Logo for InfluenceWatch InfluenceWatch

Donate
Non-profit

Tawani Foundation

Location:

Chicago, IL
Tax ID:

30-0040386
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2020):

Revenue: $11,333,042
Expenses: $8,675,411
Assets: $82,205,067
Founded:

2002 1

References

  1. “Tawani Foundation.” Cause IQ. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/tawani-foundation,300040386/

Contact InfluenceWatch with suggested edits or tips for additional profiles.

The Tawani Foundation is a grantmaking institution founded by Jennifer Pritzker, a member of the Pritzker business and political family who is said to be the first openly transgender billionaire. The organization promotes LGBT programs and funds education and historic preservation. 1

The Tawani Foundation is the nonprofit arm of Tawani Enterprises, a private equity portfolio Pritzker founded. 2

Background

The Tawani Foundation is a Chicago-based organization founded by Jennifer Pritzker, a member of the billionaire Pritzker family that made its fortune from the Hyatt hotel chain. 3

It is a nonprofit arm of Tawani Enterprises, a private equity portfolio of startup and older companies in various industries. 4 The company’s other offshoots include for-profit Tawani Property Management, Tawani Property Development, and Aurum Trading, a gold coin-trading market maker. Besides the foundation, the company’s other nonprofit affiliates are Pritzker Military Museum and Library, and the Pritzker Military Foundation. 5

Jennifer Pritzker

Born a male in 1950 in Chicago, Illinois, James Pritzker enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1974 and served 11 years of active duty and was in the Army Reserves and National Guard for 16 years, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. 6

After retiring, Pritzker later became the CEO of Tawani Enterprises in 1994. 7

In 2013, Pritzker, who had fathered three children, announced a gender transition to a woman and a name change to Jennifer, becoming the first openly transgender billionaire. 8 9 Pritzker is an associate member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, a group that calls itself the “go-to organization for anything having to do with transgender issues.” 10

Though part of a Democratic family that includes Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) and former Obama administration Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, Jennifer Pritzker had previously been a donor to Republican presidential candidates John McCain, Mitt Romney and Donald Trump. However, after President Trump barred transgender military service, Pritzker became a vocal critic of Republicans. 11

The Pritzkers have been criticized for their efforts in philanthropy and legislation to expand recognition of “synthetic sex identities,” with a writer in Tablet noting that Tawani Enterprises, Jennifer Pritzker’s private investment counterpart to the Tawani Foundation, “invests in and partners with Squadron Capital LLC, a Chicago-based private investment vehicle that acquires a number of medical device companies that manufacture instruments, implants, cutting tools, and injection molded plastic products for use in surgeries.” 12

Funding Priorities

The organization focuses on grants for arts and culture, historical preservation, health and wellness, LGBT causes, education, and environmental initiatives. 13 In a typical year, the Tawani Foundation makes about $10 million in grants ranging from $2,000 to $38,000 per grant, according to Inside Philanthropy. 14

The areas of education and historic preservation together account for more than half of the foundation’s total grantmaking, according to Inside Philanthropy. 15

Education grantees have included Vermont’s Norwich University, a private military college; Hebrew Union College; Tulane University; the University of Chicago Library; Loyola University Chicago; and DePaul University’s Theater School. It has also donated to K-12 programs with the Chicago Public Library, the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, Ohio’s Lillian and Betty Ratner Montessori School, and Chicago’s Francis W. Parker School. 16

The foundation’s preservation grants have gone to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, the Trust for the National Mall, and the Jamestown Foundation. The foundation’s arts funding has gone to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Joffrey Ballet, the Lincoln Park Zoo, About Face Theater, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Chicago History Museum. 17

LGBT-related grants have included $2 million to the University of British Columbia to establish the world’s first chair for transgender studies. 18 The foundation also gave $1.35 million to the University of California’s Palm Center to study how transgender people fare in the military. The organization funded research at the University of Minnesota Medical School’s program in human sexuality. It also funded similar research at the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School. 19

The foundation also backed a fundraising campaign in 2016 for the Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago to have gender-nonconforming patients in its Gender and Sex Development Program. 20 In 2021, the foundation gave $101,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union to litigate against what it characterized as an anti-transgender law in Tennessee. 21 The foundation gave $1 million to Howard Brown Health, with $500,000 earmarked for “support the expansion of LGBTQ+ affirming healthcare. 22

The Tawani Foundation’s environmental grants have gone to the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Friends of the Nachusa Grasslands, the Rails to Trails Conservancy, and several environmental education programs at Alabama’s Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation. 23

The foundation’s public health grants have gone to the Chicago-based Silver Lining Foundation for its cost-free breast cancer screening programs, to Erie Family Health Centers, and to the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago. 24

The foundation’s grants for military veterans have included the therapeutic cycling program Ride 2 Recovery, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, and the USO World Headquarters. 25

References

  1. “Tawani Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-t/tawani-foundation
  2. “Tawani Enterprises, Inc..” LinkedIn. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/company/tawani-enterprises-inc/
  3. “Tawani Foundation.” Cause IQ. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/tawani-foundation,300040386/
  4. “Tawani Enterprises, Inc..” LinkedIn. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/company/tawani-enterprises-inc/
  5.  “Tawani Enterprises, Inc..” LinkedIn. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/company/tawani-enterprises-inc/
  6. Lamare, Amy. “Meet Jennifer Pritzker – The World’s First Transgender Billionaire.” Celebrity Net Worth. January 23, 2014. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/meet-jennifer-pritzker-first-transgender-billionaire-world/
  7. “Tawani Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-t/tawani-foundation
  8. Butler, Jack. “The Money behind the Transgender Movement.” National Review. June 28, 2022. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-money-behind-the-transgender-movement/
  9. Lamare, Amy. “Meet Jennifer Pritzker – The World’s First Transgender Billionaire.” Celebrity Net Worth. January 23, 2014. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/meet-jennifer-pritzker-first-transgender-billionaire-world/
  10. “Tawani Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-t/tawani-foundation
  11. “Tawani Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-t/tawani-foundation
  12. Bilek, Jennifer. “JB Pritzker, Jennifer Pritzker, & Synthetic Sex Identities.” Tablet Magazine, June 14, 2022. https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/billionaire-family-pushing-synthetic-sex-identities-ssi-pritzkers.
  13. [1] “Tawani Foundation.” Datanyze. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.datanyze.com/companies/tawani-foundation/136921241
  14. “Tawani Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-t/tawani-foundation
  15. “Tawani Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-t/tawani-foundation
  16. “Tawani Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-t/tawani-foundation
  17. [1] “Tawani Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-t/tawani-foundation
  18. [1] Rhodes, Dawn. “Jennifer Pritzker’s foundation donates $2 million for transgender studies.” Chicago Tribune. Jan. 19, 2016. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-transgender-studies-chair-pritzker-donation-met-20160119-story.html
  19. “Tawani Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-t/tawani-foundation
  20. Matthews, David. “Billionaire Jennifer Pritzker Helps Fund Clinic For Trans Kids At Lurie.” DNA Info. June 23, 2016. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160623/streeterville/billionaire-jennifer-pritzker-helps-fund-clinic-for-trans-kids-at-lurie/
  21. Press Release. “Col. Jennifer Pritzker Announces Six-Figure Donation to ACLU to Help Fight Anti-Trans Laws. July 20, 2021. Accessed October 13, 2022.

    https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2021/07/20/2266015/0/en/Col-Jennifer-Pritzker-Announces-Six-Figure-Donation-to-ACLU-to-Help-Fight-Anti-Trans-Laws.html

  22. Press Release. “Howard Brown Health to Receive $1 Million from Colonel Jennifer Pritzker’s TAWANI Foundation.” Howard Brown. September 24, 2021. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://howardbrown.org/press/howard-brown-health-to-receive-1-million-from-colonel-jennifer-pritzkers-tawani-foundation/
  23.  “Tawani Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-t/tawani-foundation
  24. “Tawani Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-t/tawani-foundation
  25.  “Tawani Foundation.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/grants-t/tawani-foundation
  See an error? Let us know!

Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: July 1, 2002

    • 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 $11,333,042 $8,675,411 $82,205,067 $6,618,385 $0 $0 $0 $0
    2019 Dec Form PF $14,034,548 $8,830,572 $76,558,842 $8,517,354 $0 $0 $0 $0
    2015 Dec Form PF $52,548,826 $14,986,000 $81,062,931 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2014 Dec Form PF $10,448,842 $11,702,133 $43,500,105 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2013 Dec Form PF $13,360,927 $12,959,329 $44,753,396 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2012 Dec Form PF $19,366,525 $3,795,499 $44,351,798 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2011 Dec Form PF $7,325,377 $7,946,574 $28,780,772 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    Tawani Foundation

    104 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 1120
    Chicago, IL 60603