Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $902,158 to it, the largest being BENWOOD FOUNDATION INC ($244,500). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.4M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $902k
- Net assets
- $-591877
What American Association of Blacks in Energy does
Mission
To provide direct input into the deliberations and developments of energy policies, regulations, emerging technologies, and environmental issues.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The American Association of Blacks in Energy (aabe) hosts an annual energy conference and energy policy summit. Through these events and other initiatives, aabe is dedicated to advancing understanding among both members and non-members of the implications of public policy developments affecting the energy sector, environmental matters, technological innovation, and economic development.
$4,426,672 spent$4,426,672 earned by the program98% of program spendingEach year, aabe local chapters and the national office collaboratively administer a scholarship program designed to expand educational opportunities, cultivate future energy industry leaders, and support academic excellence among high school students. The program actively promotes scholarship opportunities to eligible students, with selection teams conducting a comprehensive review of applications from candidates who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement, leadership potential, and a commitment to community impact. To remain eligible, scholarship recipients must maintain a minimum 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale. Following a rigorous and competitive evaluation process, the national scholarship committee awards scholarshps to deserving students from aabe's six regions. To further recognize exceptional accomplishment and a demonstrated interest in the energy industry, aabe presents a premier national scholarship award of $5,000 to the top-ranked recipient. This selected scholar may receive a renewable $5,000 annual award for up to four years, contingent upon continued compliance with all renewal requirements. Scholarship recipients are announced each spring and summer,…
$89,250 spent$38,000 earned by the program2% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,515,922.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $304k to $1.6M (+433%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 6% · 2024 0% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
17% of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Thomas Graham
Interim president/CEO
Board chair
Kevin Simmons
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021, and between the FY2024 and FY2025 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $74k → $87k.
5 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 9% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
54% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 63% · 2019 30% · 2020 33% · 2021 28% · 2022 51% · 2023 34% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
56% of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY draws 53% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 10 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $84k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY's funding base is broadening — from 5 funders to 7 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 479 civil rights nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $70k on record.
- Department of Energy$70k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
95% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY?
- AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $902,158 to it, the largest being BENWOOD FOUNDATION INC ($244,500). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $902,158 in grants to AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY?
- BENWOOD FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $244,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF BLACKS IN ENERGY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds American Association of Blacks in Energy →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 19 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing