The Diane and Dorothy Brooks Foundation (DDBF) is a grantmaking foundation run by film and television writer James L. Brooks. The DDBF primarily donates to non-partisan philanthropic foundations, but also donates to nonprofits that support a wide range of left-of-center goals, including liberal expansionist immigration policy and Democratic Party-backed electoral administration policies.

Leadership

In 2021, James L. Brooks was listed as the president of the Diane and Dorothy Brooks Foundation on its tax forms. Brooks is a film and television director, producer, and writer best known for working on “The Simpsons,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “As Good As It Gets,” and “Terms of Endearment.” Diane and Dorothy Brooks are James’s older sister and mother respectively. Since 1987, Brooks has donated $3,289,128.96 in federal reportable contributions to Democratic candidates and PACs. ^{1 2}

The DDBF has no website or online explanation for the foundation’s establishment; however, since Diane Brooks died when James was only 22 years old and before he made a fortune in film and television production, James presumably started the DDBF and named it after his mother and sister. In an interview, James Brooks lamented that “my mother died before I could help her materially.” ^{1 3}

On the DDBF’s 2021 tax return, James’s children, Amy, Chloe, Cooper, and Joseph Brooks, are listed as vice presidents. ^{4 1 5}

Grants

In 2021, the Diane and Dorothy Brooks Foundation disbursed $7,272,636 in grants. Most grants went to a wide range of philanthropic causes including health care, education, environmental conservation, and poverty relief. Recipients included the Mayo Clinic, Meals on Wheels, Kentucky Toy Drive, the Clayton Children’s Museum, the Clean Air Task Force, Johns Hopkins University, the Wildlife Conservation Network, and the Central Valley Food Bank. ¹

The DDBF also donated to a wide range of left-of-center and Democratic Party-aligned nonprofits. The Hopewell Fund, a fiscal sponsorship nonprofit managed by Arabella Advisors, received $1.5 million; the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a left-of-center attorneys group, received $263,750; the National Vote at Home Institute received $250,000; Partners in Health, a left-wing philanthropic health care group, received $150,000; the Priorities USA Foundation, the charitable arm of the pro-Democratic Priorities USA Super PAC, received $100,000; the Third Way Institute, a left-of-center think tank, received $50,000; and Chinese for Affirmative Action received $50,000. ¹

In 2020, the DDBF contributed over $1 million to the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; $750,000 to the National Vote at Home Institute; $250,000 to the William J. Brennan Center for Justice, a left-of-center think tank and advocacy group; $100,000 to the NAACP; $75,000 to the Tides Foundation; $50,000 to the Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center; $50,000 to the Immigrant Defenders Law Center; and $10,000 to the New York Immigration Coalition. ⁶

Also in 2020, the DDBF partnered with the Ford Foundation, the JPB Foundation, the Robin Hood Foundation, the William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation, M&T Bank, Trinity Church Wall Street, and Wells Fargo to contribute $7.2 million to Project Parachute, a project of numerous New York City agencies to support low-income New York City homeowners stay in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⁷

In 2019, the DDBF contributed $500,000 to the Voter Registration Project. ⁸

1. “Diane Dorothy Brooks Foundation.” ProPublica. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/202653929/202203189349106910/full.
2. “Federal Election Commission search: James Brooks.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=james+brooks&contributor_employer=gracie+films.
3. Harmetz, Aljean. “COMING TO TERMS WITH SUCCESS.” The New York Times. April 8, 1984. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/08/magazine/coming-to-terms-with-success.html.
4. “Judy Blume.” Twitter. June 5, 2021. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://twitter.com/judyblume/status/1401266494848344070?lang=en.
5. “#81004202.” Wire Image. Accessed June 14, 2023. http://www.wireimage.com/celebrity-pictures/Director-James-L-Brooks-and-daughter-Chloe-Brooks-arrive-at-the-14th/81004202.
6. “Diane Dorothy Brooks Foundation.” ProPublica. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/202653929/202113169349103131/full.
7. “Project Parachute Program Receives $7.2 Million in New Grants.” Enterprise Community. November 13, 2023. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/news-releases/project-parachute-program-receives-72-million-new-grants.
8. “DIANE AND DOROTHY BROOKS FOUNDATION.” Grant Makers. Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.grantmakers.io/profiles/v0/202653929-diane-and-dorothy-brooks-foundation/