The Proteus Fund is a center-left “pass-through” funder and donor-advised fund provider. Since the Fund’s creation in 1995, Proteus has routed hundreds of millions of dollars from major grantmaking foundations and anonymous donors on the Left to activist groups targeting issues including legalizing same-sex marriage, reducing religious freedom to dissent policies on gay rights and abortion, abolishing capital punishment, reducing military spending, and promoting liberal campaign finance policies.

The Proteus Fund moves money through a number of “donor collaboratives” (donor-advised funds) funded by major grantmaking foundations. Through these “collaboratives,” Proteus coordinates the efforts of state, local, and national activist groups so that their efforts are not needlessly duplicated. These funds and collaboratives vet the activist groups to ensure that they are effective and that they stay on message. These “collaboratives” and donor-advised funds include the Piper Fund, the Civil Marriage Collaborative, the Rights, Faith and Democracy Collaborative, the Themis Fund, the Security and Rights Collaborative, and the Colombe Foundation.

Proteus has also developed strategies for persuading voters to tip the scale of public opinion in specific states and localities. They use research (such as polling and message testing and advertising) to persuade swing voters to gain majorities for left-of-center policies in referendums and elections. Proteus Fund documented both strategies in Hearts and Minds: The Untold Story of How Philanthropy and the Civil Marriage Collaborative Helped America Embrace Marriage Equality. ¹

Background and “Pass-Through” Model

The Proteus Fund was formed in May 1994 in Washington, D.C., but is physically headquartered in Amherst, Massachusetts. ²

The Fund was created by Meg Gage, a career left-of-center nonprofit executive who helped develop the “pass-through” funding model. Gage reportedly created the model during her tenure as founding executive director of the Peace Development Fund, a position she held from 1981 to 1992. The Peace Development Fund was reportedly created to move donations from major foundations to smaller left-wing activist groups opposed to President Ronald Reagan’s nuclear weapons policies. Gara LaMarche, president of the left-wing Democracy Alliance and former president of Atlantic Philanthropies, has credited Gage’s funding model with “increasing philanthropic attention and support for social justice issues like money in politics, civil liberties and national security, and the death penalty.” ³

The Proteus Fund has described itself as an “extension of [the Peace Development Fund’s] model: a way to pool funding and align strategy among multiple funders in service of significant social change objectives and a broad vision for change in the philanthropic sector.” ⁴ Under the “pass-through” funding model developed by Gage, the Proteus Fund collects donations from large grantmaking foundations, wealthy individuals, and smaller donors and funnels cash to local and state organizations, which the Fund has vetted for their effectiveness. ⁵

The Proteus Fund also develops coalitions of local and state organizations to work on specific issues, which it calls “collaboratives.” These issues include campaign finance policy (via the Piper Fund), gay marriage (via the Civil Marriage Collaborative), and abortion practices (via the Rights, Faith and Democracy Collaborative), among others.

Donor Collaboratives

Piper Fund

Also see Piper Fund (Nonprofit Project)

The first issue the Proteus Fund addressed in a significant way was campaign finance reform. Gage started the Piper Fund in 1997, with the intention of increasing government control over election-related speech. ⁶ The Piper Fund allocated “about $1.8 million in grants to 53 organizations in 38 states working on campaign finance reform,” starting in 1998. ⁷

The Proteus Fund has also funded efforts for disclosure of funders of political advertisements, including those made by independent organizations. ⁸ Ironically, the Piper Fund, while it discloses some of its donors, “acknowledges it receives money from anonymous givers and ‘numerous other individual donors.’” ⁹

According to the Proteus Fund’s 2017 IRS filing, it expended $4,465,277 on the Piper Fund program. ¹⁰

The Piper Action Fund is the advocacy arm of the Piper Fund, and is hosted by the 501(c)(4) Proteus Action League. Both groups’ efforts have been heavily funded by the Voqal Fund, a center-left communications funder. ¹¹

Civil Marriage Collaborative

Also see Civil Marriage Collaborative (Nonprofit Project)

In 2004, the Proteus Fund established the Civil Marriage Collaborative (CMC) to conduct advocacy and research in support of efforts to obtain government recognition of same-sex marriages. ¹²

As documented in Hearts and Minds: The Untold Story of how Philanthropy and the Civil Marriage Collaborative Helped America Embrace Marriage Equality, the CMC began by gathering leaders of LGBT interest groups and getting them to agree on a long-term strategy for securing government recognition of same-sex marriage. The strategy would include litigation, grassroots organizing, lobbying, and electing pro-LGBT politicians. ¹³

Another part of the strategy was to change how Americans thought about same-sex marriage. As then-CMC director Paul Di Donato (now Proteus Fund president) said, “the only way to achieve and defend a marriage equality victory nationwide was … changing the hearts and minds of Americans about the rightful place of LGBT people in our society and …why marriage matters for us.” This change would be accomplished through research and public education. ¹⁴

With that plan in place, the CMC was then able to tap into its philanthropy network to fund the strategy. Over the next 11 years, the CMC directed $153 million (from left-of-center donor organizations including the Gill Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, Columbia Foundation, Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and others, including anonymous donors) to LGBT groups. The CMC vetted the groups, making sure that they were effective. ¹⁵

In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that prohibiting government recognition of same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, granting CMC its preferred policy outcome. Polling also indicated CMC met its goal of securing majority support for same-sex marriage. ^{16 17 18} The Civil Marriage Collaborative closed in 2015 after the Obergefell decision. ¹⁹

With the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the 2015 case Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, the CMC closed in 2016.

Rights, Faith, and Democracy Collaborative

Also see Rights, Faith and Democracy Collaborative (Nonprofit Project)

In March 2017, the Proteus Fund announced the creation of the Rights, Faith and Democracy Collaborative (RFDC). The RFDC supports state-level opposition to religious exemptions to laws requiring businesses to serve same-sex marriage ceremonies and protecting conscientious objectors from performing or recommending abortions. ²⁰ Jason Franklin, Chairman of the Board of the Proteus Fund, stated that the RFDC exists “to push back against the use of religion as a means of words for discrimination,” targeting measures that grant conscience protections against participation in same-sex marriages and abortions. ²¹

RFDC has donated to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which recently sued Catholic hospital systems for not providing abortion or sterilization procedures. ²² RFDC has also funded Lambda Legal, a group involved in litigation to limit religious exemptions to laws requiring wedding vendors to serve same-sex ceremonies. The group filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in the Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission case requesting the court rule in favor of the Commission, defining Jack Phillip’s refusal to decorate a cake for a same sex wedding — because of his religious convictions — as discrimination against gay people. ²³

The RFDC also seeks to influence faith groups from within by supporting members of dissident factions who hold the RFDC’s positions on abortion and LGBT issues. ²⁴ One of its grantees, the pro-abortion group of self-proclaimed Roman Catholics called “Catholics for Choice,” seeks to change the Catholic Church by promoting opposition to Catholic teachings opposing abortion. ²⁵

Themis Fund

Also see Themis Fund (Nonprofit Project)

The Proteus Fund started the Themis Fund in 2007 with the goal of abolishing the death penalty in America. The Themis Fund provides small grants to support litigation to outlaw capital punishment by judicial decision. Themis has funded litigation demanding better state funding and standards for public defenders, highlighting alleged discrepancies in race and sex on capital prosecutions, showing community opposition to the death penalty to juries, and alleging defendants’ mental illness as a factor in death-penalty cases. ²⁶

In 2014, the Themis Fund established the 8th Amendment Project, headed by Henderson Hill, specifically to establish a foundation for a Supreme Court decision that would declare capital punishment to be unconstitutional based on the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. The Project supports research on death penalty abolition and aids the defense in capital trials. ²⁷ In January 2018, the 8th Amendment Project was transferred from the Proteus Fund to the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. ²⁸

RISE Together Fund (Security and Rights Collaborative)

Also see RISE Together Fund (Nonprofit Project)

Proteus started the RISE (Rights, Inclusion, Solidarity, Equity) Together Fund as the Security and Rights Collaborative in 2009 in partnership with ReThink Media. The group was renamed RISE in January 2019. ²⁹ The Fund opposes national security policies pursued by both Republican and Democratic administrations and the activities of U.S. foreign intelligence services. It also seeks to close the terrorist detention facility at the Guantanamo Bay military base, regulate drone warfare, restrain foreign intelligence collection, and stop profiling of certain ethnic groups in America. ³⁰

The overwhelming majority of the RISE Together Fund’s grants go to organizations representing Muslim, Arab, and South Asian communities seen as likely to be targeted by national security activities. RISE funds organizations involved in political organizing and activism, combating public perception of these communities as sources of terrorism, and limiting scrutiny from law enforcement and national security entities. Grantees include the Georgia Muslim Voter Project, Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition, Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, Muslim Students Association-West, Sikh Coalition, Council on American-Islamic Relations-Los Angeles, and Council of American-Islamic Relations-San Francisco Bay Area. ³¹

According to the Proteus Fund’s 2017 IRS filing, it expended $2,649,649 on the RISE program. ³²

The RISE Together Action Fund is the lobbying arm of the RISE Together Fund and a project of the 501(c)(4) Proteus Action League.

Colombe Foundation

Also see Colombe Peace Foundation (Nonprofit)

The Colombe Peace Foundation was founded in Delaware in 1996 and is managed and staffed by Proteus. Unlike most of Proteus’s other projects, the Colombe Peace Foundation is standalone grantmaking foundation.

Colombe funds organizations that seek to eliminate nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, advance foreign policy that depends more on diplomacy and development than war and threats of war, and promotes a reduction in military spending. ³³

Colombe’s grantees for 2016 included, among others, the Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation, Win Without War, Fund for Constitutional Government, Georgia WAND Fund, Non-violent PeaceForce, Peace Action Education Committee, and the Ploughshares Fund. ³⁴

Fiscal Sponsorship Services

In addition to funding, the Proteus Fund provides fiscal sponsorship services (what it describes as “organizational infrastructure and management services”) to left-wing organizations. Proteus reports it hosts 12 such groups, as of July 2019. ³⁵

These organizations include the American and European Society Research Project, EmbraceRace, Human Rights Funders Network, JustFund, More Equitable Democracy, Philanthropy Advancing Women’s Human Rights, Reframe Mentorship, Prevention Collaborative, TAP (Transparency, Accountability & Participation) Network, Third Wave Fund, and the Transparency and Accountability Initiative, among others. These organizations focus on concerns from training future leadership of left-wing causes, ensuring diversity in philanthropic leadership, advancing government accountability and transparency, and having discussions about race and racism. ³⁶

Fiscally Sponsored Groups and Collaboratives

Our Story Hub is a Proteus Fund project that develops communications and messaging strategies for left-wing advocacy groups. The group is headed by Richard Kirsch, a prominent left-wing political activist. Members of Our Story Hub’s advisory committee include the Center for American Progress, People’s Action, and the AFL-CIO. ³⁷

The Solidaire Network is a Proteus Fund project created in 2013 to direct funds to radical activist groups, including Queer the Land, Assata’s Daughters, and Seeding Sovereignty. ³⁸

The American and European Society Research Project (also called Vox Populism) is a two-part research group that produces studies criticizing “the rise of political extremism in Europe and the United States.” ³⁹

EmbraceRace is an ethnic minority interest group that criticizes what it claims are rising “racial divisions and inequities” in the United States. ⁴⁰ While it’s fiscally sponsored by Proteus, EmbraceRace receives funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, NoVo Foundation, and Haas Institute.

The Human Rights Funders Network is a left-of-center donors collaborative consisting of roughly “95 dues-paying institutions.” The Network’s steering committee consists of representatives from the Oak Foundation, Ford Foundation, Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, American Jewish World Service, Open Society Foundations, Wikimedia Foundation, Foundation for a Just Society, Fund for Global Human Rights, and CASA Socio-Environmental Fund. ⁴¹

JustFund is a Proteus project that caters to small left-leaning foundations. The group primarily funnels donations to a handful of funds, including the Emergent Fund, Threshold Foundation, Defending the Dream Fund, and the Solidaire Network (another Proteus project). ⁴²

Philanthropy Advancing Women’s Human Rights (PAWHR) is a Proteus project that funnels grants to left-wing women’s advocacy groups. Grantmaking members of PAWHR include NoVo Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, Foundation for a Just Society, Channel Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, Oak Foundation, Sigrid Rausing Trust, Gates Foundation, Dietel Partners, and Wallace Global Fund. ⁴³

The Prevention Collaborative moves money to women’s activist groups in the name of preventing “violence against women and children.” ⁴⁴

The Third Wave Fund funnels grants to gay, lesbian, “intersex,” and transsexual advocacy groups in the name of “gender justice.” Third Wave Fund’s grantmaking foundations include Groundswell Fund, Arcus Foundation, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Overbrook Foundation, Craigslist, Joshua Mailman Foundation, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, and a number of individual small-dollar donors. ⁴⁵ Third Wave Fund makes grants (via the Proteus Fund) through two channels: the Mobilize Power Fund, which primary funds LGBT activism, and the Grow Power Fund, which supports the creation of new activist groups. ⁴⁶

The Transparency & Accountability Initiative (TAI) is a Proteus-sponsored donor collaborative that funds efforts to pass left-wing tax policies in Europe and the United States, such as the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, and privacy issues. ^{47 48} TAI’s members include the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Luminate, Hewlett Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation.

Past Sponsorships

The Media Democracy Fund is a left-wing advocacy group that supports the creation of net neutrality Internet regulations. The Media Democracy Fund was created in 2006 by the Proteus Fund but was transferred to the New Venture Fund (a similar funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofit) at an unknown date. ⁴⁹ Initial funding for the Fund came from the Ford Foundation, Park Foundation, Arca Foundation, and Open Society Foundations. ⁵⁰

Connections to the Left

Voter Registration and Mobilization Efforts

For more information, see Voter Engagement Evaluation Project (Nonprofit)

The Proteus Fund is a member of the Funders Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP), a major donors collaborative for prominent funders on the Left that make grants to voter registration and mobilization groups (FCCP is also a project of NEO Philanthropy). ⁵¹

According to an interview co-authored by the Alliance for Justice and Council on Foundations conducted in 2004 (and published in 2008) with then-Proteus Fund president Meg Gage, the Proteus Fund ran a Voter Engagement Donor Network in 2006 composed of “some 140 funders . . . who shared information and advanced voter mobilization initiatives in a nonpartisan setting.”  (All 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofits are required to remain nonpartisan, though not non-ideological, to maintain their tax-exempt status with the IRS.) Gage noted that “there was a much higher level of foundation support for nonpartisan voter engagement activity” in the 2004 presidential election than in previous elections. Gage praised the left-wing Center for Community Change (CCC) for ” partnering effectively when they brought their resources to local groups already on the ground and greatly strengthened voter engagement efforts there.” ⁵²

Following the 2004 election, Proteus Fund and FCCP created the Voter Engagement Evaluation Project (VEEP), a project designed to evaluate the effectiveness of left-wing foundations’ support for voter mobilization and registration efforts in the election. ⁵³

In June 2005, VEEP published a report entitled “Top Ten Lessons for Funders Regarding 501(c)(3) Voter Engagement Work Conducted During the 2004 Election Cycle” (archived here). ⁵⁴ The report, authored by political activists Heather Booth and Stephanie Firestone, offered ten lessons to left-wing foundations on supporting voter registration efforts:

1. Effective voter contact is up close and personal
2. Build it (strategically) and they will come
3. Voter engagement is part of a permanent campaign
4. Ready, set, plan
5. Voter files are the fuel that drives voter contact
6. Voter protection must be front loaded
7. Repeat the message, then repeat the message
8. Collaboration demands more than good will
9. “Tech”ing it to the streets
10. A ruler is an important but limited measuring stick

A follow-up report published in January 2006 was funded with grants from the Bauman Family Foundation, Beldon Fund, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford Foundation, Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock, Open Society Foundations, and JEHT Foundation. ⁵⁵

VEEP’s advisory committee was composed of Patricia Bauman of the Bauman Family Foundation; Heather Booth of the Proteus Fund; Elizabeth Collaton of the Stern Family Fund; Kristen Engberg of the JEHT Foundation; Allison Fine of the E-Volve Foundation; Irma Gonzalez of the Proteus Fund; and Bill Roberts of the Beldon Fund. ⁵⁶

Funding

Overview

According to Proteus Fund’s latest IRS filing from 2017, the group reported $31.9 million in total revenues, $25.9 million in total expenditures, and $19.4 million in net assets. In 2017, the group reported total program service expenses of $24,372,935. ^{57 58}

Proteus Fund: Finances
Year	Revenues	Expenditures	Net Assets
2018	$32,715,202	$29,945,970	$28,542,359
2017	$31,883,493	$25,873,886	$19,395,697
2016	$21,335,481	$22,391,888	$13,168,283
2015	$15,788,563	$15,738,768	$14,263,504
2014	$17,242,536	$15,649,332	$14,232,841
2013	$15,845,373	$13,824,522	$12,601,852
2012	$14,520,627	$13,612,671	$10,581,001
2011	$12,027,268	$10,240,087	$9,101,628
2010	$10,394,826	$8,733,069	$7,633,616
Grand Total:	$171,753,369	$156,010,193

Between 2003 and 2017, the Proteus Fund reported paying $3.4 million in independent contractor fees. ⁵⁹

Proteus Network: Contracting Fees (2003-2017)	Amount	Description	Year
The Raben Group LLC	$217,000	Consulting	2017
Goodwin Simon Strategic Research Inc	$134,244	Consulting	2017
Suddes Group	$204,883	Strategic consultant	2016
BerlinRosen	$165,000	Program consultant	2015
Civitas Public Affairs Group	$130,007	Program consultant	2014
Alexandra B. Russell	$102,338	Program consultant	2014
Art Resources International	$175,000	Program consultant	2013
Yancey Consulting	$219,000	Program consultant	2012
Art Resources International	$175,000	Program consultant	2012
Freedman Consulting	$105,800	Program consultant	2012
Art Resources International	$150,000	Program consultant	2011
Art Resources International	$150,000	Program consultant	2010
Art Resources International	$125,000	Program consultant	2009
Art Resources International	$105,000	Program consultant	2008
American Environics	$449,200	Program consultant	2008
Art Resources International	$102,762	Program consultant	2007
Larry Marx	$78,787	Program consultant	2007
Lawrence Marx	$95,024	Program consulting	2006
Art Resources International	$80,000	Program consulting	2006
Heather Booth	$78,200	Program consulting	2006
Teresa Vilmain	$55,183	Program consulting	2006
Heather Booth	$99,000	Program consulting	2005
Polimetrix	$80,000	Program consulting	2005
Marc Caplan	$71,838	Program consulting	2004
Marc Caplan	$62,400	Program consulting	2003
Grand Total:	$3,410,666

Funding Sources

Since 1995, the Proteus Fund has received over $116 million from left-of-center grantmaking foundations and other nonprofits: ⁶⁰

Proteus Fund: Grantors (1995-2017)	Amount	Year(s)
Access Strategies Fund	$70,000	2001, 2002, 2004
Akonadi Foundation	$50,000	2012
Alcibie Alliance Inc	$30,000	2016
Angelina Fund Inc	$75,000	2001, 2005
Anne Cox Chambers Foundation Inc	$10,000	2015
Arcus Foundation	$889,341	2015, 2017
Argosy Foundation	$55,100	2005-2006
Arkay Foundation	$496,000	2003, 2005-2006, 2011-2016
Barbara A Stiefel Foundation Inc	$25,000	2016
Barr Foundation	$426,770	2011-2014
Bauman Family Foundation	$155,000	2003-2005
Benton Foundation	$25,000	2008
Bernard And Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust	$10,000	2016
Bohemian Foundation	$100,000	2017
Boston Foundation Inc	$113,450	2011
Bydale Foundation	$25,000	2005
California Community Foundation	$35,000	2016
Cardinal Brook Trust	$65,000	1999, 2015-2016
Carl & Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation	$30,000	2012
Carnegie Corporation Of New York	$1,190,000	2000-2005
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation	$50,000	2011
Chicago Community Trust	$62,250	2016
Cloud Mountain Foundation	$50,000	2017
Colombe Foundation	$259,000	2008, 2012, 2014-2016
Common Counsel Foundation	$80,992	2015-2016
Compton Foundation Inc	$590,000	2003, 2005-2013, 2015-2016
Copen Family Foundation Inc	$30,000	2013, 2016
Craigslist Charitable Fund	$20,000	2015
David Bohnett Foundation	$900,000	2004-2010
Day Is Done Foundation	$7,200	2000
Democracy Fund Inc	$300,000	2015
Dentaquest Foundation	$65,000	2012-2014
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation	$25,000	2015
Doris Duke Foundation For Islamic Art	$75,000	2015-2016
Ettinger Foundation Inc	$29,000	2008-2009
Evelyn & Walter Haas Jr Fund	$5,214,500	2005-2016
F Felix Foundation	$244,450	2004, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2016
Farese Family Foundation	$120,000	2015, 2016
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund	$10,477,351	2003-2003, 2009, 2012-2016
Fine Fund	$10,000	2015
Firedoll Foundation	$25,000	2017
Foundation For A Just Society	$50,000	2014
Foundation For The Carolinas	$21,000	2013, 2015
Foundation To Promote Open Society	$10,700,750	2010-2014, 2016
Frances Lear Foundation	$25,000	2015, 2017
Fund For New Jersey	$20,000	2007-2008
Fund For Nonviolence	$30,000	2013
Gaia Fund	$100,000	2016
General Service Foundation	$19,000	2015-2016
Gill Foundation	$3,080,000	2004-2013, 2015
Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc	$5,000	2006
Hartford Foundation For Public Giving	$100,000	2012
Horizons Foundation	$528,450	2007-2015
Hull Family Foundation	$55,000	2013-2016
Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation	$10,000	2006
Jeht Foundation	$710,000	2006
Jennifer And Jonathan Allan Soros Foundation	$1,644,000	2011-2013, 2015
Jewish Community Federation Of San Francisco The Peninsula, Marin And Sonoma	$25,000	2013, 2017
Jk Irwin Foundation	$15,000	2016
John D & Catherine T Macarthur Foundation	$575,000	2011-2016
John S. And James L. Knight Foundation	$15,000	2007
Johnson Family Foundation	$325,000	2013-2015, 2017
Joyce Foundation	$260,000	2002, 2004, 2013, 2016
Katz Family Foundation	$15,000	2008
Kohlberg Foundation Inc	$2,000,000	2003-2007
Levi Strauss Foundation	$50,000	2011, 2013, 2015
Lipton Fam Foundation Trust 01102011	$10,710	2017
Lisa And Douglas Goldman Fund	$75,000	2013
Lynne And Richard Kaiser Family Foundation	$10,000	1995
Martin, Vincent & Janet Foundation	$10,000	2006
Matan B'Seter Foundation Inc	$5,850,000	2016-2017
Max & Anna Levinson Foundation	$10,000	2016
Mckenzie River Gathering Foundation	$20,000	2017
Mertz Gilmore Foundation	$2,271,500	2011-2017
Ms Foundation For Women Inc	$90,622	2004-2005, 2008, 2016-2017
Nathan Cummings Foundation	$1,095,000	1999-2004, 2008-2013
Needmor Fund	$7,000	2001, 2003, 2005
Nellie Mae Education Foundation Inc	$364,000	2011-2015
New Community Fund Inc	$112,000	2010, 2012-2013, 2015-2016
New World Foundation	$30,000	2016
Novo Foundation	$375,000	2014-2016
Omidyar Network Fund Inc	$310,000	2016
One World Fund	$35,000	2014
Open Society Institute	$10,860,000	1999, 2001-2009
Overbrook Foundation	$950,000	2005-2015
Park Foundation Inc	$500,000	2005, 2007-2012
Peace Development Fund Inc	$7,500	2003
Penney Family Fund	$25,000	2003, 2009
Ploughshares Fund Inc	$22,000	2007, 2009
Quixote Foundation Inc	$1,078,500	2005-2006, 2008-2013
Ray And Dagmar Dolby Family Fund	$25,000	2016
Robert W Deutsch Foundation	$150,000	2011, 2012
Rockefeller Brothers Fund Inc	$1,355,361	2004-2013, 2015-2016
Rockefeller Family Fund Inc	$190,000	2002, 2004-2005, 2013
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc	$400,000	2004-2005
Rose Foundation	$25,000	2007
Rose Foundation For Communities And The Environment	$20,000	2016-2017
Rosenberg Foundation	$15,000	2016
Rotonda Foundation	$6,000	2013
Rudolf Steiner Foundation Inc	$113,000	2005, 2016
San Francisco Foundation	$555,000	2014-2016
Sandler Foundation	$50,000	2008
Schumann Media Center Inc	$4,050,000	1998, 2002-2005
Schwab Charitable Fund	$104,500	2016-2017
Silicon Valley Community Foundation	$110,550	2015, 2017
Social Justice Fund Northwest	$10,000	2015-2016
The Andy Warhol Foundation For The Visual Arts Inc	$300,518	2008-2011
The Arca Foundation	$425,500	2000, 2005-2009, 2013, 2015-2016
The Brainerd Foundation	$50,000	2003-2004
The Carl Marks Foundation Inc	$10,000	2015
The Community Foundation For The National Capital Region	$107,500	2007, 2009-2010, 2012, 2016-2017
The Engelberg Foundation	$25,000	2001
The Ford Foundation	$17,245,800	2000, 2002-2016
The Frances Fund Inc	$470,000	2007-2015
The Homestead Foundation Inc	$20,000	2016-2017
The Hyams Foundation Inc	$25,000	2013
The Jacob And Hilda Blaustein Foundation Inc	$360,000	2012-2017
The James Irvine Foundation	$5,000	2005
The Jerry Greenfield & Elizabeth Skarie Foundation	$5,000	2002
The John Merck Fund	$878,000	2004-2006
The Leonard And Sophie Davis Fund	$1,200,000	2015-2016
The Mac Aids Fund	$100,000	2016
The New York Community Trust	$68,000	2010-2012, 2014
The Oregon Community Foundation	$26,000	2017
The Organic Schoolhouse	$10,000	2016
The Ottinger Foundation Inc	$113,500	1999-2000, 2002, 2014
The Righteous Persons Foundation	$15,000	1999
The Sagner Family Foundation	$27,500	2015
The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation	$287,411	2015-2016
The Threshold Foundation	$250,500	2017
The Vermont Community Foundation	$5,000	2004
The Wellmark Foundation	$29,400	2002
The Whitman Institute	$75,000	2015-2017
The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation	$508,334	2013, 2016
The William H Donner Foundation	$35,000	2014-2016
Thornburg Foundation	$245,000	2013-2017
Tides Foundation	$2,272,109	1999-2005, 2007-2014, 2017
Us Charitable Gift Trust	$10,003	2004
Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program	$9,747,000	2005-2014
Vital Projects Fund Inc	$2,356,000	2013-2016
W K Kellogg Foundation	$2,110,550	2008, 2014, 2016-2017
Wallace Global Fund Ii	$885,000	2010-2013, 2015-2017
Women Donors Network	$179,550	2016-2017
Woodbury Fund Inc	$1,330,000	2000-2001, 2003-2007, 2009-2011, 2013-2015
Wyncote Foundation	$100,000	2010-2011
Grand Total:	$116,100,022

The Voqal Fund, a center-left communications nonprofit, is a major contributor to the Proteus Fund’s campaign finance reform projects (via the Piper Fund and Piper Action Fund). The following grants list is taken from a 2017 report by Voqal detailing its grants to Proteus for campaign finance reform work (archived here): ⁶¹

Voqal Fund: Grants to Proteus Fund/Proteus Action League	Year	Amount	Description
Proteus Action League	2015	$175,000	Public Financing in Seattle and Beyond: Building Inclusive Democracy in WA State.
Proteus Action League	2015	$50,000	Piper Fund Core Funding FY2015. Part of the funding went to North Carolina where one of the goals is to: "4) propose a constitutional amendment to undo Citizens United."
Proteus Action League	2015	$50,000	Demos Public Mobilization Project
Proteus Action League	2015	$75,000	Winning State Campaigns
Proteus Action League	2014	$50,000	Piper Fund Core Support FY2014
Proteus Action League	2014	$250,000	Fair Elections New York Campaign
Proteus Action League	2014	$25,000	Research by M+R Strategic Services
Proteus Action League	2013	$350,000	Creating a System of Public Financing in New York State. One of the outcomes was: "Generated 441 news stories, 120 favorable op-eds and editorials and 100 favorable letters to the editor".
Proteus Action League	2013	$50,000	Piper Fund Core Support FY2013
Proteus Action League	2017	$35,000	Piper Funding
Proteus Fund	2017	$30,500	Emergent Fund
Proteus Action League	2016	$25,000	Core Support
Proteus Action League	2016	$36,000	Security and Rights
Grand Total:		$1,201,500

Proteus Fund Grant Recipients

Between 2006 and 2017, the Proteus Fund gave out nearly $107 million in grants. Its list of grant recipients are available below: ⁶²

Proteus Fund: Grant Recipients (2006-2017)	Amount	Year(s)
Rethink Media	$7,523,079	2009-2017
Voter Registration Project	$5,000,000	2016-2017
Proteus Action League	$3,204,900	2006, 2008-2011, 2013-2017
Basic Rights Education Fund Oregon	$2,486,000	2006, 2008-2015
Public Policy And Education Fund - New York	$2,038,550	2006, 2008, 2011-2015, 2017
Center For Rights In Action	$1,733,700	2011-2013
Center For Working Families	$1,582,500	2011-2015
Wellstone Action Fund	$1,268,475	2008, 2013-2017
Equality Maine Foundation	$1,255,000	2006-2012
Equality California	$1,230,000	2006-2010
Common Cause Education Fund	$1,181,940	2006-2008, 2012-2017
Sierra Club	$1,127,000	2013-2015
Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation	$1,125,000	2006-2011
Garden State Equality Educational Fund	$1,018,017	2006-2010
Glbtq Legal Advocates And Defenders	$1,015,000	2006, 2009-2013
Brennan Center For Justice Ny School Of Law	$952,000	2012-2015
Triskeles Foundation	$932,608	2017
Voter Participation Center	$800,000	2006, 2016-2017
One Iowa Education Fund	$797,000	2008-2010, 2012-2014
Florida International University - Florida Center For Capital Representation	$780,000	2013-2015
Rockwood Leadership Institute	$712,000	2009-2010, 2012, 2016
Project Vote	$700,000	2017
South Asian Americans Leading Together	$695,000	2009-2017
Equality Maryland Foundation	$650,000	2006-2011
Sikh Coalition	$631,800	2009-2017
American Civil Liberties Union Of Nebraska	$625,000	2015
Womens Action For New Directions (Wand)	$600,000	2009-2011
Center For Death Penalty Litigation	$568,500	2013-2016
Center For Media Justice	$562,500	2009-2012, 2017
National Center For Lesbian Rights	$550,000	2014
Drum	$545,000	2009-2015
Freedom To Marry	$530,000	2012-2013, 2015
Democracy Initiative Education Fund	$526,898	2015-2016
Progressive America Fund - Center For Working Families	$518,000	2006, 2011-2013
New America Foundation	$516,000	2007-2013
Every Voice	$505,000	2013-2015
Demos A Network For Ideas And Action - U.S. In The World Initiative	$500,670	2009, 2016
Marriage Equality Rhode Island Education Fund	$485,000	2007, 2009-2011
Arab Community Center For Economic And Social Services Access	$480,000	2009-2015
Center For Rural Strategies	$472,000	2006-2012
Acce Institute	$470,000	2012-2017
New Venture Fund	$467,500	2016-2017
Alliance For A Just Society	$465,000	2012-2014, 2016
National Priorities Project	$458,500	2006-2007, 2009-2010, 2012
Arab-American Institute Foundation	$445,000	2010-2017
Movement Strategy Center	$435,000	2007-2008, 2015-2017
Citizen Action Of New York	$431,450	2011-2015
Center For Investigative Reporting	$430,000	2016
Progressive States Network	$430,000	2006, 2008-2012
Phillips Black Project A Public Interest Nonprofit Law Office	$415,000	2014-2015, 2017
Murder Victims Families For Reconciliation	$413,100	2013-2016
Public Knowledge	$413,000	2008-2013
Promise Of Justice Initiative	$405,000	2015-2017
William J Brennan Jr Center For Justice	$403,157	2016-2017
Center For Arms Control And Non-Proliferation	$390,000	2009-2012
Texas Defender Service	$380,000	2013-2015, 2017
Washington Community Action Network Education And Research Fund	$377,500	2006, 2015, 2017
University Of California	$376,800	2013-2015
Massequality Education Fund	$375,000	2007-2011
American Civil Liberties Union Of New Mexico Foundation	$370,000	2013-2015, 2017
Death Penalty Information Center	$370,000	2013-2015, 2017
Chinese Progressive Association	$365,000	2011-2012, 2014-2016
Pride Foundation	$365,000	2012
Mainers For Accountable Elections	$350,000	2015
Harvard University - Charles Hamilton Houston Institute For Race And Justice, School Of Law	$345,900	2015
Outfront Minnesota	$337,500	2012-2013
Kansas Values Institute	$333,000	2014-2017
Institute For Local Self-Reliance	$325,000	2006-2013, 2015
Youth Passageways	$321,000	2015-2016
Lambda Legal Defence And Education Fund	$320,000	2006-2009, 2015
Demos A Network For Ideas & Action	$319,975	2008, 2015, 2017
Sustain Dane	$317,000	2014-2016
Asian Law Caucus	$315,000	2009-2012
Wisconsin Citizen Action Fund	$308,556	2006
Florida International University Fo	$300,500	2016
Rethink Media Advocacy	$300,036	2013-2015
Dc Vote	$300,000	2006, 2013-2015
National Federation Of Community Broadcast	$300,000	2007-2008
Pentagon Budget Campaign	$300,000	2013-2015
Solidago Foundation	$295,107	2013-2015, 2017
Free Press Action Fund	$293,000	2007-2008, 2010-2012
Maine Citizens For Clean Elections	$291,250	2011-2017
Equality New Mexico Foundation	$290,000	2006-2007, 2013-2014
North Carolina Voters For Clean Elections	$288,000	2011, 2013-2017
Vermont Freedom To Marry Task Force	$285,000	2006, 2008-2009
Main Street Project	$276,000	2006-2012
Peace Action Education Fund	$275,000	2009, 2010, 2012
Future Of Music Coalition	$272,500	2006-2012
Mcce Action	$270,500	2012, 2014-2015
National Security Initiative	$265,580	2009-2012
Democracy Initiative	$264,365	2015
Allied Media Projects	$263,000	2009-2012, 2016, 2017
Prometheus Radio Project	$262,000	2008-2012
Institute For Social Policy And Understanding	$256,667	2011-2015, 2017
American Bar Association Fund For Justice And Education	$255,000	2013-2015
Free Press	$255,000	2006, 2011-2012
Love Makes A Family	$255,000	2006, 2008
Advocacy Fund	$251,390	2011, 2015
Native Public Media	$251,000	2009-2012
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation	$250,000	2015-2016
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus	$250,000	2013-2015, 2017
Pennsylvania Capital Representation Project	$250,000	2013-2014
Ploughshares Fund	$250,000	2014
Witness To Innocence	$250,000	2014
Massachusetts Institute Of Technology	$244,000	2006-2007, 2016-2017
National Black Justice Coalition	$240,000	2010
Tides Foundation	$238,100	2016-2017
Equality Minnesota - Project 515 Education Campaign	$237,500	2012-2013
Arizona Capital Representation Project	$237,000	2013-2015
Constitution Project	$235,000	2010, 2013, 2015-2016
Institute For Policy Studies	$232,500	2009-2012
Justice Not Politics	$229,800	2012, 2014-2017
Media Mobilizing Project	$228,500	2008-2012, 2017
Equal Rights Washington Education Fund	$226,500	2007, 2009-2010
Fractured Atlas	$226,000	2011-2012, 2017
Rev	$225,450	2009-2011
Catholic Mobilizing Network	$225,000	2013-2015
Michigan For Marriage	$225,000	2015
Texas For Marriage	$225,000	2015
Why Marriage Matters Ohio	$225,000	2015
Win Without War	$225,000	2009-2012
Alliance For Nuclear Accountability	$222,000	2009-2011
Women Donors Network	$221,390	2013-2017
Arizona Advocacy Foundation	$215,000	2014-2017
Media Access Project	$210,000	2007-2011
National Hispanic Media Coalition	$210,000	2007-2012
New Mexico Media Literary	$206,000	2009-2012
New Hampshire Death Penalty Repeal Campaign	$205,000	2013, 2015
University Of Southern California - Center For Religion And Civic Culture	$205,000	2009-2012
Global Partners And Associates	$200,000	2012-2013
One Colorado Education Fund	$200,000	2014
Pew Charitable Trusts	$200,000	2016
Project On Government Oversight	$200,000	2009, 2011
Oregon Justice Resource Center	$195,000	2013-2014
Life Of The Law	$191,450	2014
South Asian Network	$190,000	2009-2012
Tennessee Immigrant And Refugee Rights Coalition	$190,000	2011-2017
Tri-Valley Cares - Communities Against A Radioactive Environment	$190,000	2009-2010, 2012
Arab American Association Of New York	$188,700	2012-2017
Connecticut Citizen Research Group	$185,000	2007, 2012-2017
Iowa Citizens For Community Improvement	$185,000	2007, 2012-2016
Win Win Action	$172,500	2014-2015
Dane County Timebank	$170,000	2015-2016
Friends Committee On National Legislation Education Fund	$170,000	2009, 2011
Gay And Lesbian Advocates And Defenders	$170,000	2007-2008
Love Makes A Family Foundation	$170,000	2007
Public Campaign	$170,000	2008, 2011-2012
Springs Industries Foundation	$164,440	2006
Oakland Rising	$160,000	2011-2012, 2014
Taxpayers For Common Sense	$160,000	2009, 2011
Commonwealth Foundation	$157,500	2006, 2010-2011
New Florida Majority Education Fund	$157,500	2016-2017
Greater Birmingham Ministries	$155,000	2011-2012, 2017
Justice At Stake Campaign	$155,000	2012-2015
Center For American Progress	$150,000	2016
Equal Rights Washington	$150,000	2008
Leadership Conference Education Fund	$150,000	2006, 2011-2012
Ocean State Action Fund	$150,000	2006, 2008
Progressive Maryland Education Fund	$150,000	2006, 2017
State Voices	$150,000	2016-2017
Maine People'S Resource Center	$149,750	2006-2007, 2015-2016
Southern Vision Alliance	$148,500	2015-2017
Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition	$146,000	2012-2015
Equality Florida	$145,000	2015
New Hampshire Coalition To Abolish The Death Penalty	$145,000	2013-2014, 2016
Spirit In Action	$142,257	2014-2016
American Civil Liberties Foundation Of Delaware	$141,000	2013-2015
Mountain Area Information Network	$141,000	2008-2012
Regents Of The University Of California	$140,000	2016
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Of Washington	$138,250	2014
Arizona Advocacy Network	$135,000	2012-2015
Georgia Wand Education Fund	$135,000	2009-2011
Media Matters For America	$135,000	2006, 2008, 2014
Citizen Action Of Wisconsin Education Fund	$133,500	2008, 2015-2016
Common Cause	$130,000	2006, 2012, 2015
National Day Laborer Organizing Network	$130,000	2014, 2016-2017
Phillips Black Project A Public	$130,000	2016
Physicians For Social Responsibility	$130,000	2009-2011
Inner-City Muslim Action Network	$127,500	2009-2010
See Forward Fund	$126,557	2016-2017
Atlanta Jobs With Justice	$125,000	2017
Equality Foundation Of Georgia	$125,000	2017
Political Research Associates - Pra	$125,000	2016-2017
Public Education Center	$125,000	2009-2012
Sister Song	$125,000	2017
Equal Justice Usa	$122,000	2015-2017
Center For Civic Policy	$120,000	2017
Center For Neighborhood Leadership	$120,000	2016-2017
Demand Progress	$120,000	2013
Drum - Desis Rising Up And Moving	$120,000	2016-2017
Institute For Energy And Environmental Research	$120,000	2009-2011
Muslim Advocates	$120,000	2009, 2011, 2017
Freedom Nevada	$119,642	2014
Neo Philanthropy	$117,620	2006, 2016-2017
Arizona Advocacy Network Foundation	$117,000	2011-2013
Minnesota Community Action Association Resource Fund	$117,000	2012-2013
Public Citizen Foundation	$117,000	2009-2012, 2015
Nebraskans Against The Death Penalty Foundation	$116,000	2013-2015
Pico National Network	$115,000	2012
Progress Florida	$115,000	2014-2015
Schumacher Center For A New Economics	$115,000	2014-2016
Center For Social Inclusion	$112,500	2009-2011, 2016
Peoples Action Institute	$112,000	2016-2017
Iraq Veterans Against The War	$110,063	2009-2011, 2017
Equality Alliance Of San Diego County	$110,000	2011-2012
People For The American Way Foundation	$110,000	2006, 2008
Working America Education Fund	$110,000	2008
Americans For Democratic Action Education Fund	$108,500	2006-2007
8Th Amendment Project Proteus Fund	$105,000	2014-2015
Center For Community Change	$105,000	2012-2013
Center For International Policy	$105,000	2011, 2016
Clean Elections Institute	$105,000	2006, 2008
Miami Workers Center	$105,000	2011, 2017
Center For Strategic And Budgetary Assessments	$101,000	2006-2007
Citizen Action Of Wisconsin Ed Fund	$101,000	2007
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Of Michigan	$100,000	2015
Atlantic Center For Capital Representation	$100,000	2013
Benton Foundation	$100,000	2013
Capital Litigation Communications Project	$100,000	2014-2015
Center For Intercultural Organizing	$100,000	2012-2016
Citizen Engagement Laboratory	$100,000	2010
Human Rights Watch	$100,000	2011-2012
Naacp National Voter Fund	$100,000	2013
New Mexico Religious Coalition For Reproductive Choice	$100,000	2017
Rights Working Group	$100,000	2011-2013
Rock The Vote	$100,000	2008, 2016
Young Women United	$100,000	2017
Democracy North Carolina	$99,000	2006-2008, 2012-2014
Proteus Fund	$99,000	2011, 2013-2014
Ayni Institute	$97,100	2015-2017
Pennsylvania State University - College Of Communications	$97,000	2008, 2010, 2012
Center For Popular Democracy	$95,333	2015, 2017
Fair Wisconsin Education Fund	$95,000	2006, 2016
Peace Education Fund	$95,000	2010-2013
Puente Human Rights Movement	$95,000	2016-2017
Stand Down Texas	$95,000	2013, 2015
Florida Capital Resource Center	$90,000	2013
Justice Not Politics Alaska	$90,000	2015-2017
Missouri Jobs With Justice	$90,000	2017
Progress Florida Education Institute	$90,000	2016-2017
Unity Productions Foundation	$90,000	2010-2011
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Education Project	$90,000	2008, 2012-2014
Georgia Equality Foundation	$88,000	2015
New School - World Policy Institute	$88,000	2006
Arab-American Action Network	$87,500	2009-2010
Media Justice League	$86,000	2009-2011
Access Now	$85,000	2010-2011, 2013
Americans For Campaign Reform	$85,000	2006, 2008
Freedom To Marry Foundation	$85,000	2006
Media Consortium	$85,000	2010-2011
World Security Institute	$85,000	2006
Open Media And Information Companies Initiative	$84,000	2009-2010, 2012
Center For Media And Democracy	$82,500	2008, 2015-2016
City University Of New York School Of Law Foundation	$82,000	2010, 2014, 2017
New World Foundation	$81,600	2011, 2017
North Carolina Center For Voter Education	$81,500	2006, 2012-2014
American Indian Institute	$80,000	2015
Appalshop	$80,000	2009-2012
Bill Of Rights Defense Committee	$80,000	2012-2015
California Common Cause	$80,000	2014-2015
Illinois Campaign For Political Reform	$80,000	2006, 2008, 2012
New Organizing Institute Education Fund	$80,000	2010
United We Dream Network	$80,000	2011, 2017
Wisconsin League Of Conservation Voters	$80,000	2008, 2016
9 To 5 National Association Of Working Woman	$77,000	2006-2007
Economists For Peace And Security	$77,000	2006-2007
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Of Colorado	$75,000	2013
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Of Texas	$75,000	2015
American Civil Liberties Union Of North Carolina Legal Foundation	$75,000	2015
Center For Public Interest Research	$75,000	2006
Equality Illinois Education Project	$75,000	2012
Equality North Carolina Foundation	$75,000	2015
Foundation For National Progress	$75,000	2009, 2012
Interfaith Youth Core	$75,000	2010
National Alliance For Media Arts And Culture	$75,000	2010-2012
New Hampshire Freedom To Marry Education Fund	$75,000	2009
New York University	$75,000	2016
Oakland Rising Action	$75,000	2012
Roger Baldwin Foundation Of The American Civil Liberties Union	$75,000	2006
Sustainable Markets Foundation	$75,000	2014-2016
Texas Freedom Network Education Fund	$75,000	2015
Two Futures Project	$75,000	2009-2011
Utility Reform Network	$75,000	2011-2012
Colorado Progressive Coalition	$72,000	2006-2007
Equality Hawaii Foundation	$72,000	2013
Adc Research Institute	$70,000	2009
Alliance For Peacebuilding	$70,000	2011-2012
Arts Of Peace - Mainstream Media Project	$70,000	2010
Association Of State Correctional Administrators	$70,000	2015, 2017
Common Cause New Mexico	$70,000	2014-2015
Common Cause Oregon	$70,000	2014
Leadership Conference Civil Rights Education Fund	$70,000	2007-2008
Media And Democracy Coalition	$70,000	2009-2010, 2012
Neighbor To Neighbor Massachusetts Education Fund	$70,000	2006-2007
Nuclear Watch Of New Mexico	$70,000	2009-2011
Progressive Change Institute	$70,000	2013
Somali Action Alliance Education Fund	$70,000	2010-2011
West Fund	$70,000	2016-2017
Commonwealth Institute	$68,500	2007-2008
Asian Americans Advancing Justice	$67,600	2016
League Of Women Voters Of Maine Education Fund	$67,500	2006, 2008
Alliance For Global Justice	$67,000	2016-2017
Eastern Mennonite University - Center For Justice And Peacebuilding	$66,000	2009-2010
Institute For Public Affairs	$65,000	2015-2016
Ohio River Valley Environmental Coalition	$65,000	2016-2017
Pennsylvanians For Alternatives To The Death Penalty	$65,000	2014-2015
Queen City Community Development - Seattle Lgbt Community Center	$65,000	2006
Texas Organizing Project Education Fund	$65,000	2017
Vermonters For Criminal Justice Reform	$65,000	2014-2016
University Of Wisconsin Foundation	$64,000	2015
Peoples Production House	$62,000	2008
Access Philanthropy Charities	$60,000	2016-2017
Altmuslim.Com	$60,000	2009
Arab Community Center For Economic	$60,000	2016
Balle	$60,000	2014-2015
Campaign Legal Center	$60,000	2009-2011
Carolina Justice Policy Center	$60,000	2013
Diversity Fellowship Proteus Fund	$60,000	2013-2014
Faith In Public Life	$60,000	2015
Georgia Muslim Voter Project	$60,000	2017
Missouri Bar Foundation	$60,000	2012
Praxis Project	$60,000	2016-2017
Texas Coalition To Abolish The Death Penalty	$60,000	2014
Tides Center	$60,000	2008, 2016-2017
Union Of Concerned Scientists	$60,000	2009-2011
Washington Community Action Network	$60,000	2016
Iowa Citizen Action Network Education Foundation	$57,000	2006-2007
Mas Boston Society	$55,783	2014-2015, 2017
Colorofchange.Org	$55,000	2011-2012
Community Foundation Of Greater Des Moines	$55,000	2006
Executive Council Of The General Syn	$55,000	2008
Massequality.Org, The Campaign For Equality	$55,000	2006
Voice Of Witness	$55,000	2010-2011
Align The Alliance For A Greater N	$53,500	2016
Common Frequency	$52,200	2010-2012
Men'S Resource Center	$50,050	2008
Aclu Foundation Of Arizona	$50,000	2015
American Forum	$50,000	2006, 2011
American University	$50,000	2008
Asian Pacific Environmental Network Action	$50,000	2012
Breakthrough	$50,000	2010
Causa Justa Just Cause	$50,000	2012
Cause Communications	$50,000	2011
Center For Effective Government - Omb Watch	$50,000	2009-2010
Center For International Policy - Arms And Security Initiative	$50,000	2012
Coalition For D C Representation Ed	$50,000	2016
Coalition For Dc Representation Education Fund Dba Dc Vote	$50,000	2017
Common Cause Connecticut	$50,000	2015
Common Cause Connecticut	$50,000	2014
Equality Federation Institute	$50,000	2015
Equality Ohio Education Fund	$50,000	2014
Equality State Policy Center	$50,000	2006
Florida New Majority Education Fund	$50,000	2012
Foundation For National Progress - Mother Jones	$50,000	2010
Fractured Atlas - Working Narratives	$50,000	2012
Human Rights First	$50,000	2009-2010
Institute For Social Policy And Und	$50,000	2016
Ministry Against The Death Penalty	$50,000	2013-2014
Movement For Black Lives Convening	$50,000	2015
New Security Action	$50,000	2010
Ole Education Fund	$50,000	2017
One Community Foundation	$50,000	2015
Progressive Voices Institute	$50,000	2013-2014
Public Policy And Education Fund Of	$50,000	2016
Reprieve	$50,000	2013-2014
Sustainable Economies Law Center	$50,000	2015-2016
Threshold Foundation	$50,000	2015-2016
Unlocking Futures	$50,000	2016-2017
Urban Dreams	$50,000	2006
Virginia Organizing	$50,000	2006, 2017
Watershed Center	$49,550	2016-2017
Alliance For Community Media	$45,000	2009, 2011
Center For Sustainable Journalism	$45,000	2015
New Hampshire Citizens Allowance	$45,000	2006-2008
Justice Now	$43,000	2016-2017
Institute For Southern Studies	$42,750	2016
Mikva Challenge - Grant Foundation	$41,800	2008
Maine Center For Economic Policy	$41,000	2006
Acorn Active Media Foundation	$40,000	2006
Alabama Appleseed Center For Law And Justice	$40,000	2012
American Prospect	$40,000	2011, 2013
Americans For The Arts	$40,000	2008
Birmingham Faith In Action	$40,000	2012
Center For Civic Action	$40,000	2007
Coalition For Open Democracy	$40,000	2017
Collective Heritage Institute	$40,000	2014
Colorado People'S Alliance	$40,000	2015
Common Cause Maryland	$40,000	2014-2015
Community Shares Of Wisconsin	$40,000	2015
Connecticut Citizen Research Ed Group	$40,000	2007
Consensus Building Institute	$40,000	2008
Fair Wisconsin	$40,000	2006
Family Values At Work A Multi-State	$40,000	2016
Family Values At Work A Multi-State Consortium	$40,000	2015
Fjc	$40,000	2017
Fordham University - Law School	$40,000	2006
Georgetown University - Georgetown University Law Center	$40,000	2006
Hispanic Interest Coalition Of Alabama	$40,000	2012
Howard University - Law School	$40,000	2007
Institute For Agriculture And Trade Policy	$40,000	2014
La Union Del Pueblo Entero	$40,000	2011
Massachusetts Communities Action Network	$40,000	2015
New Hampshire American Civil Liberties Union Foundation	$40,000	2006
Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association	$40,000	2017
Pineros Y Campesinos Unidos Del Noroeste	$40,000	2011
Progress Michigan Education	$40,000	2017
Project South Institution For The Elimination Of Poverty And Genocide	$40,000	2017
Texas Fair Defense Project	$40,000	2016-2017
University Of Southern California	$40,000	2017
Youth Noise	$40,000	2008
Maine Women'S Policy Center	$38,250	2006-2007
United Neighborhood Centers Of America	$38,250	2008
Partnership For The Advancement Of New Americans	$37,900	2017
Chittenden Community Television	$37,000	2008
Center For Third World Organizing	$36,500	2012, 2017
Big Mouth Productions	$35,000	2011
Center For Civic Participation	$35,000	2008
Common Cause New York	$35,000	2014
Dirigo Alliance	$35,000	2006
Everyblackgirl	$35,000	2017
Freedom To Marry Vermont Task Force	$35,000	2007
Partnership For Public Service	$35,000	2006, 2008
Peace And Security Funders Group	$35,000	2009, 2011-2012
Re Gender	$35,000	2013
Research Foundation Of Cuny	$35,000	2017
Tenants Together	$35,000	2014-2017
Transgender Law Center	$35,000	2017
Wcij	$35,000	2016-2017
Willamette University - Oregon Law Commission	$35,000	2013
Youth For Environmental Sanity	$35,000	2014-2015
Black Alliance For Just Immigration	$33,500	2017
Asian Pacific American Network Of Oregon	$33,000	2017
People'S Action Fund	$32,500	2017
Public Justice Center	$32,000	2016
Advocates For Environmental Human Rights	$30,000	2006
Biodynamic Farming And Gardening	$30,000	2016
Center For Community Stewardship	$30,000	2016
Center For International Policy - Project On Defense Alternatives	$30,000	2012
Chinese Progressive Association	$30,000	2017
Clean Wisconsin	$30,000	2015-2016
Council For A Livable World Education Fund	$30,000	2014
Council On American-Islamic Relations California	$30,000	2017
Critical Resistance	$30,000	2016-2017
Death Penalty Focus Of California	$30,000	2014
Dharma Foundation	$30,000	2016
Earthreports - Patuxent Riverkeeper	$30,000	2006
Eyepop Productions	$30,000	2015
Faithful Security National Religious Partnership On The Nuclear Weapons Danger	$30,000	2009
Foundation For National Progress - Media Consortium	$30,000	2012
Hawaii Elections Project	$30,000	2013
Henry L Stimson Center	$30,000	2012
Independent Media Institute	$30,000	2006
Institute For American Leadership	$30,000	2012
Institute For Media Analysis	$30,000	2014
Lewis And Clark College	$30,000	2016-2017
Massequality Organization	$30,000	2007
Milwaukee Public Theatre	$30,000	2015
Missouri Citizen Education Fund	$30,000	2006
Ms Foundation For Women	$30,000	2008
Muslim Students Association West	$30,000	2017
Nebraska Easement Action Team	$30,000	2016
New Jersey Citizen Action Education Fund	$30,000	2006
Northeastern University	$30,000	2017
Peace Development	$30,000	2008
People Power Initiatives	$30,000	2016
Philadelphians Organized To Witness Empower And Rebuild	$30,000	2017
Public Action Foundation	$30,000	2006
Public Campaign Action	$30,000	2008
Southsiders Organized For Unity And Liberation	$30,000	2016-2017
Thousand Currents	$30,000	2017
University Of California - Berkeley Regents	$30,000	2017
Western States	$30,000	2008
Win Win Network	$30,000	2017
Wisconsin League Of Conservation Voters Institute	$30,000	2006, 2015
Floridians For Alternatives To	$28,532	2016
Community Catalyst	$28,000	2016
Public Economic Information Services	$27,500	2014-2015
Leadership Conference On Civil Rights Education Fund	$27,000	2008
National Queer Asian Pacific Island	$26,335	2016
Texans For Public Justice	$26,300	2013
Affect Real Change	$25,000	2017
Alliance For Justice	$25,000	2016
Arts Of Peace	$25,000	2009
Bruno Roosevelt Filmproduktion Llc	$25,000	2014
Class Action	$25,000	2014-2016
Co-Intelligence Institute	$25,000	2014-2016
Communities United For People	$25,000	2017
Cooperation Jackson Of Mississippi	$25,000	2017
Demand Progress Action	$25,000	2013
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative	$25,000	2017
Franklin And Eleanor Roosevelt Institute	$25,000	2013
Freedom Archives	$25,000	2017
Fund For The City Of New York	$25,000	2008
Heart Women And Girls	$25,000	2017
Highlander Research And Education Center	$25,000	2017
Illinois Peoples Action	$25,000	2017
League Of Young Voters Education Fund	$25,000	2006
Legal Voice	$25,000	2006
Lummi Nation Service Organization	$25,000	2017
Madison Area Community Land Trust	$25,000	2014-2015
Maine Citizen Leadership Fund	$25,000	2006
Maine Conservation Alliance	$25,000	2006
Maine Initiatives	$25,000	2006-2007
Mass Alliance	$25,000	2014
Massachusetts Voter Table	$25,000	2012
Media Alliance	$25,000	2006
Midwest Environmental Advocates	$25,000	2015
National Council Of La Razaraul	$25,000	2008
National Institute For Latino Policy	$25,000	2011
National Korean American Service An	$25,000	2016
Navigate	$25,000	2017
New Economy Coalition	$25,000	2017
New York Communities Organizing Fund	$25,000	2017
New York Community Media Alliance	$25,000	2009
New York University - New York University, Center For Human Rights And Global Justice	$25,000	2011
Organization United For Respect At Walmart	$25,000	2015
Otherworlds	$25,000	2009, 2016
Peace First	$25,000	2017
Polaris Institute Usa	$25,000	2017
Positive Futures Network	$25,000	2016
Press Street Dba Antenna	$25,000	2017
Progressive Leadership Alliance Of Nevada (Plan)	$25,000	2006
Progressivecongress.Org	$25,000	2011
Repairers Of The Breach	$25,000	2017
Responsible Endowments Coalition	$25,000	2014
Ruth Ellis Center	$25,000	2017
Southern Coalition For Social Justice	$25,000	2015
Takeaction Minnesota Education Fund	$25,000	2006
To Nizhoni Ani	$25,000	2017
Warehouse Workers Justice Center	$25,000	2017
Warrior Educational Films	$25,000	2015-2016
Working Narratives	$25,000	2017
Working World	$25,000	2017
Cornucopia Institute	$23,000	2008, 2014-2015
Funders Committee For Civic Participation	$22,600	2011, 2013
Social Justice Fund Northwest	$22,500	2014-2015
Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia	$22,000	2017
Pico Action Fund	$22,000	2012
Massachusetts Voter Education	$21,100	2016-2017
Montana Abolition Coalition	$21,000	2015
Gulf Coast Center For Law And Policy	$20,500	2015
Hmong American Friendship Association	$20,291	2006
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Of Florida	$20,000	2013
Arizona Institute For Public Life	$20,000	2006
Arizona Wins	$20,000	2015
Arms Control Association	$20,000	2010
Association Of Community Organizations For Reform Now	$20,000	2006
Biodynamic Farming And Gardening Association	$20,000	2015
Black Lives Matter	$20,000	2015
Center For Intercultural Organizing Dba Unite Oregon	$20,000	2017
Colorado Consumer Health Initiative	$20,000	2016
Common Cause Hawaii	$20,000	2014
Community Organizations In Action	$20,000	2015
Congregation Of St Joseph Ministry Against The Death Penalty	$20,000	2017
Drug Policy Alliance	$20,000	2015
Engage San Diego	$20,000	2012
Every Voice Center	$20,000	2014
Faith In Florida	$20,000	2017
Florida Institute For Reform And Em	$20,000	2016
Health Access Foundation	$20,000	2016
Hitchcock Center	$20,000	2008
Illinois Justice Foundation	$20,000	2017
Indiana Abolition Coalition	$20,000	2015
Institute For Nonprofit News	$20,000	2017
Institute For One Wisconsin Now	$20,000	2007
Interfaith Alliance Of Iowa	$20,000	2015
Interfaith Alliance Of Iowa And Action Fund	$20,000	2014
International Documentary	$20,000	2016
Investigative Reporters And Editors	$20,000	2014
Legal Services For Prisoners With C	$20,000	2016
Local First Milwaukee	$20,000	2015
Maryland Citizen'S Health Initiative Education Fund	$20,000	2016
Massachusetts Public Health Associa	$20,000	2016
Metropolitan Public Defender Servic	$20,000	2016
Military Families Speak Out	$20,000	2011
Military Families Speak Out - Education Fund	$20,000	2009
Movement Netlab	$20,000	2015
Naacp	$20,000	2008
National Congress Of American Indians (Ncai)	$20,000	2008
Natural Resources Defense Council	$20,000	2009
Neighbor To Neighbor Massachusetts Action Fund	$20,000	2012
Nm Comunidades En Accion International Y De Fe	$20,000	2017
Ohio Campus Compact	$20,000	2016
Ospirg Foundation	$20,000	2017
Ospring Foundation	$20,000	2016
Progressive Maryland	$20,000	2015
Project Vote-Voting For America	$20,000	2008
Proteus Fund - Security And Rights Collaborative	$20,000	2014
Public Defender Association Of Seattle	$20,000	2015
Race And Equity Collaborative	$20,000	2013
Reason Foundation	$20,000	2015
Reclaim The Media	$20,000	2009
Sacramento Area Congregation Together	$20,000	2017
Social Transformation Project	$20,000	2014-2015
Southerners On New Ground	$20,000	2017
True Story	$20,000	2015
Village Of Hope	$20,000	2017
Voice Of The Ex-Offender	$20,000	2015
Warren J Plaut Charitable Tr	$20,000	2017
Wild Foundation	$20,000	2014-2015
Wyoming Association Of Churches	$20,000	2017
Ncsl Foundation For State Legistlatures	$19,750	2008
Center Of Michigan	$19,250	2008
Building Partnerships Usa	$18,000	2006
Red Cloud Indian School	$18,000	2014-2015
Walden School	$18,000	2013-2014
Hopewell Fund	$17,500	2017
Justice Together	$17,500	2015
Fordham University School Of Law	$16,000	2014-2015
Pomegranate Center	$16,000	2014-2015
Washington Progress Fund	$16,000	2014, 2016
Rising Tide North America	$15,500	2015
Advancing Real Change	$15,000	2016
Alliance For Global Justice For Chiapas Media Project	$15,000	2016
American Players Theatre	$15,000	2014-2015
Arkansas Coalition To Abolish The Death Penalty	$15,000	2014
Campaign For Southern Equality	$15,000	2016-2017
Center For Convivial Research And A	$15,000	2016
Center For Courage And Renewal	$15,000	2014-2016
Center For Digital Democracy	$15,000	2010
Center For New Community	$15,000	2015
Consulting For Organizational Reflection And Effectiveness	$15,000	2015
Consulting For Organizational Reflection And Effectiveness	$15,000	2014
Dream Defenders	$15,000	2014
Each One Reach One	$15,000	2016
Each One Reach One	$15,000	2016
Earthworks	$15,000	2017
Florida International University Foundation	$15,000	2017
Harvard Law School - Harvard University, Berkman Center For Internet And Society	$15,000	2012
Idle No More	$15,000	2014
Institute For Public Accuracy	$15,000	2009
Justice 360	$15,000	2016
Lead Wisconsin	$15,000	2015
Maryland Public Interest Research Foundation	$15,000	2017
Missourians For Alternatives To The Death Penalty	$15,000	2014
Montanans For Free And Fair Elections	$15,000	2014
National Institute On Money In State Politics	$15,000	2017
Native Americans In Philanthropy	$15,000	2017
New Alpha Community Development Corporation	$15,000	2016
Ohio Student Association	$15,000	2014
On Your Mark Productions	$15,000	2015
Online Progressive Engagement Networks Fund	$15,000	2014
Pequenas Ligas Hispanas De New Haven	$15,000	2011
Providence Youth Student Movement	$15,000	2017
Public Accountability Initiative In	$15,000	2016
Rise Up International	$15,000	2015
San Diego Organization Project	$15,000	2017
Sc Progressive Network Education Fund	$15,000	2017
School Of Lost Borders	$15,000	2014-2016
Success A New Beginning	$15,000	2008
Texas Lethal Injection Project	$15,000	2015
Voces De La Frontera	$15,000	2006, 2016
Warehouse Workers For Justice	$15,000	2014
Welcome Project	$15,000	2017
Wildfire Project	$15,000	2014
Wisconsin Voices	$15,000	2017
Women Make Movies	$15,000	2013
Yes Laboratory	$15,000	2014
Youth Justice Fund	$15,000	2017
Council On American Islamic Relations	$14,750	2017
Domestic Worker Legacy Fund	$14,000	2017
Muslim Wellness Foundation	$14,000	2017
American Civil Liberties Union Of Kentucky Foundation	$13,500	2014
Common Cause North Carolina	$13,500	2014
Black Youth Project	$13,083	2015
Islamic Society Of North America	$13,000	2016-2017
Ocean Classroom Foundation	$13,000	2006, 2008
Animals As Natural Therapy	$12,721	2006
Honor The Earth	$12,500	2017
American Family Voices	$12,000	2008
American Family Voices	$12,000	2007
United Church Of Christ - Office Of Communications	$12,000	2012
Youth Sentencing And Reentry Project	$12,000	2016
Gay City Health Project	$11,500	2016
National Domestic Workers Alliance	$11,000	2017
Third Sector New England	$11,000	2016
Getequal Education Fund	$10,049	2015
A World Institute For A Sustainable Humanity	$10,000	2006
Aclu Nebraska Foundation	$10,000	2016
Action Now Institute	$10,000	2016
American Association Of University Women Aauw	$10,000	2016
American Constitution Society For Law And Policy	$10,000	2014
American Independent News Network	$10,000	2009
Bay Area Justice Funders Network	$10,000	2012
Be Present	$10,000	2015
Black Women'S Blueprint	$10,000	2017
Boston Women'S Fund	$10,000	2013-2014
Broadband Census	$10,000	2009
Building Opportunities For Self-Sufficiency	$10,000	2017
Bus Federation Civic Fund	$10,000	2017
Center For International Human Rights	$10,000	2013
Centro De Los Derechos Del Migrante	$10,000	2017
Coloradans For Fairness And Equality	$10,000	2014
Community Environmental Legal Defence Fund	$10,000	2008
Community Labor United	$10,000	2016
Community Voices Heard	$10,000	2016
Debt Collective	$10,000	2015
Edgewood College	$10,000	2015-2016
Faith In Texas	$10,000	2017
Hawaii Clean Elections	$10,000	2014
Hollaback	$10,000	2017
Incite Productions	$10,000	2015
Indianapolis Congregation Action Network	$10,000	2017
International Development Exchange	$10,000	2016
Jakara Movement	$10,000	2017
Just Think Foundation	$10,000	2008
Kentucky Coalition	$10,000	2008
Know Your City	$10,000	2015
Maximum Pictures, Llc	$10,000	2014
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute	$10,000	2015
Michigan State University - College Of Law	$10,000	2015
Movement For Justice In El Barrio	$10,000	2017
National Immigration Law Center	$10,000	2017
National Iranian American Council	$10,000	2017
National People'S Action	$10,000	2012
National People'S Action Campaign	$10,000	2015
Neighbors United For A Better East Boston	$10,000	2015
New School	$10,000	2006
New York Foundation For The Arts	$10,000	2016
Peace Development Fund	$10,000	2017
Physicians For Human Rights	$10,000	2009
Post Carbon Institute	$10,000	2014
Real Change Homeless Empowerment Project	$10,000	2015-2016
Restaurant Opportunities Centers Ro	$10,000	2016
River Alliance Of Wisconsin	$10,000	2016
Root Capital	$10,000	2014-2015
Slow Money Wisconsin	$10,000	2015
Social Good Fund	$10,000	2016
Solid Ground	$10,000	2014-2015
Soulforce	$10,000	2017
Trans United	$10,000	2017
United States Student Assosciation Foundation	$10,000	2008
Wisconsin Campus Compact	$10,000	2014
University Of Virginia - University Of Virginia, School Of Law	$9,100	2014
Pennsylvania State University	$9,000	2011
Synthesis Center	$9,000	2006
University Of Delaware	$9,000	2012
Chicago Votes	$8,200	2016
Covert Productions	$8,000	2014
Make The Road New York	$8,000	2016
New York State Defenders Association	$8,000	2014
Northwestern University - Office Of Sponsored Research	$8,000	2014
Not An Alternative	$8,000	2015
This Changes Everything	$8,000	2015
Wormfarm Institute	$8,000	2015
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance	$7,700	2017
Brooklyn Community Bail Fund	$7,500	2017
Center For Constitutional Rights	$7,500	2015
Center For Labor Education And Research	$7,500	2017
Centro Presente	$7,500	2013
Color Of Change Education Fund	$7,500	2017
Grantmakers Concerned With Immigrants And Refugees	$7,500	2017
Institute For Americas Future	$7,500	2006
Louisiana Rise	$7,500	2017
Midwestern Innocence Project	$7,500	2015
New Voices Pittsburgh	$7,500	2017
Muslim Community Network	$7,100	2017
American Muslim Advisory Council	$7,000	2017
Cair-Chicago	$7,000	2017
Chhaya Community Development Corporation	$7,000	2017
La Voice	$7,000	2017
University Of Hawaii System - William S. Richardson School Of Law	$7,000	2014
Vote Yes Connecticut	$7,000	2014
Hands Up United	$6,667	2015
Arab American Civic Council	$6,000	2017
Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles	$6,000	2017
Bold Education Fund	$6,000	2017
Colectiva Legal Del Pueblo	$6,000	2016
Grassroots International	$6,000	2016
Heartwood	$6,000	2017
Oneamerica	$6,000	2017
Whiting Library	$6,000	2013
Agitarte	$5,750	2017
Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization	$5,500	2017
Uprose	$5,500	2017
Planned Parenthood Federation Of America	$5,049	2016
Advancement Project	$5,000	2016
Alaska Public Interest Research Group	$5,000	2007
American Civil Liberties Union Of W	$5,000	2016
American Friends Service Committee Afsc	$5,000	2016
American Independent Business Allia	$5,000	2016
Anti-Defamation League	$5,000	2016
Boulder Institute For Nature And The Human Spirit	$5,000	2014-2015
Breaking The Silence Philly Task Force	$5,000	2015
Center For Labor Education And Rese	$5,000	2016
Center For Sustainable Economy	$5,000	2016
Community Justice Project	$5,000	2016
Connecticut Network To Abolish The Death Penalty	$5,000	2014
East Boston Social Center	$5,000	2016
Giddens School	$5,000	2016
Haymarket People S Fund	$5,000	2014
If Not Now	$5,000	2016
Massachusetts Womens Political Caucus Education And Research Development Fund	$5,000	2014
Nonviolence International	$5,000	2016
Peri Support Fund	$5,000	2009
Queer Poc Collective	$5,000	2015
Race Forward	$5,000	2016
Social And Environmental Entreprene	$5,000	2016
Southern Partners Fund	$5,000	2016
Southern Poverty Law Center	$5,000	2016
Survivors Organizing For Liberation	$5,000	2015
University Of Colorado - Institute Of Behavioral Science	$5,000	2014
University Of Michigan	$5,000	2015
Veterans For Peace	$5,000	2016
Washington State University Foundation	$5,000	2016
Wisconsin Public Radio Association	$5,000	2014
Women Encouraging Empowerment	$5,000	2016
Workers Center For Racial Justice N	$5,000	2016
Zing Foundation - Bolder Giving	$5,000	2015
Angelic Organics Learning Center	$4,800	2015
University Of Hawaii System - College Of Social Sciences	$4,545	2014
Center For Social Justice	$4,000	2007
Colorado Outward Sound School	$4,000	2014
Helping Link Foundation	$4,000	2006
Grand Total:	$106,996,777

Financial Documents

The Proteus Fund’s IRS Form 990 filings for 2016, 2017, and 2019 are available here:

• 2019 Form 990
• 2017 Form 990
• 2016 Form 990

Leadership

President and CEO

Paul Di Donato was named the president and CEO of the Proteus Fund in January 2017 after working one year as the group’s interim president. Prior to that, he was the director of the Proteus Fund’s Civil Marriage Collaborative from 2007 to 2015. ⁶³ From 1997 to 2005, Di Donato was executive director of Funders Concerned About AIDS, a philanthropic group. From 2007 to 2015, he ran a private consulting firm that catered to a number of center-left clients, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Arcus Foundation. ⁶⁴

In 2017, Di Donato received total compensation of $225,659. ⁶⁵

Meg Gage was founding president and CEO of the Proteus Fund, a position she held from 1994 to her retirement in 2016. In 1981, Gage founded the Peace Development Fund, a center-left grantmaking group she ran until 1992. From 1992 to 1999, Gage was executive director of the Ottinger Foundation, a center-left funder. Gage is an advisory board member for ReThink Media, a nonprofit public relations group. ⁶⁶

Key Staff

Jill Price Marshall is the Proteus Fund’s chief operating officer, a position she’s held since March 2016. Prior to that, she worked as chief of staff and executive assistant for the Proteus Fund beginning in 2009. ^{67 68} In 2017, Marshall received total compensation of $178,070. ⁶⁹

Board of Directors

Current and former members of the Proteus Fund’s board of directors include the following individuals: ^{70 71}

Jason Franklin is chair of the Proteus Fund’s board of directors. He also holds the chair of W.K. Kellogg Community Philanthropy at the Johnson Center for Philanthropy of Grand Valley State University and serves as adjunct faculty in philanthropy at New York University. Franklin is a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy. ⁷² Franklin previously worked as executive director of Bolder Giving, the Rockefeller Foundation’s Next Generation Leadership Network, and the White House Office of National AIDS Policy. ⁷³

Helena Huang is a program officer for the Ford Foundation’s Art for Justice Fund, a project administered by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Huang previously worked at the Open Society Foundations, JEHT Foundation, and State Voices, and co-founded Oregon Voice. ⁷⁴

Odell Mays is founder of Mays2 Consulting, LLC. ⁷⁵

Richard Burns is interim CEO of the LGBT litigation group Lambda Legal. He previously worked as chief operating officer of the left-wing Arcus Foundation and executive director of the New York-based Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center. ⁷⁶

Patricia Eng is vice president of programs for the New York Women’s Foundation. She previously worked as chief service officer for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and director of programs for Bolder Giving. ^{77 78}

Sara Gould is a philanthropy consultant and program design strategist. She previously worked as director of the Economic Development Project for the Ms. Foundation for Women in New York, associate director of Caring Across Generations, and senior fellow for Atlantic Philanthropies. ⁷⁹

Jennifer Berman is a program director for the center-left Garfield Foundation and a philanthropy consultant. From 2014 to 2015, she was a staffer for the left-wing Solidago Foundation. ⁸⁰

Mai-Anh Tran is chief financial officer for the Ford Foundation. She previously worked as a staffer for the Rockefeller Foundation and a number of other nonprofits. ⁸¹

Eric Ward is executive director of the Western States Center, a left-wing policy advocacy group. He previously worked as a program officer for the Ford Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, and Center for New Community. ⁸²

Ryan Alexander is president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a center-left tax policy advocacy nonprofit, a position she has held since 2006. ⁸³

Nima Shirazi is a director of Spitfire Strategies, a Democratic consultancy. He previously worked as a communications strategist for Atlantic Philanthropies and as a senior fellow and founding member of the Narrative Initiative. ⁸⁴

C. LaRoy Brantley is an investment adviser. ⁸⁵

Related Organizations

ReThink Media

Also see ReThink Media (nonprofit)

The Proteus Fund partnered with ReThink Media to form the RISE Together Fund. ReThink Media coordinates the public relations strategies of activist groups so that they will stay on effective messaging which will change public opinion and not duplicate effort. ⁸⁶

Proteus Action League

Also see Proteus Action League (nonprofit)

The Proteus Action League (PAL) is the 501(c)(4) arm of the Proteus Fund. PAL supports and opposes specific legislation and referenda regarding the death penalty, campaign financing, the LGBT interests, and other issues in which the Proteus Fund is actively involved. ⁸⁷

1. The Proteus Fund. Hearts and Minds: The Untold Story of how Philanthropy and the Civil Marriage Collaborative Helped America Embrace Marriage Equality. 2015. Massachusetts, Amherst.
2. “Proteus Fund, Inc.” D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://corponline.dcra.dc.gov
3. Callahan, David. “Pioneer: How Meg Gage Has Changed Philanthropy-and the World.” Inside Philanthropy. December 4, 2015. Accessed January 01, 2018. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2015/12/4/pioneer-how-meg-gage-has-changed-philanthropyand-the-world.html.
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9. Whyte, Liz Essley. “Groups Decrying ‘Dark Money’ Use Shadowy Money Themselves.” Center for Public Integrity. January 20, 2016. Accessed January 05, 2018. https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/01/14/19124/groups-decrying-dark-money-use-shadowy-money-themselves.
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16. McCarthy, Justin. “Record-High 60% of Americans Support Same-Sex Marriage.” Gallup.com. May 19, 2015. Accessed January 05, 2018. http://news.gallup.com/poll/183272/record-high-americans-support-sex-marriage.aspx.
17. Clement, Scott, and Robert Barnes. “Poll: Gay-marriage support at record high.” The Washington Post. April 23, 2015. Accessed January 05, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/poll-gay-marriage-support-at-record-high/2015/04/22/f6548332-e92a-11e4-aae1-d642717d8afa_story.html?utm_term=.84154ef76b51.
18. Merritt, Jonathan. “Evangelicals are Shifting on Same-sex Marriage, but it’s no Avalanche.” Religion News Service. March 18, 2015. Accessed January 05, 2018. http://religionnews.com/2015/03/18/evangelicals-shifting-sex-marriage-no-avalanche/.
19. Williams, Wendy. “LGBTQ Philanthropy is Growing Yet Under Attack | PBA.” Pro Bono Australia. November 23, 2017. Accessed January 19, 2018. https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/11/lgbtq-philanthropy-growing-yet-attack/.
20. “Proteus Fund Announces a New Funder Collaborative to Oppose the Use of Religious Exemptions to Undermine Fundamental Rights.” Philanthropy New York. March 16, 2017. Accessed January 12, 2018. https://philanthropynewyork.org/news/proteus-fund-announces-new-funder-collaborative-oppose-use-religious-exemptions-undermine.
21. Williams, Wendy. “LGBTQ Philanthropy is Growing Yet Under Attack | PBA.” Pro Bono Australia. November 23, 2017. Accessed January 19, 2018. https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/11/lgbtq-philanthropy-growing-yet-attack/.
22. Slade, Stephanie. “Why is the A.C.L.U. targeting Catholic hospitals?” America Magazine-The Jesuit Review. June 01, 2017. Accessed February 01, 2018. https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2017/05/31/why-aclu-targeting-catholic-hospitals.
23. Lambda Legal. “Lambda Legal to High Court: Religious License to Discriminate Harms LGBT People from Cradle to Grave.” Lambda Legal. October 30, 2017. Accessed February 01, 2018. https://www.lambdalegal.org/blog/co_20171030_masterpiece-cakeshop-amicus-filing.
24. Rights, Faith and Democracy Collaborative.” The Proteus Fund. 2018. Accessed January 19, 2018. https://www.proteusfund.org/rfdc.
25. “About Our Work.” Catholics For Choice. 2018. Accessed February 01, 2018. http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/about-us/about-our-work/.
26. “Announcing the Themis Litigation Fund.” Proteus Fund, Proteus Fund, 2007, temp-proteusfund.gaiahost.net/themis/news/announcing-themis-litigation-fund.
27. Hill, Henderson. “Announcing the 8th Amendment Project.” Announcing the 8th Amendment Project | Themis Fund. May 23, 2014. Accessed January 17, 2018. http://temp-proteusfund.gaiahost.net/themis/news/announcing-8th-amendment-project.
28. “8th Amendment Project – The Center For Death Penalty Litigation.” January 1, 2018. The Center For Death Penalty Litigation. Accessed July 1, 2019. http://www.cdpl.org/our-work/8th-amendment-project/.
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31. The Proteus Fund. Security and Rights Collaborative 2017 Grants. December 4, 2017. A list and descriptions of grants made to MASA groups in 2017.
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33. Colombe Foundation. Foundation Directory Online. November 6, 2017. Accessed January 24, 2018. https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/grantmaker-profile/?collection=grantmakers&activity=result&key=COLO055.
34. Colombe Foundation, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2016
35. “Fiscal Sponsorship.” The Proteus Fund. 2018. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://www.proteusfund.org/fiscal-sponsorship.
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37. “Advisory Committee.” Our Story Hub. Accessed April 17, 2019. http://ourstoryhub.org/index.php/home/about/who-we-are/.
38. “Grantees.” Solidaire Network. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://solidairenetwork.org/grantees/
39. “Vox Populism.” American and European Society Research Project. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://www.voxpopulism.net/
40. “About EmbraceRace.” EmbraceRace. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://www.embracerace.org/about.html
41. “Steering Committee.” Human Rights Funders Network. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://www.hrfn.org/about-us/steering-committee/
42. “How It Works.” JustFund. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://www.justfund.us/justfund/howitworks
43. “Partners.” Philanthropy Advancing Women’s Human Rights. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://www.pawhr.org/partners
44. “Advocacy.” Prevention Collaborative. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://prevention-collaborative.org/advocacy/
45. “Third Wave Supporters.” Third Wave Fund. Accessed July 1, 2019. http://www.thirdwavefund.org/our-supporters.html
46. “Gender Justice Grantmaking.” Third Wave Fund. Accessed July 1, 2019. http://www.thirdwavefund.org/grants.html
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