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Non-profit

Righteous Persons Foundation

Website:

www.righteouspersons.org/
Location:

LOS ANGELES, CA
Tax ID:

95-4497916
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)-PF

Budget (2020):

Revenue: $2,479,597
Expenses: $3,032,101
Assets: $39,637
Founded:

1994

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The Righteous Persons Foundation (RPF) is a nonprofit organization, established by American filmmaker Steven Spielberg, that uses art and storytelling to advocate social justice for the Jewish community. 1 It makes grants for Jewish arts and culture, support for Holocaust survivors, and Jewish-community social services. 2 The organization has also contributed to Jewish organizations that promote left-of-center “social justice” advocacy, that seek to respond to the “climate crisis,” and that “resist the Trump agenda.” 3

Background

Righteous Persons Foundation primarily funds Jewish arts and culture, support for holocaust survivors, Jewish community social services, and interfaith leadership. 4

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg and wife Kate Capshaw donated $100 million—a portion of the profits from the Oscar-winning Schindler’s List—to establish the Righteous Persons Foundation in 1994. It was later supported with additional profits from Spielberg’s other Oscar-winning films Munich and Lincoln. 5

Spielberg has said that he decided to launch the organization while directing Schindler’s List. The mission, he said, was twofold: “to recover and make accessible Jewish stories from the past, and to help build a contemporary Jewish community predicated on meaning, joy, and a responsibility to help repair our world.” 6

The foundation took the name “righteous persons” from the Bible. 7

The organization says it wants to help build a “diverse and vibrant Jewish community in the United States.” The foundation also backs programs that identify and train “transmitters,” which it defines as individuals who can make the Jewish community’s history and culture accessible to the public as well as those that inspire social activism based on the Jewish values. 8

The foundation says it seeks to fund projects that would otherwise have a difficult time getting funding. The organization gives preference to projects national in scope or local projects that can serve as national models. 9

Grant Recipients

Since its founding in 1994, Righteous Persons Foundation has made more than $100 million in grants. 10 It makes between $2 million and $3 million a year in grants. The grants range from $5,000 to $500,000, with an average grant size of $50,000. 11

The Righteous Persons Foundation made 22 grants in 2020. 12 The foundation runs two annual grantmaking cycles. A significant portion of the foundation’s money has gone to projects in New York City and in Los Angeles, California. 13

The foundation has given to the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Funders’ Network, the Union for Reform Judaism, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Bend the Arc, a network of left-of-center Jewish organizations “uniting to resist the Trump agenda.” 14

The foundation has funded smaller local-based Jewish organizations such as the Washington, D.C.-based Jews United for Justice, which “participates in local campaigns for racial, economic, and social justice.” 15

Among the smaller groups it donated to was Dayenu, a group launched in 2020 to help Jewish communities in the U.S. to “confront the climate crisis on a systemic level with the kind of bold, collective action needed to avert climate disaster.” 16

The organization further gave to Repair the World’s Serve the Moment initiative, a Jewish COVID-19 relief organization; Facing History and Ourselves, which aims to “use lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate;” and to the New York City-based Union Theological Seminary and the Auburn Theological Seminary, also in New York City. 17

Other grants have gone to filmmaking organizations such as the Filmmakers Collaborative, StoryCorps, and the International Documentary Association, the Jewish Film Institute’s Completion Grants Program, and the New York City-based Reboot, which is “an arts and culture non-profit that reimagines and reinforces Jewish thought and traditions.” 18

The foundation further gave to New York’s Center for Jewish History, Asylum Arts of Brooklyn, and the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. 19

The foundation also gave $500,000 to help launch Jewish Stories Partners, a film foundation launched in 2021 to “tell stories about a diverse spectrum of Jewish experiences, histories, and cultures.” 20 21

The foundation also funds the Poor People’s Campaign. 22

Leadership

Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw are co-founders and board members of the Righteous Persons Foundation. 23 Spielberg is a co-founder of DreamWorks Studios and an iconic film director, screenwriter, and producer. Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler’s List and for Saving Private Ryan. Other major films include Jaws, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park. 24

Shayna Triebwasser is the executive director of the Righteous Persons Foundation. 25

Rachel Levin is the senior advisor for the Righteous Persons Foundation. 26 The daughter of a rabbi, Levin was the first executive director of the foundation. 27

Andrea Sorin is the grants manager of the Righteous Persons Foundation. 28

References

  1. “Our Vision.” Righteous Persons Foundation. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.righteouspersons.org/#our-vision
  2. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Cause IQ. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/righteous-persons-foundation,954497916/
  3. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/rgrants/righteous-persons-foundation
  4. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Cause IQ. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/righteous-persons-foundation,954497916/
  5. “Our Vision.” Righteous Persons Foundation. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.righteouspersons.org/#our-vision
  6. “History.” Righteous Persons Foundation. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.righteouspersons.org/#history
  7. Moline, Peg. “Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation Is Battling Injustice, Bigotry, and Hatred.” L.A. Magazine. November 1, 2018. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/righteous-persons-foundation/
  8. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Society for Nonprofits. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.snpo.org/publications/fundingalert_details.php?id=398
  9. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Society for Nonprofits. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.snpo.org/publications/fundingalert_details.php?id=398
  10. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/rgrants/righteous-persons-foundation
  11. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/rgrants/righteous-persons-foundation
  12. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Cause IQ. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/righteous-persons-foundation,954497916/
  13.  “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/rgrants/righteous-persons-foundation
  14. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/rgrants/righteous-persons-foundation
  15. [1] “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/rgrants/righteous-persons-foundation
  16. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/rgrants/righteous-persons-foundation
  17. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/rgrants/righteous-persons-foundation
  18. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/rgrants/righteous-persons-foundation
  19. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/rgrants/righteous-persons-foundation
  20. Goldsmith, Jill. “Jewish Story Partners, Backed by Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation, Launches; Led By Roberta Grossman, Caroline Libresco.” Deadline. April 15, 2021. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://deadline.com/2021/04/steven-spielberg-kate-capshaw-righteous-persons-foundation-jewish-story-partners-1234734985/
  21. “History.” Righteous Persons Foundation. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.righteouspersons.org/#history
  22. Moline, Peg. “Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation Is Battling Injustice, Bigotry, and Hatred.” L.A. Magazine. November 1, 2018. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/righteous-persons-foundation/
  23. “Who We Are.” Righteous Persons Foundation. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.righteouspersons.org/who-we-are/
  24. “Righteous Persons Foundation.” Foundation Directory. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://fconline.foundationcenter.org/fdo-grantmaker-profile?key=RIGH002
  25. “Who We Are.” Righteous Persons Foundation. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.righteouspersons.org/who-we-are/
  26. “Who We Are.” Righteous Persons Foundation. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.righteouspersons.org/who-we-are/
  27. Moline, Peg. “Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation Is Battling Injustice, Bigotry, and Hatred.” L.A. Magazine. November 1, 2018. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/righteous-persons-foundation/
  28. “Who We Are.” Righteous Persons Foundation. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.righteouspersons.org/who-we-are/

Directors, Employees & Supporters

  1. Margery Tabankin
    Independent Contractor, 2013
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: November 1, 1994

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2020 Dec Form PF $2,479,597 $3,032,101 $39,637 $1 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2019 Dec Form PF $2,022,769 $2,943,124 $592,141 $1 $0 $0 $0 $0
    2015 Dec Form PF $3,700,000 $3,660,202 $75,490 $1 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2014 Dec Form PF $1,641,000 $1,607,590 $35,692 $1 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2013 Dec Form PF $2,125,000 $2,189,810 $2,282 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2012 Dec Form PF $2,800,001 $2,968,665 $66,201 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2011 Dec Form PF $2,580,015 $3,030,248 $234,865 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Righteous Persons Foundation

    11400 W OLYMPIC BLVD STE 550
    LOS ANGELES, CA 90064-1585