REIS Foundation

Founding and History

The REIS Foundation, Inc. was formed in 1997 by the banker Curtis Sanford Reis and his family. Reis’s obituary notes that he was “committed to social justice”. Following Reis’s death in 2014, his wife and family continued to administer the foundation. ¹

Finances

In the fiscal year ending June 2019, the REIS Foundation reported $1,354,466 in revenue, of which $97,499 was derived from interest, $356,435 was derived from dividends and interests on securities, and $900,532 was derived from the sale of assets. The organization had $1,134,055 in expenses, of which $1,060,750 was allocated towards grants and contributions. The foundation ended the fiscal year with $13,526,092 in net assets. ²

Grant Making and Grant Recipients

The REIS Foundation does not have a public presence or a website, and therefore does not appear to have a public grant application process. Tax filings indicate that the foundation mostly contributes to left-of-center activist and environmental organizations.

REIS has provided large grants to Borealis Philanthropy, a left-of-center intermediary group that matches donors to organizations or helps to launch organizations to match donor preferences. The group is a notable funder of the Black Lives Matter movement. Across fiscal years 2016, 2017, and 2018 the foundation provided a cumulative $400,000 for general support. ³

Another major grant recipient is the left-of-center public interest law firm Earthjustice that litigates left wing climate and environmental cases. In fiscal years 2016 and 2017 the foundation supplied $300,000 in general contributions to the organization. ⁴

The Groundswell Fund, a left wing “pass through” organization that funds abortion advocates and transgender interests has received $509,000 in general contribution grants across fiscal years 2016,2017, and 2018. ³

Across fiscal years 2016, 2017, and 2018, the foundation has provided $180,000 in general support grants to Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles. ³

The foundation has also notably supplied at least two grants, one in 2018 for $200,000 one in 2019 for $100,000, to the left-of-center National Immigration Law Center. These grants were noted as being general contributions. ⁵ The National Immigration Law Center is a member of the left-of-center Check the Sheriff Coalition in Los Angeles, California formed to oppose the policies and actions of Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva (D). The Coalition has demanded that Sherriff Villanueva resign, and that the California Attorney General investigate the Los Angeles Sherriff’s Department (LASD). ⁶

Leadership

Perryn Reis is the vice president of the Reis Foundation, and is the daughter of founder Curtis Sanford Reis. ¹ She is the associate director of Health Connected, a California non-profit that creates, promotes, and teaches its sex education curriculum in classrooms. Reis is the lead author of the organization’s curriculum. ⁷ In 2018, Reis was quoted in The Atlantic criticizing sexual education materials that are “heteronormative” and stated that her organization begins to discuss “the difference between biological sex, sexual orientation, and gender in fifth grade.” ⁸