The Popplestone Foundation is a grantmaking foundation founded by Alan Dworsky and his wife, Suzanne, that funds left-of-center advocacy organizations. ¹ Notable grantees include Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, the Fair Elections Center, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Tides Foundation, and the Brennan Center. ²

Background

The Popplestone Foundation is a left-of-center grantmaking organization that was founded in 2000 by Alan Dworsky and his wife, Suzanne. ¹

The Popplestone Foundation does not have a website or publish information about its grantmaking. It makes grants to advocacy organizations that support funding social and welfare programs with critical race theory aligned diversity quotas. ^{3 4}

Grantmaking

Through its funding of the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), the Popplestone Foundation was credited with funding a 2010 investigative project where the CPI researched lobbying from the tobacco industry. The report claimed lobbyists from tobacco companies target developing countries to increase sales. It argues that tobacco company lobbyists “payoff” officials from developing countries to prevent so-called “smoking reforms.” ⁵

Between 2015 and 2020, the Popplestone Foundation gave a total of $1.85 million to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), which reports on federal and state budgets to advocate for increased funding for social programs under the guise of racial and gender equity. ³ It advocates for subsidizing health programs that seek to increase insurance coverage, income, food security, and reduce homelessness for individuals based on their race and gender identity. ⁴

In 2022, the Popplestone Foundation donated $700,000 to the Fair Elections Center, a left-of-center litigation and advocacy organization that originated as a project of the New Venture Fund to oppose right-of-center election-integrity policies. ^{6 2}

Between 2017 and 2022, the Popplestone Foundation gave $9.26 million to the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, a donor-advised fund that is used by individuals and organizations to make tax-deductible donations without having to disclose the recipient. ^{7 8}

Financials

In 2022, the Popplestone Foundation reported $32.7 million in total revenue, including $12.1 million in gains from the sale of assets, and reported $29.1 million in total assets. ^{9 10} It also reported $23.6 million in total expenses, including $23.5 million in contributions and grants paid. ¹¹

Between 2017 and 2022, the Popplestone Foundation made $56 million in contributions and grants to other organizations. ^{7 8}

All Popplestone Foundation’s contributions in 2022 came from the Alan J. Dworsky Irrevocable Trust, totaling $20 million. Prior to 2022, Popplestone Foundation had not received a contribution since 2013, when it reported receiving $1.5 million. ¹²

People

Alan Dworsky was co-founder and a trustee of the Popplestone Foundation until he passed away in January 2021. Dworsky began his career as a security analyst for the Putnam Management Company in 1966, eventually becoming a mutual fund manager for Putnam Investors before leaving the company in 1983. In 1984, he founded the investment management firm Mt. Auburn Management, where he worked as principal and investment officer until it dissolved in 2007. Dworsky also was a trustee of the Taconic Foundation from 1980 to 2013 and a member of the Tax Policy Center. ^{1 13}

Sally Rubin has been a trustee of the Popplestone Foundation and worked as an associate professor at Chapman University’s Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. She is a documentary filmmaker who has produced several films with children as the intended audience to promote transgenderism. ¹⁴

Suzanne Dworsky is a co-founder and trustee of the Popplestone Foundation. Prior to running the Popplestone Foundation, Dworsky worked as vice president of the investment firm David L. Babson and Company. ¹⁵

1. “Congress Is Back with a Big, Big Relief Plan.” Tax Policy Center, February 22, 2021. https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/daily-deduction/congress-back-big-big-relief-plan.
2. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (form 990PF). Popplestone Foundation. 2022. Part XIV.
3. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (form 990PF). Popplestone Foundation. 2015-2020. Part XV.
4. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. About the Center page. Accessed June 16, 2024. https://www.cbpp.org/about.
5. Palos, Ricardo Sandoval. “Overview: The Tobacco Lobby Goes Global.” Center for Public Integrity, June 9, 2019. https://publicintegrity.org/health/overview-the-tobacco-lobby-goes-global/.
6. “Litigation.” Fair Elections Center.” Accessed June 16, 2024. https://www.fairelectionscenter.org/litigation.
7. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (form 990PF). Popplestone Foundation. 2021-2022. Part XIV.
8. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (form 990PF). Popplestone Foundation. 2017-2020. Part XV.
9. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (form 990PF). Popplestone Foundation. 2022. Part I, Lines 6-12.
10. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (form 990PF). Popplestone Foundation. 2022. Part II, Line 16.
11. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (form 990PF). Popplestone Foundation. 2022. Part I, Lines 25-26.
12. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (form 990PF). Popplestone Foundation. 2022. Schedule B.
13. “Alan Dworsky Obituary (1930 – 2021) – Cambridge, MA – Boston Globe.” Legacy.com, February 12, 2021. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/alan-dworsky-obituary?id=7217584.
14. “Sally Rubin.” Chapman University. Accessed June 16, 2024. https://www.chapman.edu/our-faculty/sally-rubin.
15. “A.J. Dworsky, Executive, Marries Suzanne Werber.” The New York Times, May 2, 1981. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/02/style/aj-dworsky-executive-marries-suzanne-werber.html.