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Esa's Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Esa's Foundation

The esa foundation harnesses the power of the video game industry to benefit students, schools, and charities, with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of america's youth and setting them on career paths.

$10k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$500kHealth$211kYouth Development$177kCivil Rights$114kArts & Culture$96kPublic Benefit$50kRecreation & Sports$30kCommunity Improvement$22kOther$0
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GAY GAMING PROFESSIONALS$10,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 84% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%VISIONQUEST 2020: $35k → 11%BECKER COLLEGE: $25k → 11%PROJECT TOMORROW: $6k → 10%COMMUNITY INITIATIVES (GAMEHEADS): $22k → 10%GLOBAL GAME JAM INC: $25k → 12%WOMEN IN GAMES INTERNATIONAL: $15k → 14%ALLIANCE FOR YOUNG ARTISTS & WRITERS: $30k → 17%GIRLSTART: $30k → 10%ICIVICS: $50k → 14%INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP & TUITION SERVICES: $89k → 14%LEARNDISTRICT (GIRLS MAKE GAMES): $22k → 8%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK HOSPITALS: $85k → 8%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA: $30k → 13%TRACY'S KIDS: $10k → 8%BLACK GIRLS CODE: $250k → 10%GAY GAMING PROFESSIONALS: $104k → 14%GLOBAL KIDS INC: $40k → 17%ICIVICS: $50k → 14%BROWN UNIVERSITY: $40k → 14%CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK HOSPITALS: $60k → 8%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA: $10k → 13%GAY GAMING PROFESSIONALS: $10k → 14%SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $41k → 14%CHILDREN'S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: $10k → 8%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA: $10k → 13%AFTER-SCHOOL ALL-STARS: $40k → 14%SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $25k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

NY
MA
NJ
RI
CA
UT
MD
AZ
TN
NC
DC
GA
TX
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 10% of Esa's Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 14% of the giving stays in DC; by stated purpose, 10%.

Esa's Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

43%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$485k · 5 repeat orgs$649k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +62% since the first grant, against +45% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
15

Total granted

$485k
$649k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+62%
+45%

Still filing today

100%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentHealthPublic BenefitCivil RightsOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • CM
    CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK
    3× · 2017–2019 · $155k · revenue +31%
  • GP
    GG PROFESSIONALS INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $114k · revenue +76% · 27% of their budget
  • II
    ICIVICS INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $100k · revenue +321%

Funded once

  • BG
    BLACK GIRLS CODE INC
    one grant, 2021 · $250k · revenue -74%
  • IS
    INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP AND TUITION SERVICES INC
    one grant, 2017 · $89k
  • AA
    AFTER-SCHOOL ALL-STARSgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $40k · revenue +55%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Digital Girl Incorporated

Digital Girl, Inc. (DGI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering the underserved youth of New York City, especially young girls, to pursue studies and careers in STEM ( Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) disciplines.

Education
2
Girls Global Academy Public Charter School

Girls global academy public charter school (gga) was incorporated in the district of columbia in june 2019 and opened its doors in august 2020 fostering pathways to lead and learn. as an all-girls public charter high school, gga ignites…

—
3
International Coalition of Girls Schools

The international coalition of girls' schools (icgs) is the leading advocate for girls' schools, connecting and collaborating globally with individuals, schools, and mission-aligned entities dedicated to educating and empowering girls.

Community Improvement
4
Citizen Schools Inc

In fiscal year 2025, the agency operated an americorps maker fellowship, placing 7 americorps vista members at 6 different education focused organizations in ca, ma, and ny. americorps members worked on capacity building projects to expand…

Education
5
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
6
Global Citizens Initiative Inc

Gci brings together young global citizens from all sectors of society and empowers them as lifelong ethical leaders of positive change.

Education
7
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
8
Girls in Stem
Human Services
9
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
10
Activate Global Inc

Activate empowers scientists to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market. activate partners with u.s. based funders, research institutions, and other pillars of the hard technology community to help entrepreneurial…

Environment
11
Girls Incorporated of Greater Santa Barbara

The organizations mission is to inspire all girls to be strong,smart, and bold, through research-based, innovative, and educational programs and activities.

—
12
AI4ALL

Ai4all's mission is to ensure that the next generation of ai leaders reflects humanity. ai4all is transforming the pipeline of ai practitioners who will shape ai for the benefit of humanity.

Youth Development
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Black Girls Code Inc; the most unlike its peers is Warfighter Engaged Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

19 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 19 of the 21 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/19
Grantees still filing
15/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BLACK GIRLS CODE INC: $250,000 · EducationBLACK GIRLS CODE INCICIVICS INC: $100,000 · EducationICIVICS INC+1 more: $6,250 · EducationCHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK: $155,000 · OtherCHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORKINTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP AND TUITION SERVICES INC: $88,520 · OtherINTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP AND TUITION SE…AFTER-SCHOOL ALL-STARS: $40,000 · OtherAFTER-SCHOOL ALL-STARSBECKER COLLEGE: $25,000 · OtherBECKER COLLEGELEARNDISTRICT INC: $21,500 · OtherGIRLSTART: $30,000 · OtherGIRLSTARTGLOBAL GAME JAM INC: $25,000 · OtherGLOBAL GAME JAM INCCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $21,500 · OtherWOMEN IN GAMES INTERNATIONAL: $15,000 · Other+1 more: $11,250 · OtherGG PROFESSIONALS INC: $113,814 · Civil RightsGG PROFESS…SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $66,000 · Arts & CultureALLIANCE FOR YOUNG ARTISTS AND WRITERS INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentGLOBAL KIDS INC: $40,000 · Youth DevelopmentBROWN UNIVERSITY: $80,000 · Community ImprovementVISION QUEST 2020: $35,000 · HealthTRACYS KIDS INC: $10,000 · Health
Education$356,250Other$432,770Civil Rights$113,814Arts & Culture$96,000Youth Development$90,000Community Improvement$80,000Health$45,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBLACK GIRLS CODE INC: $250,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK: $155,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetGG PROFESSIONALS INC: $113,814 over 2y, 27% of budgetICIVICS INC: $100,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $80,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $66,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA: $50,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAFTER-SCHOOL ALL-STARS: $40,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGLOBAL KIDS INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetVISION QUEST 2020: $35,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetALLIANCE FOR YOUNG ARTISTS AND WRITERS INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetGIRLSTART: $30,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetGLOBAL GAME JAM INC: $25,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetBECKER COLLEGE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $21,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWARFIGHTER ENGAGED INC: $11,250 over 1y, 22% of budgetTRACYS KIDS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetPROJECT TOMORROW: $6,250 over 1y, 0.8% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Silicon Valley Commun…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Silicon Valley Community FoundationCA11.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Silicon Valley Community Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Esa's Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Esa's Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 13%
  • Icivics Inc: 13% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Esa's Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Esa's Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 21 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $123k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Esa's’ filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home