Chorus Foundation

Overview

The Chorus Foundation was a Boston-based, left-of-center private foundation that funded organizations working on climate change and economic development in four regions: Alaska; Eastern Kentucky; Buffalo, New York; and Richmond, California. Its grantmaking was organized around the concept of a “just transition,” a framework with roots in the left-wing labor and environmental justice movements that envisions a shift away from hydrocarbon fuels without increasing concentrations of wealth or leaving workers in affected industries jobless. The foundation was founded and led by Farhad Ebrahimi, who completed its planned spend-down before it ceased operations and stopped accepting funding requests in 2024. ^{1  3}

Ebrahimi, who has described himself as a “philanthropy abolitionist,” framed the spend-down as part of a broader argument against the perpetual existence of private foundations, contending that such institutions should transfer both resources and decision-making power to the communities they fund. The foundation was a member of several funder networks associated with left-of-center philanthropies, including the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, the EDGE Funders Alliance, and the Neighborhood Funders Group, and Ebrahimi separately co-founded the donor network Solidaire Network. ^{1  2}

Background

Farhad Ebrahimi incorporated the Chorus Foundation in 2006 with assets he received from his parents. His father, known professionally as Fred Ebrahimi, was a former co-owner and chief executive of the software company Quark. In its early years, the foundation focused exclusively on climate change and support for market-driven energy efficiency programs and national climate policy advocacy. The foundation later moved toward place-based, multi-issue grantmaking organized around the concept of a “just transition” away from hydrocarbon fuels, a framework with roots in the left-wing labor and environmental justice movements. ¹

In 2013, the foundation made a ten-year funding commitment to organizations in Eastern Kentucky as part of an anticipated spend-down of its assets. Following a planning process completed in 2016, it extended eight-year funding commitments to three additional regions: Alaska; Buffalo, New York; and Richmond, California. The Chorus Foundation distributed an estimated $60 million in grants between 2013 and 2023. As of 2026, the foundation’s website stated that it had distributed its remaining assets and ceased operations, and that it was no longer accepting funding requests. ^{1  4  3}

The Chorus Foundation’s legal name was The Chorus Inc, consistent with its public branding. By 2024, in its final year of operations, the foundation had begun operating under the legal name Flock Inc., while retaining the same Boston address, telephone number, and officers. No public announcement explaining the change was made. ^{5  6}

Programs

The Chorus Foundation’s grantmaking centered on long-term, unrestricted support for “anchor organizations” in its four focus regions, including the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Communities for a Better Environment, and Urban Tilth in Richmond, California; Open Buffalo and PUSH Buffalo in Buffalo, New York; the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development in Eastern Kentucky; and the Alaska office of the Native American Rights Fund. The foundation reported holding no investments in hydrocarbon fuel companies and described directing nearly $4 million toward weather-dependent energy and cooperative-finance ventures, including the weather-dependent energy retailer Ethical Electric, and The Working World, a lender to worker cooperatives. ⁴

Leadership

As of November 2024, the Chorus Foundation’s officers were Farhad Ebrahimi, president; Nina Ross, vice president, clerk, and director; and Noeleen Little, treasurer. None of these officers received compensation. Ebrahimi was the foundation’s founder and president throughout its operations. Ross was also the co-founder and president of Rostam, a Boston-based investment firm whose address the foundation used for its mailings and served as a founding trustee of the foundation. ^{7  8}

Financials

In 2024, the Chorus Foundation reported total revenues of $43,883,910. Contributions accounted for $42,352,511 of this total, or approximately 96.5 percent of revenue. The entire $42,352,511 in contributions came from a single donor, founder Farhad Ebrahimi, who gave the foundation securities in December 2023. ^{9  10}

The foundation reported total expenses of $25,300,373 in 2024, of which $23,954,811, approximately 94.7 percent, was disbursed as grants to approximately 80 organizations. This left an excess of revenue over expenses of $18,583,537 for the year. At the year’s end, the foundation reported total assets of $25,861,013, total liabilities of $244, and net assets of $25,860,769. ^{9  11}

These 2024 figures represented a sharp increase from the prior year. For the fiscal year ending in November 2023, the Chorus Foundation reported total revenues of $9,965,266 and total expenses of $10,294,337, resulting in an excess of expenses over revenue of $329,071 and ending net assets of $7,277,232. The increase reflected a final contribution from Ebrahimi as part of the foundation’s planned spend-down. ¹²