ¹⁰

Leadership

In April 2025, Kathy Reich became the Catena Foundation’s executive director. She previously worked as the director of the Ford Foundation’s BUILD program and for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. ¹¹