California · Nonprofit
BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (California) receives grants from 42 organizations whose IRS filings report $28,870,115 to it, the largest being PHILANTHROPIC VENTURES FOUNDATION ($15,887,634). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 81% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $20M
- Funders on record
- 42
- Grants received
- $29M
- Net assets
- $21M
What Black Cultural Zone Community Development Corporation does
Mission
The mission of the black cultural zone cdc is to unapologetically center black arts, culture, and economics as we collectively design, resource, transform, and build collective power for our communities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Neighborhood services focuses on creating secure, high-vibrancy environments within our commercial hubs. This includes the deployment of safety corridor ambassadors to oversee community well-being and the strategic development of black-led commercial and cultural amenities designed to celebrate and sustain the local ecosystem. Our commercial real estate portfolio spans the full development lifecycle from the ground-up construction of vibrant market halls and affordable housing to the strategic acquisition and renovation of retail and mixed-use spaces along our most vital commercial corridors. These hubs serve as the heartbeat of our strategy to secure permanent space for our community. We provide a sanctuary for collective growth, where residents, business owners, artists, and makers can plant roots and flourish together.
$2,901,525 spentof which $1,635,060 as grants45% of program spendingOur community engagement and development work includes communication and outreach campaigns focused on neighborhood messengers, as well as leadership development for our team, community, and ambassador network. Additionally, we lead rapid response efforts centered on health and wellness initiatives.
$2,070,513 spent32% of program spendingAt the core of our initiatives is a deep-rooted ecosystem of partnerships. We unite with community leaders and organizations to form a strategic front against displacement. Together, we use art and culture as our north star, building collective power to hold space for our people and our history.
$764,141 spent12% of program spendingOur economic development includes our cultural market pop-ups, centering our akoma market vendors; taking them on the road; our incubator; and virtual market including custom boxes and a virtual look book. Economic development also includes business counseling and career/workforce navigation and support.
$730,733 spent11% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,466,912.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2024 to 2025, from $9.9M to $26M (+165%).
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: 2020 7% · 2021 12% · 2022 16% · 2023 22% · 2024 19% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (61% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 6 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
Carolyn Johnson
CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 18 funders, grant income rose $180k → $3.4M.
12 of 42 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 81% 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 BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 42 funders by total. 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
BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 55% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
85% 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 BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 83% · 2021 43% · 2022 39% · 2023 41% — diversifying over time.
“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
25% of BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 36% 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
81% of BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $5.6M that is directly attributable, 50% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $23M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 328 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 328 community improvement nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $499k on record.
- Department of Commerce$499k
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 BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 18 related entities
- Liberation Park Residences LLC · disregarded
- Brighter Bancroft Seniors LLC · disregarded
- Liberated Land Stewards LLC · disregarded
- Liberation Park Market Hall · exempt
- Liberated Land Stewards Ncd03 · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: 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 BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION?
- BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (California) receives grants from 42 organizations whose IRS filings report $28,870,115 to it, the largest being PHILANTHROPIC VENTURES FOUNDATION ($15,887,634). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 81% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION have?
- IRS filings report 42 organizations giving $28,870,115 in grants to BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, 15 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION?
- PHILANTHROPIC VENTURES FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $15,887,634 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BLACK CULTURAL ZONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 42 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing