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Unlikely Collaborators Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Unlikely Collaborators Inc

Using the perception box lens and framework UCI helps people untangle the stories holding them back through experiences, storytelling, impact, science and investments.

$5.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
44
Grants FY2024still arriving
13
States reached
$622k
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.

Arts & Culture$2.1MEducation$1.4MHealth$1.3MPublic Benefit$767kEmployment$333kHuman Services$235kInternational$150kPhilanthropy$125kOther$0
02FY2024 · 44 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $418k
  • $50k–250k25 grants · $2.3M
  • $250k+5 grants · $2.4M
$75,000
Median grant
13
States reached
$151M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Storyville Center for the Spoken Word Inc DBA The Moth$621,784
Naropa University$572,000
KALW Public Media Inc$560,500
Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute$333,334
University of Miami$299,004
End Well Foundation$154,000
MASS Design Group$150,000
Dougy Center The National Grief Center for Children & Families$136,500
Fireside Project Inc$136,357
Entertainment Industry Foundation$125,000
Mindfulness First$109,353
The UCLA Foundation$107,890
Bring Change 2 Mind$100,000
Open Source Wellness$100,000
Sounds True Foundation$100,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY24–24, $318k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 69% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Inward Bound Mindfulness Education Inc: $75k → 11%Closegap: $45k → 14%Kindness Org Inc: $23k → 17%Open Source Wellness: $100k → 9%American Red Cross - LA Region: $75k → 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

MN
WI
NY
MA
OR
CA
CO
AZ
NM
DC
OK
GA
TX
FL
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.

52%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.4M · 5 repeat orgs$3.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue -11% since the first grant, against -23% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 37 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
2

Total granted

$3.4M
$200k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-11%
-23%

Still filing today

100%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 40% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.9M 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
Arts & CultureHealthEducationHuman ServicesPublic BenefitInternationalOther
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

  • SI
    Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute
    3× · 2022–2024 · $1.0M · revenue -51% · 71% of their budget
  • KP
    KALW PUBLIC MEDIA INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $878k · revenue 0%
  • SC
    STORYVILLE CENTER FOR THE SPOKEN WORD INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $872k · revenue -11%

Funded once

  • MR
    Mindshift Recovery Inc
    one grant, 2023 · $125k
  • TP
    THE PEACE STUDIO
    one grant, 2023 · $75k · revenue -23%
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
California Institute of Integral Studies

Ciis is an institution of higher education that encourages an interdisciplinary approach to learning. over 1,700 students are enrolled in masters, doctoral, bachelor of arts completion programs, and certifications. ours is a mosaic of…

Education
2
Nonduality Institute Inc

The mission of the Nonduality Institute is to advance scientific understanding of nonduality through conducting research into neural signatures of nondual awareness and its effects on cognitive, affective and perceptual…

Health
3
Inseparable Inc

Inseparable Inc is focused on creating a world where mental health is treated as a critical and equal piece of overall health, and where systems are designed with their impact on mental health in mind. Inseparable, Inc. is a growing…

Health
4
Art With Impact

Promote mental wellness by creating space for young people to learn and connect through art and media. We work in colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada, leveraging the arts to eliminate the stigma around mental illness.

Arts & Culture
5
Mindful Schools

Mindful school's mission is to empower educators to spark change from the inside out by cultivating awareness, resilience, and compassionate action.

Education
6
Dragonfly Mental Health

To cultivate excellent mental health among academics globally

Health
7
Arts and Healing Initiative

Our mission is to transform lives through the innate power of the arts, guided by mental health practices, to foster healing, connection, and resilience for all.

Health
8
Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis Los Angeles

The institute of contemporary psychoanalysis was formed in 1990 to offer mental health professionals, as well as scholars and professionals from other fields, the opportunity to study the full scope of psychoanalytic theory and clinical…

Education
9
Open Mind Collective

Our mission is to conduct research, teach, and provide direct care using psychedelic medicine and other means to heal the minds and hearts of traumatized and vulnerable individuals and communities, alleviating transgenerational suffering.

Health
10
California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy

To harness the power of the human immune system and advanced computing technologies to create and translate scientific discoveries into next generation vaccines and therapies for prevention, control and cure of chronic diseases, enabling…

Health
11
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
12
Steinberg Institute

Our mission: transforming california's mental health and substance use care systems through education, advocacy, accountability, and inspired leadership.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Medicinal Media Inc; the most unlike its peers is Mindshift Recovery Inc. 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

46 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.

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

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
46/46
Grantees still filing
15/46
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

KALW PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $877,704 · Arts & CultureKALW PUBLIC MEDIA INCSTORYVILLE CENTER FOR THE SPOKEN WORD INC: $871,784 · Arts & CultureSTORYVILLE CENTER FOR THE SPOKEN WORD…ARTS FOR HEALING AND JUSTICE NETWORK: $85,200 · Arts & CultureTHE PEACE STUDIO: $75,000 · Arts & CultureJohn P McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science: $75,000 · Arts & Culture+7 more: $260,750 · Arts & Culture+7 moreSearch Inside Yourself Leadership Institute: $1,000,000 · Public BenefitSearch Inside Your…SOUNDS TRUE FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Public BenefitSOUNDS TRUE FOUNDA…University of Miami: $409,004 · EducationUniversity of Mi…MINDFULNESS FIRST: $109,353 · EducationMINDFULNESS FIRS…UCLA FOUNDATION: $107,890 · EducationUCLA FOUNDATIONSTREET POETS INC: $100,000 · EducationSTREET POETS INCIGDA FOUNDATION: $75,000 · EducationIGDA FOUNDATIONTHE GARRISON INSTITUTE: $75,000 · EducationTHE GARRISON INS…Emory University: $50,000 · EducationWholeSchool Mindfulness Inc: $50,000 · Education+1 more: $5,000 · EducationFireside Project Inc: $236,357 · HealthFireside Proje…END WELL FOUNDATION: $154,000 · HealthEND WELL FOUND…Mindshift Recovery Inc: $125,000 · HealthMindshift Reco…BRING CHANGE 2 MIND: $100,000 · HealthBRING CHANGE 2…INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES INC: $92,500 · HealthINSTITUTE FOR …DEAR JACK FOUNDATION INC: $74,000 · HealthDEAR JACK FOUN…USONA INSTITUTE INC: $43,000 · HealthHOPE IS ALIVE MINISTRIES INC: $30,000 · Health+1 more: $23,500 · HealthNaropa University: $572,000 · OtherNaropa UniversityTHE DOUGY CENTER INC: $136,500 · OtherTHE DOUGY CENTER …WALKER WEST MUSIC ACADEMY: $40,000 · OtherENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION: $125,000 · OtherENTERTAINMENT IND…DRALA MOUNTAIN CENTER Formerly Shambhala Mountain Center: $52,000 · OtherMindful Life Project: $50,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $45,000 · Other+1 more: $26,280 · OtherOPEN SOURCE WELLNESS: $100,000 · Human ServicesINWARD BOUND MINDFULNESS EDUCATION INC: $75,000 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $75,000 · Human ServicesCloseGap: $45,000 · Human ServicesKINDNESSORG INC: $23,000 · Human ServicesMASS DESIGN GROUP LTD: $150,000 · International
Arts & Culture$2,245,438Public Benefit$1,100,000Education$981,247Health$878,357Other$1,046,780Human Services$318,000International$150,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSearch Inside Yourself Leadership Institute: $1,000,000 over 3y, 71% of budgetKALW PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $877,704 over 2y, 5.7% of budgetSTORYVILLE CENTER FOR THE SPOKEN WORD INC: $871,784 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetNaropa University: $572,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetUniversity of Miami: $409,004 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFireside Project Inc: $236,357 over 2y, 14% of budgetEND WELL FOUNDATION: $154,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetMASS DESIGN GROUP LTD: $150,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE DOUGY CENTER INC: $136,500 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetMindshift Recovery Inc: $125,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION: $125,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMINDFULNESS FIRST: $109,353 over 1y, 17% of budgetUCLA FOUNDATION: $107,890 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRING CHANGE 2 MIND: $100,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetSOUNDS TRUE FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 23% of budgetSTREET POETS INC: $100,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetOPEN SOURCE WELLNESS: $100,000 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES INC: $92,500 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetARTS FOR HEALING AND JUSTICE NETWORK: $85,200 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetTHE PEACE STUDIO: $75,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetIGDA FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 1y, 36% of budgetINWARD BOUND MINDFULNESS EDUCATION INC: $75,000 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetTHE GARRISON INSTITUTE: $75,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetJohn P McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science: $75,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $75,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDEAR JACK FOUNDATION INC: $74,000 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetMEDICINAL MEDIA INC: $69,000 over 1y, 9.6% of budgetDRALA MOUNTAIN CENTER Formerly Shambhala Mountain Center: $52,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetMOTUS THEATER: $50,000 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetMindful Life Project: $50,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetEmory University: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWholeSchool Mindfulness Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $45,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCloseGap: $45,000 over 1y, 7.7% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR ART & HEALING INC: $45,000 over 1y, 8.3% of budgetUSONA INSTITUTE INC: $43,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetWALKER WEST MUSIC ACADEMY: $40,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMAGIK MAGIK ORCHESTRA: $31,750 over 1y, 18% of budgetHOPE IS ALIVE MINISTRIES INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetJIMMY MILLER MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $26,280 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetINTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNEW DIRECTIONS FOR WOMEN INC: $23,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetKINDNESSORG INC: $23,000 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetTHE STRAY THEATER INC: $15,000 over 1y, 8.7% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

Unlikely Collaborator…ImpactassetsincBESS Family FoundationThe Frederick P Lenz …Silicon Valley Commun…California Community …Riverstyx FoundationMarin Community Found…The Ford FoundationRose Community Founda…Rockefeller Philanthr…The San Francisco Fou…
Unlikely Collaborators FoundationKS17.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Unlikely Collaborators Foundation · Impactassetsinc · BESS Family Foundation · The Frederick P Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · California Community Foundation · Riverstyx Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · The Ford Foundation · Rose Community Foundation · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · The San Francisco 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 Unlikely Collaborators Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Unlikely Collaborators Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
  • The Dougy Center Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
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 Unlikely Collaborators Inc?

Find your warmest path to Unlikely Collaborators Inc 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 46 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.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Unlikely Collaborators’ 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