Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans

The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans is a grantmaking program that provides scholarships to immigrants and children of immigrants pursuing graduate degrees in the United States. Each year there are a reported 1,800 applicants for 30 available fellowships that each disburse $90,000. 1 The Fellowships program is a project of the Paul and Daisy Soros Foundation. 2

Read More

At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3)
Issue Areas: Immigration Policy, Education Policy
Website: www.pdsoros.org
Formation:

1997

Executive Director:

Craig Harwood

Location: New York, NY View on map
Tax ID: 13-7057096
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $90,044,799 Revenue: $3,714,001 Expenses: $7,129,975

Contents

    Founding and History

    The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans was founded by Paul and Daisy Soros in 1997 with a charitable trust of $50 million. In 2010, the couple added another $25 million to the trust to support future fellowships. 1

    In the 25 years since its founding, the Fellowships has provided fellowships to 740 immigrants and children of immigrants from 90 countries, with the most-represented countries being India, China, and Mexico. 1 The Fellowships has a particular focus on Green Card Holders, naturalized citizens, recipients of the Obama administraiton’s DACA program (which granted temporary legal status to illegal immigrants that came to the U.S. as children), refugees, and asylum seekers. 1

    Recipients of the fellowship have pursued careers in academia, the arts, business, government, law, medicine, nonprofits, science, and technology, and more. 1

    Activities

    The Paul and Daisy Fellowships for New Americans offers scholarships to immigrants and children of immigrants who are 30 or younger 1 and who are pursuing a graduate degree in the United States. 1 For children of immigrants, only those whose parents were both born outside of the United States are eligible to apply. 3 Those who win a fellowship receive a $90,000 scholarship toward their education. 1 The Fellowships require applicants to have a bachelor’s degree 4 but has no restriction on the types of graduate degrees applicants may pursue. 5

    Current and former fellowship recipients become a part of the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellows Association (PDSFA) devoted to fostering mentorship and professional relationship among members. 6

    Notable Fellows

    Notable fellows include U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy; former California Surgeon General Nadine Burke-Harris; CEO of Modern Electric Tony Pan; Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Amy Chow; Computational Biologist and 2014 Time Person of the Year Pardis Sabeti; and First Lady Jill Biden’s Chief of Staff Julissa Reynoso. 1

    People

    The co-founder of the Fellowships, Paul Soros, is the brother of billionaire left-wing political donor and philanthropist George Soros. Paul Soros was born in Hungary in 1926 and defected from the Soviet Union in 1948. In 1956, he founded Soros Associates, an international engineering firm. He passed away on June 15, 2013, at age 87. 7

    Co-founder of the Daisy Soros is the current chairman of the board of the Fellowships. Daisy Soros is also an advisory director of the Metropolitan Opera, secretary on the board of the New York Philharmonic and the director Emeritus of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. 8

    The current director of the Fellowships is Craig Harwood, the former dean of Davenport College at Yale University. The Deputy Director of the Fellowships is Yulian Ramos, the former operations manager and program officer of the Charles H. Revson Foundation, a private foundation associated with Charles Revson, the late co-founder of Revlon Cosmetics.

    Among the Fellowships’ directors are Allison Binns, the head of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and sustainable investment strategy at Angelo Gordon; Eric Chung, an appellate and public policy lawyer at Covington & Burling LLP; Jeffrey Soros, the co-CEO of the Los Angeles Media Fund; and Peter Soros, a writer and investor. 9

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $90,044,799 $3,714,001 $7,129,975 View
    2023 $86,037,963 $14,364,245 $8,151,391 View
    2022 $77,401,448 $5,732,882 $6,866,082 View
    2021 $78,963,039 $7,997,221 $6,447,134 View
    2020 $68,555,013 $4,334,581 $5,310,424 View

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

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Craig HarwoodDIRECTOR$326,419
    Yulian RamosDEPUTY DIRECTOR$189,683

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $26,212,743
    • Number of Grants: 507
    • Number of Recipients: 64

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

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $1,200,0002023 The Philharmonic Symphony Society of Ny IncGENERAL
    $1,200,0002022 The Philharmonic Symphony Society of Ny IncGENERAL
    $1,000,0002021 The Philharmonic Symphony Society of Ny IncGENERAL
    $750,0002020 The Philharmonic Symphony Society of Ny IncGENERAL
    $640,0002022 Metropolitan Opera Association IncGENERAL
    $600,0002024 Metropolitan Opera Association IncGENERAL
    $600,0002023 Metropolitan Opera Association IncGENERAL
    $225,0002021 Hospital for Special SurgeryGENERAL
    $200,0002021 The Philharmonic Symphony Society of Ny IncGENERAL
    $200,0002020 The Philharmonic Symphony Society of Ny IncGENERAL
    $180,0002020 Metropolitan Opera Association IncGENERAL
    $160,0002024 NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTGENERAL
    $157,5002023 NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTGENERAL
    $125,0002023 International HouseGENERAL
    $125,0002021 NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTGENERAL
    $125,0002020 NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTGENERAL
    $112,0002024 The Vivian Beaumont Theater Inc d/b/a Lincoln Center TheaterGENERAL
    $100,0002023 Human Rights FirstGENERAL
    $100,0002022 NEW MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ARTGENERAL
    $100,0002022 The Vivian Beaumont Theater Inc d/b/a Lincoln Center TheaterGENERAL
    $100,0002021 Metropolitan Opera Association IncGENERAL
    $100,0002020 Metropolitan Opera Association IncGENERAL
    $100,0002020 Metropolitan Opera Association IncGENERAL
    $100,0002020 The American Austrian FoundationGENERAL
    $100,0002020 Weill Medical College of Cornell UniversityGENERAL

    Contact InfluenceWatch to report errors, suggest edits, or provide tips for additional profiles.

    Contact Us

    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. “About.” Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.pdsoros.org/fellowship
    2. Paul & Daisy Soros Foundation. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990-PF). 2019.
    3. “Frequently Asked Questions.” Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.pdsoros.org/apply/frequently-asked-questions.
    4. [1]“Eligibility.” Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.pdsoros.org/apply/eligibility
    5. “Apply.” Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.pdsoros.org/apply.
    6. “PDFSA.” Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.pdsoros.org/fellowship/pdsfa.
    7. “Paul Soros.” Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.pdsoros.org/fellowship/paul-soros
    8. “Dasy M. Soros.” Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.pdsoros.org/fellowship/daisy-soros.
    9. “Governance.” Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. Accessed August 17, 2023. https://www.pdsoros.org/fellowship/governance