Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Partnership Fund (TJPF)

The fund has drawn criticism for a series of business arrangements with Chinese government-linked entities that sold the school’s intellectual property to these groups and even allowed them to “clone” the school in China. In May 2025, the right-of-center education advocacy group Defending Education filed a complaint against the fund with the Internal Revenue Service alleging numerous violations of the law. ²

Overview

The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Partnership Fund (TJPF) was founded in 1999 to support the operations of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, a science and technology-focused public magnet school in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Fairfax County, Virginia. TJPF merged with the TJ Alumni Association in 2014, and the staff helps with reunion planning, hosts regional alumni networking events, and facilitates alumni participation in school and outreach activities. ¹

From 2013 through 2017, TJPF raised over $8 million to support the renovation of the high school and reequipping the school with state-of-the-art research equipment and advanced technology that was not paid for with government funds. ¹

Controversies

Ties To China

In fiscal years 2015 and 2016, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Partnership Fund received donations of at least $250,000 from the Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation. In fiscal year 2018, TJPF received between $100,000 and $500,000 from Ameson. Ameson’s founder and vice chairman, Sean Zhang, has ties to the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department. ³

In fiscal year 2018, Chinese department store giant Shirble HK donated at least $500,000 to TJPF.  Shirble’s chairman, Yang Xiangbo, is also involved in the CCP’s United Front. ³

In fiscal years 2015 and 2016, TJPF received $250,000 from Tsinghua University to create a high school in China modeled after Thomas Jefferson High School’s model of teaching math and science. Tsinghua University has deep ties to the Chinese military, hosting laboratories for it and a “dual enrollment program” with the Chinese Air Force. The donations from Tsinghua University, along with those from Ameson and Shirble HK, helped pay for renovations of TJ high school and faculty and student foreign exchange trips between the U.S. and China. ³

In March 2023, the Fairfax County Public Schools claimed that it was not unusual for U.S. public schools to benefit from donations, even from international sources. FCPS also sought distance TJPF from the high school. The Washington Examiner noted that TJPF’s board of directors included “TJ’s principal, assistant principal, faculty representatives, and the head of TJ’s parent-teacher association.” ⁴

In October 2024, Defending Education revealed that TJPF reached an agreement with the Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation and Shanghai Ambright Cultural Exchange, Inc. (Ambright Education Group) to launch a high school in Shanghai modeled after Thomas Jefferson High School’s model, and that the school and fund both endorsed the agreement. Previously in August 2023, Fairfax County Public Schools declared TJPF as a “separate and independent” entity from Thomas Jefferson High School. ⁵

In October 2024, Thomas Jefferson High School principal Ann Bonitatibus moved to an administrative role with Fairfax County Public Schools. National Review speculated that Bonitatibus was reassigned in part due to the scandals surrounding TJPF. ⁶

By May 2025, there had been at least 20 “Thomas schools” set up in China that were based on academic blueprints sold by TJPF to three CCP-linked groups. TJPF received $3.6 between 2014 and 2021 from Shirble HK, the Ameson Foundation, and Tsinghua University. ⁷

In May 2025, Defending Education filed a complaint against TJPF with the Internal Revenue Service claiming, “that the Fund failed to pay taxes on business income that was unrelated to its stated charitable purpose; violated the private benefit doctrine by diverting resources and giving intellectual property to entities with no relationship with its stated mission; filed inaccurate tax-exempt reports with the IRS; and improperly used public resources for non-charitable purposes.” Defending Education also alleged that TJPF and Thomas Jefferson High School shared office space, email accounts, administrative services, and other operational resources despite claims they were “separate and independent.” ²

Governance Questions

In April 2022, Norma Margulies, a mother of a Thomas Jefferson High School student and the founder of Hispanics for STEM, wrote an op-ed in the Fairfax Times calling for an audit of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Partnership Fund.  She criticized TJPF for supporting the elimination of merit-based admission standards at TJ high school and for what she called the excessive salary of then-executive director Aristia Kinis, who received $201,000, or 13.4% of the fund’s total expenses between 2019 and 2020. Margulies also pointed out that in fiscal year 2018, “the fund’s board spent $443,238, or 44.6% of the fund’s expenses, for salaries and other compensation, and only spent $438,335, or 43.6%, for grants to the school. But even that year, the major salary and compensation expense was for the fund’s executive director, Kinis, who received $192,500 that year, or 19.4% of the fund’s expenses – or almost half of what was actually invested in TJ through grants.” She also criticized TJPF for its spending on “STEM Education and Outreach” which was also intended to reach out to Black and Hispanic students and she claimed had not shown any metrics. She also raised questions about TJPF’s spending on “alumni engagement” spending $154,583 while only receiving $30,337 in donations from alumni. She criticized what TJPF called “alumni engagement” which was essentially 177 virtual meetings and a town hall in support of eliminating Thomas Jefferson High School’s merit-based admissions. She also pointed out that Tanuja Tase, the fund’s development coordinator, did not provide TJPF’s 2020 tax return as required by law when she requested it. ⁸

Leadership

Hilary Gustave is the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Partnership Fund board chair and has been on the group’s board since 2021. She is the founder and executive of Chroma Coaching. ⁹

Kelly Jessop is the TJPF’s board vice chair and has been on the board since 2023. She is the vice president and technology services leader for the Americas at IBM. ⁹

Rose Zu is the TJPF’s treasurer and has been on the board since 2018. She is director of financial communications at FTI Consulting. ⁹

Trina Bilal is the TJPF’s secretary and has been on the board since 2023. She is a program director for the U.S. government. ⁹

Thomas Jefferson High School’s principal, vice principal, the science and technology division lead, and PTSA president sit on the board as ex officio directors. ⁹

Financials

According to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Partnership Fund’s 2023 tax return, the group reported $140,104 in revenue, $484,039 in expenses, and $1,566,717 in net assets. ¹⁰

TJPF spent $237,934 in grants to Thomas Jefferson High School and $175,363 in salaries and other compensation. ¹⁰