Skip to content
Plinth

· Public charity

The Washington STEM Center

Washington stem (wa stem) is a statewide, education nonprofit leveraging stem for social change, removing barriers to credential attainment, and creating pathways to long-term economic security for systemically underserved students.

$1.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
38
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$62k
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172024.

Education$7.7MEmployment$2.1MScience & Tech$842kCommunity Improvement$415kHealth$315kPhilanthropy$33kArts & Culture$10k
02FY2024 · 38 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k28 grants · $684k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $620k
$31,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$9.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CAREER CONNECT NORTHEAST$62,000
SOUTH CENTRAL STEM NETWORK$62,000
SOUTHWEST STEM NETWORK$62,000
EDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICT # 189$62,000
CAREER CONNECT SOUTHWEST$62,000
CAPITOL REGION STEM NETWORK$62,000
APPLE STEM NETWORK$62,000
TACOMA STEAM NETWORK$62,000
WEST SOUND STEM NETWORK$62,000
SNOHOMISH STEM NETWORK$62,000
EDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICT # 189$31,000
CAPITOL REGION STEM NETWORK$31,000
TACOMA STEAM NETWORK$31,000
WEST SOUND STEM NETWORK$31,000
APPLE STEM NETWORK$31,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

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

show:

Your human-services grants (FY24–24, $20k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%BRIGHTSPARK EARLY LEARNING SERVICES: $20k → 9%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$11M · 23 repeat orgs$365k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +46% since the first grant, against +23% for the ones you funded once.

23 repeat relationships — 12 still active in FY2024, 11 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
16

Total granted

$11M
$305k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+46%
+23%

Still filing today

43%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $60k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentHealthScience & TechHuman ServicesOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • FF
    FOUNDATION FOR TACOMA STUDENTS
    8× · 2017–2024 · $917k · revenue +198%
  • SR
    Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce
    8× · 2017–2024 · $856k · revenue +11%
  • EA
    ECONOMIC ALLIANCE SNOHOMISH COUNTY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $843k · revenue +68%

Funded once

  • SP
    Seattle Public Schools
    one grant, 2018 · $48k
  • WS
    WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2019 · $48k
  • RS
    Richland School District 400
    one grant, 2023 · $30k

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

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Impact Public Schools

The mission of Impact Public Schools is to prepare a diverse student population to succeed in college and impact communities as the next generation of equity-driven, innovative leaders. (Continued on Schedule O)Impact Public Schools makes…

Education
2
Pathwaves Washington

Pathwaves Washington builds the collective power of leaders of color to transform early childhood systems so that every child and their community thrives.

Education
3
The Washington Stem Center

Washington stem (wa stem) is a statewide, education nonprofit leveraging stem for social change, removing barriers to credential attainment, and creating pathways to long-term economic security for systemically underserved students.…

Education
4
The Campbell Institute

Children's institute's mission is to leverage research, practice, policy, and advocacy to shift systems toward justice for families so that all of oregon's children, prenatal to grade 5, have access to opportunity.

Unclassified
5
Washington Ethnic Studies Now

Washington Ethnic Studies Now WAESN is a multigenerational majority POC-led nonprofit advancing Ethnic Studies and racial justice in Washington. We center people of color build youth-centered leadership and learning and organize…

Education
6
Washington State Family and Community Engagement Trust

Washington Family Engagement fosters social transformation by supporting the development of mulitgenerational leaders from diverse backgrounds to become actively engaged in schools and communities in Washington State.

Philanthropy
7
Economic Opportunity Institute

Equip the public and public decision-makers with the policy research and practical tools they need to embed the values of fairness, care, and opportunity into the foundations of Washington's economy.

Community Improvement
8
Washington State Association of Head State and Ecea Programs

WSA champions high-quality early learning through professional development, collaboration and advocacy for head start, early head start and early childhood education and assistance programs (ECEAP).

Education
9
Washington State Academy of Sciences

WSAS provides expert scientific and engineering assessments to inform public policy making and works to increase the impact of research in Washington State.

Science & Tech
10
Spokane Area Workforce Development Council

The SWC mobilizes partnerships, data-driven innovation,and strategic investment to build an equitable workforce ecosystem where every individual can access opportunity, every business can find talent, and every community can thrive.

Community Improvement
11
Pacific Northwest Economic Region Foundation

To increase the economic well-being and quality of life for all citizens of the region; to coordinate provincial, territorial, and state policies throughout the region; to identify and promote "models of success and to serve as a conduit…

12
Nw Energy Coalition

The NW Energy Coalition is an alliance of over 100 environmental, civic, and human service organizations, utilities, and businesses in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia, plus many individual members. The NW Energy…

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Yakima Valley Community Foundation and the most unlike its peers is Valley Cities Counseling and Consultation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyStudent Opportunity & Equit…Regional Museums & HeritageBehavioral Health ServicesYouth & Family Support Serv…Independent K-12 SchoolsMontessori & Early Childhoo…
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

04the grantee network

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

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 20 of the 42 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/20
Grantees still filing
15/20
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

EDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICT 105 — $1,354,663 · OtherEDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICT 105Wenatchee Valley College — $1,112,232 · OtherWenatchee Valley CollegeSOUTH KITSAP SCHOOL DISTRICT — $1,073,500 · OtherSOUTH KITSAP SCHOOL DISTRICTEDUC SVC DISTR 113 VISION FOR EL WC — $914,431 · OtherEDUC SVC DISTR 113 VISION FOR EL WCSpokane Regional Chamber of Commerce — $856,046 · OtherSpokane Regional Chamber of CommerceECONOMIC ALLIANCE SNOHOMISH COUNTY — $842,960 · OtherECONOMIC ALLIANCE SNOHOMISH COUNTYEDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICT 112 — $659,703 · OtherEDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICT 112Northwest Educational Service District 189 — $588,420 · OtherNorthwest Educational Service District 189SEDRO-WOOLLEY STEM NETWORK — $369,500 · Other+19 more — $805,878 · Other+19 moreFOUNDATION FOR TACOMA STUDENTS — $917,471 · EducationFOUNDATION FOR TAC…WASHINGTON STATE STEM EDUCATION FDTN — $770,080 · EducationWASHINGTON STATE S…Zeno — $135,000 · EducationZeno+1 more — $10,000 · EducationSOUTHWEST WASHINGTON WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL — $534,266 · PhilanthropyYAKIMA VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $30,000 · PhilanthropyPACIFIC EDUCATION INSTITUTE — $28,600 · PhilanthropyINSTITUTE FOR SYSTEMS BIOLOGY — $335,296 · Science & TechFIRST FIVE FUNDAMENTALS — $38,600 · Youth DevelopmentYOUNG WOMEN EMPOWERED — $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentHIP OF SPOKANE COUNTY DBA COMMUNITY MINDED ENTERPRISES — $39,954 · HealthVALLEY CITIES COUNSELING AND CONSULTATION — $5,400 · HealthBrightspark Early Learning Services — $20,000 · Human ServicesRVC SEATTLE — $20,000 · Community Improvement
Other$8,577,333Education$1,832,551Philanthropy$592,866Science & Tech$335,296Youth Development$58,600Health$45,354Human Services$20,000Community Improvement$20,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetFOUNDATION FOR TACOMA STUDENTS — $917,471 over 8y, 9.3% of budgetSpokane Regional Chamber of Commerce — $856,046 over 8y, 2.7% of budgetECONOMIC ALLIANCE SNOHOMISH COUNTY — $842,960 over 8y, 6.7% of budgetWASHINGTON STATE STEM EDUCATION FDTN — $770,080 over 8y, 38% of budgetSOUTHWEST WASHINGTON WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL — $534,266 over 5y, 2.7% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR SYSTEMS BIOLOGY — $335,296 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetZeno — $135,000 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetHIP OF SPOKANE COUNTY DBA COMMUNITY MINDED ENTERPRISES — $39,954 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFIRST FIVE FUNDAMENTALS — $38,600 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetYAKIMA VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $30,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPACIFIC EDUCATION INSTITUTE — $28,600 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetWashington Multicultural Services Link — $20,000 over 1y, 6.9% of budgetYOUNG WOMEN EMPOWERED — $20,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetBrightspark Early Learning Services — $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRVC SEATTLE — $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDSTRIVE — $17,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLIFE SCIENCE WASHINGTON — $8,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetVALLEY CITIES COUNSELING AND CONSULTATION — $5,400 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

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

  • Who funds FOUNDATION FOR TACOMA STUDENTS
  • Who funds Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce
  • Who funds ECONOMIC ALLIANCE SNOHOMISH COUNTY
  • Who funds WASHINGTON STATE STEM EDUCATION FDTN
  • Who funds SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
  • Who funds INSTITUTE FOR SYSTEMS BIOLOGY
  • Who funds Zeno
  • Who funds HIP OF SPOKANE COUNTY DBA COMMUNITY MINDED ENTERPRISES
  • Who funds FIRST FIVE FUNDAMENTALS
  • Who funds YAKIMA VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
  • Who funds PACIFIC EDUCATION INSTITUTE
  • Who funds Washington Multicultural Services Link
  • Who funds YOUNG WOMEN EMPOWERED
  • Who funds Brightspark Early Learning Services
  • Who funds RVC SEATTLE
  • Who funds CHILDSTRIVE
  • Who funds PRAXIS INSTITUTE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
  • Who funds LIFE SCIENCE WASHINGTON

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Seattle FoundationWA29× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Seattle Foundation · School's Out Washington · Gates Foundation · Thrive Washington · Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington · Greater Tacoma Community Foundation · Foundation for Tacoma Students · The Norcliffe Foundation · Discuren Foundation · M J Murdock Charitable Trust · Invested · Building Changes

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization The Washington STEM Center funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%your share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 42 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

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

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph