SJS Partners

In 2022, SJS Partners gave $1.5 million to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which is managed by left-of-center dark money group Arabella Advisors. ³ SJS Partners made grants of $500,000 to Sixteen Thirty Fund in 2021. ⁴ SJS partners also gave $1 million to the Fund for a Better Future, and $500,000 to the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Center for American Progress Action Fund in 2020. ⁵

History and Leadership

SJS Partners was founded in 2019 and received tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in June 2019. ⁶

Steve Daetz is the president and secretary of SJS Partners. Daetz also is the president of the left-of-center Sandler Foundation, where he has overseen the organization’s grantmaking activities and operations since 2007. ⁷ Daetz is on the board of directors of the Center for American Progress, ⁸ ProPublica, ⁹ EarthJustice, ¹⁰ and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. ¹¹

James Sandler and his late sister, ¹² left-wing activist and philanthropist Susan Sandler, were vice presidents of SJS Partners in the group’s tax return from December 2022. ¹ Both James Sandler and Susan Sandler were the directors of the Sandler Foundation, which has given approximately $1 billion to support left-of-center groups like the Center for American Progress and ProPublica. ^{13 14 15}

SJS Partners co-founder Susan Sandler supported critical race theory-influenced social justice. She also chaired the Susan Sandler Fund, which makes racial justice-related grants, and was a founding member of the left-of-center Democracy Alliance (DA). ¹⁶ She helped create the left-of-center Learning Policy Institute and was an early backer of then-Senator Barack Obama’s (D-IL) 2008 presidential campaign. Sandler was an early financial supporter of the political careers of Vice President Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Georgia Democratic Party activist Stacey Abrams. ¹⁷

Jim Sandler focuses his efforts with SJS Partners on left-of-center environmentalist and criminal justice-related activities. ¹⁸

Activities and Funding

SJS Partners is a grantmaking organization with close ties to the left-of-center Sandler Foundation. ¹ The organization also does business as SJS Partners Action Fund Inc. ¹⁹

Grantmaking

SJS Partners primarily operates as a grantmaking organization to support and advance left-of-center social causes and initiatives. In 2022, SJS Partners spent at least $1.5 million on initiatives to support what it considers to be a “well-functioning democracy.” ²⁰

SJS partners gave $1.5 million to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which is managed by left-of-center dark money group Arabella Advisors, in 2022. ³ In 2021, SJS Partners made grants of $500,000 to Sixteen Thirty Fund and $150,000 to Defending Democracy Together. ⁴

In 2020, SJS Partners made grants of $1,000,000 to the left-of-center Fund for a Better Future, $500,000 to the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and $500,000 to the Center for American Progress Action Fund. ⁵

Funding

In 2019, SJS Partners received a grant of $70 million to start its operations. ²¹ As of 2022, SJS Partners’ revenue comes entirely from investment income. ¹

In 2022, SJS Partners reported revenue of $2,011,419 and expenses of $1,535,864. The organization’s revenue came from investment income. In 2021, the organization reported revenue of $238,982 and expenses of $653,643. ¹