Kolibri Foundation

The Kolibri Foundation is a private pass-through funder based in Washington, D.C. It supports organizations focused on redistribution of wealth, defunding police, and pro-abortion activism. 1

At-A-Glance

Issue Areas: Multi-Issue Advocacy
Website: kolibrifdn.org
Location: Washington, DC View on map
Tax ID: 13-4003955
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $22,363,677 Revenue: $1,865,889 Expenses: $4,634,721

Contents

    Background

    The Kolibri Foundation was founded in 2019. The organization focuses on minority communities including “queer, gender non-conforming, trans and intersex communities, Indigenous communities, working-class communities, and groups with and for disabled communities.” 2

    The organization describes itself as seeking to “resource and amplify movements at the intersections of gender, racial and economic justice that center on healing and the ending of systemic and interpersonal violence…[seeking] an end to all forms of violence including state violence, patriarchal violence, and economic violence. The Kolibri Foundation envisions a world where wealth, land, and power are equitably shared, and all communities have access to safety and justice.” 1

    Funding priorities are organizations focused on redistribution of wealth, defunding police, and pro-abortion activism, 1 as well as organizations that are critiquing the medical-industrial complex, the carceral state. 2

    In 2025, the Kolibri Foundation partnered with the Trust Based Philanthropy Project through their “Meet the moment” initiative. This initiative seeks to bring its supporters together “in solidarity with nonprofits.” The group claims that the political climate could pose risks to nonprofits through reductions in funding, legal concerns, and lack of staff. 3

    Donation Recipients

    The Kolibiri Foundation has supported the Alliance for Global Justice, an organizing group that serves as a fiscal sponsor to numerous left-wing and radical-left initiatives, among them Refuse Fascism, 4 United Students Against Sweatshops, and Stop Mass Incarceration. 5 The group arose from the Nicaragua Network, an organization that supported the Communist-aligned Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. 6 Alliance for Global Justice describes itself as “anti-capitalist,” opposed to the principles of liberal democracy and individual rights, and favoring a “multi-polar” world order with powerful rivals to American international primacy. 7

    The Kolibri Foundation has also donated to the Tides Foundation, a major left-of-center grantmaker and pass-through funder to numerous left-leaning nonprofits. The San Francisco-based nonprofit was founded in 1976 by Drummond Pike, a professional political activist who has since retired from the organization, to funnel grants from liberal donors to center-left nonprofits using donor-advised funds, encouraging individuals to donate to Tides since it could advise on grant making options. 8

    People

    Kolibri Foundation was established in 2019 by Eileen, Leo, and Steve Farbman out of the Farbman Family Visionary Fund. 9

    Eileen Farbman is currently the president of the Kolibri Foundation. In the past, she has worked with “incarcerated families” and to fund “gender justice with a strong focus on movement building and advancing racial justice led by Black women and other women of color.” 10

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $22,363,677 $1,865,889 $4,634,721 View
    2023 $27,456,636 $6,488,760 $5,762,334 View
    2022 $23,648,925 $4,882,416 $6,261,258 View
    2021 $28,525,159 $16,488,107 $2,334,333 View
    2020 $13,877,110 $78,782 $2,797,122 View

    Prior year filings: 2019, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Cara PageDIRECTOR$30,358
    Gill FreemynDIRECTOR$30,000
    Ramatu BanguraDIRECTOR$30,000
    Tameika McharrisDIRECTOR$30,000

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $39,298,523
    • Number of Grants: 392
    • Number of Recipients: 228

    Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $614,0002021 Medicine Bowl Giving Circle IncCHARITABLE DONATION
    $575,0002020 Alliance for Global JusticeCHARITABLE DONATION
    $500,0002023 Movement for Black LivesCHARITABLE DONATION
    $500,0002021 Common Counsel FoundationCHARITABLE DONATION
    $360,0002022 SOCIAL GOOD FUNDCHARITABLE DONATION
    $250,0002024 National Queer And Trans Therapists Of Color NetworkCHARITABLE DONATION
    $250,0002024 Trans Justice Funding ProjectCHARITABLE DONATION
    $250,0002023 SOCIAL GOOD FUNDCHARITABLE DONATION
    $250,0002020 TIDES FOUNDATIONCHARITABLE DONATION
    $200,0002022 The Knights & Orchids Society IncCHARITABLE DONATION
    $150,0002021 Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc.CHARITABLE DONATION
    $150,0002020 Project South Institute for the Elimination of Poverty and GenocideCHARITABLE DONATION
    $150,0002020 Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc.CHARITABLE DONATION
    $150,0002020 SOUTHERNERS ON NEW GROUNDCHARITABLE DONATION
    $125,0002020 North Star FundCHARITABLE DONATION
    $105,0002020 Poder in ActionCHARITABLE DONATION
    $100,0002024 Drinking Gourd Farms IncCHARITABLE DONATION
    $100,0002024 Southern Partners FundCHARITABLE DONATION
    $100,0002024 The Lighthouse | Black Girl ProjectsCHARITABLE DONATION
    $100,0002024 The Smile TrustCHARITABLE DONATION
    $100,0002023 CENTER FOR THIRD WORLD ORGANIZINGCHARITABLE DONATION
    $100,0002023 Healing To Action NFPCHARITABLE DONATION
    $100,0002023 Intransitive Tm IncCHARITABLE DONATION
    $100,0002023 NEO PhilanthropyCHARITABLE DONATION
    $100,0002023 Ohio VoiceCHARITABLE DONATION

    References

    1. “Reimagining Safety Fund.” Kolibri Foundation. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://kolibrifdn.org/2022-reimagining-safety-fund
    2. “FAQs.” Kolibri Foundation. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://kolibrifdn.org/faqs
    3. “Meet the Moment – Trust-Based Philanthropy.” Trust Based Philanthropy . Accessed September 29, 2025. https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/meet-the-moment#signatories.
    4. Richardson, Valerie. “Antifa violence splits left as another major protest looms at Berkeley.” Washington Times. September 13, 2017. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/sep/13/antifa-protest-of-ben-shapiro-looms-at-berkeley/
    5. “#BlackLivesMatter Protests Held Amid Parties on New Year’s Eve.” NBCNews.com. January 01, 2015. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/blacklivesmatter-protests-held-amid-parties-new-years-eve-n277896.
    6. Hogberg, David. “Communists Funding the Resistance: The Alliance for Global Justice.” Capital Research Center. August 29, 2017. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://capitalresearch.org/article/communists-funding-the-resistance-the-alliance-for-global-justice/.
    7. “Our Principles.” Alliance for Global Justice. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://afgj.org/about/our-principles
    8. Drummond Pike. “The Fall Of ACORN And The Timidity Of Progressive Funders.” HistPhil. March 6, 2019. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://histphil.org/2019/03/06/the-fall-of-acorn-and-the-timidity-of-progressive-funders/
    9. “Our Story.” Kolibri Foundation. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://kolibrifdn.org/our-story
    10. “About.” Kolibri Foundation. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://kolibrifdn.org/team/eileen-farbman