Maximum Difference Foundation

The Foundation was founded by farming and real estate investor Michael Amin, who is involved with a number of Iranian cultural and political groups, including the controversial National Iranian American Council (NIAC). Amin sat on the board of NIAC from 2008 through 2010;³ the group receives substantial funding from Maximum Difference Foundation. ⁴

Mission

The Maximum Difference Foundation assists parents in creating better relationships with their children. It promotes four steps which it says “really good parents” – watching and reading relevant material, enrolling in parenting classes, and meeting with skilled counselors and therapists as necessary. ⁵ It has paid for parenting-related adverts in the Los Angeles metro area. ³

The Foundation also provides funding to left-of-center groups like the American Civil Liberties Foundation and pro-Palestinian organizations. Its 2017 donations include:²

• $10,000 to the 9/11 conspiracy group Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth
• $100,000 to the National Iranian American Council, a group that supports the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear weapons deal and is critical of sanctions against Iran as well as of Israel. ^{6 7 8 9}
• $40,000 to the Palestinian Advocacy Project. ¹⁰
• $65,000 to the Tides Center’s Palestinian Legal initiative, which provides legal assistance to efforts in America to critique Israel and defend Palestinians. ¹¹

Financials

Virtually all of the Maximum Difference Foundation’s 2017 revenues came from founder Michael Amin. ¹² It donated over $500,000 in 2017, spending over $639,000. Its 2017 activities brought its assets from over $763,000 to under $267,000. ¹²

Leadership

Amin is the Maximum Difference Foundation’s sole donor. He is also its founder. ^{13 12} A real estate investor, he has been involved in many Iranian-related groups, having sat on the Board of Directors for the National Iranian American Council. He is a trustee of the Iranian culture group Farhang Foundation. ^{14 13}