The East West Bank Foundation is the grantmaking arm of the East West Bank, the largest publicly traded bank in Southern California, and the primary subsidiary of the East West Bancorp, a publicly owned company with assets worth more than $70 billion as of 2024. ^{1 2 3 4}

The East West Bank Foundation provides grants to several organizations across the United States, including the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, the Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment, Heal the Bay, Grameen America, and Chinese for Affirmative Action. ⁵

Background

The East West Bank Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation based in Pasadena, California. The foundation is the grantmaking arm of East West Bank, the largest publicly traded bank in Southern California, and the primary subsidiary of East West Bancorp, a publicly-owned company with assets worth more than $70 billion as of 2024. ^{1 2 3 4}

The East West Bancorp was founded in 1973 in the Los Angeles area as a federal savings and loan that catered to the Chinese-American immigrant community. The bank has more than 100 locations across the United States and Asia. ²

The East West Bank’s chairman and CEO, Dominic Ng, was appointed chair of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation’s Business Advisory Council in 2022. ⁶

The East West Bank Foundation focuses on engaging in programs that prioritize reducing homelessness, increasing homeownership, and increasing access to modern banking services. ⁷

Financials

The organization reported total revenue of approximately $7.9 million in 2021, just under $7.4 million of which came from contributions and grants. The foundation’s revenue increased to just under $12.3 million in 2022, approximately $11.3 million of which came from contributions, and had a similar revenue amount in 2023 with a total of just under $12.4 million, $11.3 million of which also came from contributions and grants. ⁸

The foundation’s total expenses amounted to just over $3 million in 2021, $3.7 million in 2022, and just under $6 million in 2023. The East West Bank Foundation’s net assets amounted to just over $28 million in 2021, slightly less than $33 million in 2022, and just over $43 million in 2023. ⁸

Grantmaking

The East West Bank Foundation provides grants to several organizations across the United States, including the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a non-interventionist foreign policy advocacy organization founded in 2019 with support from two major political donors, left-of-center George Soros, and libertarian Charles Koch. The East West Bank Foundation provided the Quincy Institute with a $50,000 grant in 2021 and another $50,000 grant in 2023. ^{9 5 10}

Other organizations that have been funded by the East West Bank Foundation include the Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment, a left-of-center advocacy group based in California that organizes get-out-the-vote campaigns to drive voter turnout among Asian-American populations in California with a particular focus on the Los Angeles area; Chinese for Affirmative Action, an advocacy organization based in San Francisco that provides services for people at the local level; and Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles, a non-profit legal aid and civil rights organization dedicated to advocating for civil rights, providing legal services and education, and building coalitions on behalf of the Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. ⁵

EWBF has also funded Grameen America, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance and microloans to women under the federal poverty line, as well as Heal the Bay, an advocacy group that promotes left-of-center environmental policies including banning certain plastic usage, blocking drilling for oil, and opposing the development of desalination facilities. ^{11 5}

1. “Largest 50 US banks by total assets, Q1 2023.” S & P Global. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/articles/2023/6/largest-50-us-banks-by-total-assets-q1-2023-76015412.
2. Min, Sarah. “How East West Bancorp has gained an edge by serving the Asian American community.” May 31, 2024. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/31/how-east-west-bancorp-has-gained-an-edge-by-serving-the-asian-american-commun.html.
3. “East West Bancorp reports post-crisis gain in account holders.” American Banker. January 24, 2024. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/east-west-bancorp-reports-post-crisis-gain-in-account-holders.
4. “’Everybody Else Left or They Died:’ California Bank Grows Simply by Surviving.” Bloomberg. August 23, 2023. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-23/east-west-bancorp-is-biggest-california-bank-after-svb-frc-fall.
5. “East West Bank Foundation – 2021.” Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/461648827/202243199349107254/full
6. “East West Bank – Celebrating 50 Years.” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1069157/000117494723000542/ea176697-ars_eastwestban.pdf.
7. “East West Bank Foundation.” Foundation Search. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.foundationsearch.com/topsp/4/east-west-bank-foundation-461648827.html.
8. “East West Bank Foundation – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/461648827.
9. Globe, The Boston. “In an astonishing turn, George Soros and Charles Koch team up to end US ‘forever war’ policy.” The Boston Globe. June 30, 2019. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2019/06/30/soros-and-koch-brothers-team-end-forever-war-policy/WhyENwjhG0vfo9Um6Zl0JO/story.html.
10. “East West Bank Foundation – 2023.” Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/461648827/202413169349101806/full.
11. “Environmentalist began Heal the Bay.” LA Times. Accessed March 3, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-oct-14-me-green14-story.html.