Skip to content
Knowledge Systems Institute at a glance

· Private foundation

Knowledge Systems Institute

Ksi purpose is to engage low income girls in technology, entrepreneurship, and science to foster leadership and continuing interest in education.

$78k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$30k
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, FY2022 to 2024.

Youth Development$209kEducation$152kInternational$40kFood & Nutrition$35kEnvironment$18kAnimals$5k
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $19k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $105k
$15,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$4.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
RODALE INSTITUTE$30,000
GIRLSTART$20,000
SIERRA NEVADA JOURNEYS$20,000
SCIENCE CLUB FOR GIRLS$20,000
CAMFED USA FOUNDATION$15,000
SCIENCE 4 GIRLS$6,000
ECOLOGICAL FARMING ASSOCIATION$5,000
GRIZZLY CORPS - UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION$5,000
STEM LIKE A GIRL$3,000
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 (FY22–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 53% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 9%SCIENCE CLUB FOR GIRLS: $20k → 8%BUILD: $10k → 16%RODALE INSTITUTE: $30k → 11%FUN WITH ACADEMICS LLC: $67k → 9%TECHBRIDGE GIRLS: $10k → 10%CAMFED USA FOUNDATION: $25k → 10%THE OCEAN CLEANUP: $17k → 17%GIRLSTART: $20k → 10%GIRLS WITH IMPACT: $25k → 9%GIRLS PLUS ENVIRONMENT: $500 → 13%FEMALE STRONG: $15k → 14%SCIENCE CLUB FOR GIRLS: $20k → 8%GRIZZLY CORPS - UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $5k → 10%CAMFED USA FOUNDATION: $15k → 10%GIRLSTART: $20k → 10%GIRLS WITH IMPACT: $25k → 9%SCIENCE 4 GIRLS: $10k → 14%SCIENCE CLUB FOR GIRLS: $15k → 8%SCIENCE 4 GIRLS: $10k → 14%SCIENCE 4 GIRLS: $6k → 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

IL
NY
MA
OR
NV
PA
CT
CA
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

60%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$274k · 7 repeat orgs$184k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +3% since the first grant, against -37% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
8

Total granted

$274k
$144k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+3%
-37%

Still filing today

71%
88%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 68% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $40k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24
EducationYouth DevelopmentCommunity ImprovementFood & NutritionRecreation & SportsInternationalOther
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

  • SN
    SIERRA NEVADA JOURNEYS
    3× · 2022–2024 · $65k · revenue +3%
  • SC
    SCIENCE CLUB FOR GIRLS INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $55k · revenue +88%
  • GW
    Girls With Impact Inc
    2× · 2022–2023 · $50k · revenue +80%

Funded once

  • FW
    FUN WITH ACADEMICS LLC
    one grant, 2022 · $67k
  • AF
    AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE OCEAN CLEANUP FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $17k · revenue -37%
  • FS
    FEMALE STRONGgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $15k · revenue +76%
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
Girls in Stem
Human Services
2
The School for Global Thinkers

Our mission is to challenge and nurture young women to thrive in future global markets through personalized STEM advanced academics. Through a supportive small school and single-gender environment, project-based learning, and STEM advanced…

Education
3
San Francisco Girls' School

To educate and inspire girls to become innovators and leaders in stem.

—
4
Diy Girls

Diy girls mission is to increase girls and gender-expansive youth's interest and long-term success in technology, engineering and making through innovative educational experiences and mentor relationships.

Youth Development
5
Girls Incorporated of Greater Indianapolis

Girls inc.'s mission is to inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. in partnership with schools and community organizations, we focus on the development of the whole girl. she learns to value herself, take risks, and discover and…

Youth Development
6
Electric Girls Inc

Electric girls builds girls' (ages 5 to 14) confidence & capabilities by engaging them in science, technology, engineering, and math (stem). electric girls facilitates in-school and extra-curricular programs (after-school, weekends, summer…

—
7
Girls Incorporated of San Diego County

Girls inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. our comprehensive approach to whole girl development equips girls to nagivate gender, economic, and social barriers and grow up healthy, educated, and independent.

—
8
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
9
Girls in Tech Inc

Girls in tech is a social networking enterprise focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of like-minded, professional, intelligent and influential women in technology fields around the world.

—
10
Self-Estem

Self-eSTEM ignites pride, purpose and possibility among girls and women, by providing STEM training that strengthens digital, technical and leadership skills, sustaining their STEM identities.

Unclassified
11
Be Academy of Steam

B.E. Academy for Girls empowers young women through a rigorous, culturally responsive STEAM curriculum that centers identity, cultivates leadership and critical thinking, and integrates real-world experiences to prepare them for college,…

Education
12
Girl Effect Inc

Girl effect works for a future in which every girl is in control of her body, her health, her learning and her livelihood. we work across africa and asia with adolescent girls and young women using the power of media and technology to…

Youth Development
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Science Club for Girls Inc; the most unlike its peers is American Friends of the Ocean Cleanup Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

14 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. 14 of the 18 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
8/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SIERRA NEVADA JOURNEYS: $65,000 · Youth DevelopmentSIERRA NEVADA JOURNEYSSCIENCE CLUB FOR GIRLS INC: $55,000 · Youth DevelopmentSCIENCE CLUB FOR GIRLS INCFUN WITH ACADEMICS LLC: $66,570 · OtherFUN WITH ACADEMICS LLCAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE OCEAN CLEANUP FOUNDATION: $17,000 · OtherAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE OCE…SCIENCE 4 GIRLS: $16,000 · OtherSCIENCE 4 GIRLSSTEM LIKE A GIRL: $8,000 · OtherSTEM LIKE A GIRLGRIZZLY CORPS - UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · OtherGirls With Impact Inc: $50,000 · EducationGirls With Impact IncPROJECT ECHO: $15,000 · EducationPROJECT ECHOGIRLS 4 SCIENCE: $10,000 · EducationGIRLS 4 SCIENCETechbridge Girls: $10,000 · EducationTechbridge GirlsGIRLSTART: $40,000 · Recreation & SportsGIRLSTARTCAMFED USA FOUNDATION: $40,000 · InternationalCAMFED US…Rodale Institute: $30,000 · Food & NutritionEcological Farming Association: $5,000 · Food & NutritionFEMALE STRONG: $15,000 · Community ImprovementBUSINESSES UNITED IN INVESTING LENDING & DEVELOPMENT: $10,000 · Community ImprovementGirl Plus Environment Corporation: $500 · Civil Rights
Youth Development$120,000Other$112,570Education$85,000Recreation & Sports$40,000International$40,000Food & Nutrition$35,000Community Improvement$25,000Civil Rights$500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSIERRA NEVADA JOURNEYS: $65,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetSCIENCE CLUB FOR GIRLS INC: $55,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetGirls With Impact Inc: $50,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetGIRLSTART: $40,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetCAMFED USA FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRodale Institute: $30,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE OCEAN CLEANUP FOUNDATION: $17,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFEMALE STRONG: $15,000 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetPROJECT ECHO: $15,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetGIRLS 4 SCIENCE: $10,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetTechbridge Girls: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBUSINESSES UNITED IN INVESTING LENDING & DEVELOPMENT: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEcological Farming Association: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetGirl Plus Environment Corporation: $500 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.

National Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
National Philanthropic TrustPA7.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Knowledge Systems Institute funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Knowledge Systems Institute. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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 Knowledge Systems Institute?

    Find your warmest path to Knowledge Systems Institute 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 18 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-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Knowledge Systems Institute’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