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Vela Education Fund at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Vela Education Fund

The VELA EDUCATION FUND exists to accelerate education innovation and opportunity for every learner by: supporting everyday entrepreneurs building custom education programs to meet families learners' needs, increasing awareness of nontraditional education, and accelerating adoption by more families and communities.

$2.7M
Granted FY2020
11
Grants FY2020
9
States reached
$700k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0173% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$1.2MHuman Services$700kCommunity Improvement$445kCrime & Legal$400kOther$0
02FY2020 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $25k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $686k
  • $250k+4 grants · $2.0M
$150,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$21M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONAL PARENTS UNITED INC$700,000
40 SCHOOLS$465,000
CAMELBACK VENTURES$445,000
HOME SCHOOL LEGAL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION$400,000
YOUTH ENTREPRENEURS$154,500
TETON SCIENCE SCHOOL$150,000
GRIPTAPE INC$150,000
ARIZONA COUNCIL FOR AMERICAN PRIVATE EDUCATION$100,000
NEVADA ACTION FOR SCHOOL OPTIONS$81,000
HLS CREATIVE ACADEMY$50,000
HIGH SCHOOL FOR RECORDING ARTS$25,000
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 (FY20–20, $700k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%NATIONAL PARENTS UNITED INC: $700k → 8%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
IL
NY
MA
NV
WY
VA
AZ
KS
LA
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 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
Tessellations

Pre-k to 12th grade independent, progressive school tailored for gifted students. the school provides challenging experimental education that recognizes and nurtures the individual strengths of gifted learners, empowering them.

Education
2
New Classrooms Innovation Partners Inc

To create and inspire better ways to give every student an educational foundation for lifelong success. we imagine a world where every student attends a school that meets them where they are, adapts to the unique ways they learn, and…

Education
3
The Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
4
Trillium Academy

The mission of trillium academy is to break away from conventional schooling and celebrate the incredible capabilities of twice-exceptional (2e) students, providing them with the learning environment they need to discover and develop their…

Education
5
Explorer West an Independent Middle School

We empower young people to explore and grow their unique intellectual, ethical, and creative capabilities, and to treasure diversity and growth in others.

Education
6
High Tech High Graduate School of Education

The mission of the high tech high graduate school of education is to activate a global network of change leaders to disrupt the status quo through transformative learning experiences.

Education
7
South Shore Charter School

The mission of south shore charter school is to cultivate students the tenacity, integrity, and curiosity needed to become innovative and socially responsible leaders, ready to face and solve the ever-changing challenges facing our…

Education
8
University Cooperative School

We take a joyful, community-oriented approach to raising engaged citizens, deep learners, and brave adventurers with the skills, creativity, and heart needed to better the world.

—
9
Up Education Network

The principal intent of the organization is to conduct activities to advance education reform in public schools, including public charter schools. specifically, the organization will engage in activities to support and transform…

Education
10
Washington Leadership Academy Public Charter School

Wla combines best practices in teaching and learning, with the latest in educational technology to create an unparalleled high school experience. students will graduate from wla prepared for college, career, and lives of public leadership.

Education
11
Pluralistic School Inc

Ps1's mission is to spark curious and critical thinkers who confidently contribute to their communities.

—
12
The Seven Hills School

The institution provides educational instruction and activities to students ranging from preschool through 8th grade.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Griptape Org Inc; the most unlike its peers is Hudson Lab School. 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

10 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. 10 of the 11 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
6/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

4point0 Schools: $465,000 · Education4point0 SchoolsYouth Entrepreneurs Inc: $154,500 · EducationYouth Entrepreneurs IncGRIPTAPE ORG INC: $150,000 · EducationGRIPTAPE ORG INCNATIONAL MICROSCHOOLING CENTER: $81,000 · EducationNATIONAL MICROSCHOOLING CENTERHUDSON LAB SCHOOL: $50,000 · EducationHUDSON LAB SCHOOL+1 more: $25,000 · EducationNATIONAL PARENTS UNION INC: $700,000 · Human ServicesNATIONAL PARENTS UNION INCHOME SCHOOL LEGAL DEFENSE ASSOCIATION: $400,000 · OtherHOME SCHOOL LEGAL DE…ARIZONA COUNCIL FOR AMERICAN PRIVATE EDUCATION: $100,000 · OtherARIZONA COUNCIL FOR …CAMELBACK VENTURES: $445,000 · Community ImprovementCAMELBACK VENTURESTETON SCIENCE SCHOOLS INC: $150,000 · Environment
Education$925,500Human Services$700,000Other$500,000Community Improvement$445,000Environment$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$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNATIONAL PARENTS UNION INC: $700,000 over 1y, 47% of budget4point0 Schools: $465,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetCAMELBACK VENTURES: $445,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetYouth Entrepreneurs Inc: $154,500 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetGRIPTAPE ORG INC: $150,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetTETON SCIENCE SCHOOLS INC: $150,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetNATIONAL MICROSCHOOLING CENTER: $81,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetHUDSON LAB SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 60% of budgetHIGH SCHOOL FOR RECORDING ARTS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% 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.

New Schools FundSilicon Valley Commun…Walton Family Foundat…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
New Schools FundCA15.6× affinity5 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: New Schools Fund · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Walton Family Foundation Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · 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 Vela Education Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Vela Education Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s 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 · 0–5%
    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.

    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 11 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports $6.2M 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 FY2020, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Vela Education’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