Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM
BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,813,500 to it, the largest being JPMORGAN CHASE FOUNDATION ($3,395,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.7M
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $5.8M
- Net assets
- $418k
What Business - Higher Education Forum does
Mission
The business-higher education forum is a national network that connects corporate and college leaders to identify and build the talent solutions that address priority talent needs for employers and the american economy. Corporate executives and university leaders join bhef to anticipate skills needs and improve pathways between higher education and workforce. Bhef helps members and strategic partners: identify high-value emerging skills, develop pathways that quickly source high-value talent, and lead action-oriented and partnerships. Our work focuses on three main outcomes:- align skills and credentials: increase the number of learners/ earners completing with high-value skills, credentials aligned to employer needs and to empower a competitive workforce- build talent-ready models: expand access and adoption of work-integrated learning models that quickly connect and prepare talent for emerging and high-demand roles and launch early career talent
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
One of bhef's national initiatives, the futureready states initiative is supported by lumina foundation, ecmc foundation, and the trellis foundation. Bhef supports three states in activating cross-sector, action-oriented state teams to advance short-term credential attainment, strengthen education alignment with industry needs, and expand access to high-value pathways that support economic mobility and state workforce competitiveness. Bhef provides technical assistance to state teams to review and assess current policies, practices, and investments; set clear, data-informed attainment goals; and develop strategic action plans to improve the quality, accessibility, and impact of short-term credentials.
$771,196 spentof which $10,000 as grants55% of program spendingNetwork membership - bhef incurs expenses related to the business of driving membership network activity, which involves recruitment, engagement, communication, and service delivery. This is achieved through in-person and virtual convenings, collaborative research and programmatic initiatives and communication to foster partnership and build talent solutions with our business and education partners.
$541,505 spent$1,207,894 earned by the program39% of program spendingOne of bhef's regional talent initiatives, tech talent accelerator is funded by connecticut's office of workforce strategy. Led by bhef with support from the new england board of higher education (nebhe), this program strengthens business higher education partnerships to develop and scale ai-focused education and training pathways aligned with employer needs. Bhef oversees grants to colleges and universities, provides technical assistance to educators and business partners, a community of practice, and employer engagement strategies to ensure programs are industry-validated, expand ai-focused work-integrated learning opportunities, and create pathways for connecticut's incumbent workers and students to access in-demand ai skills and credentials.
$82,986 spent6% of program spendingNumber 4: funded by the trellis foundation, the workforce partnership initiative -texas (wpi-texas) boosts employercommunity college partnerships in texas to co-develop industry-aligned talent pathways in high-demand fields. Implemented in partnership with the business roundtable and the texas business leadership council, wpitexas provides technical assistance and tools to strengthen institutional capacity to partner with industry, advance short-term credentials of value, expand work-based learning opportunities, and scale partnership models that improve access to talent and workforce outcomes.number 5: funded by ellucian our report gathers intelligence from employers to identify the emerging skills and partnership models that are needed to drive closer alignment across curriculum and talent pipelines. Released in the form of a publicly available report, "forging partnerships to align education and industry for the workforce of tomorrow," this resource shares data insights and actionable examples to enable higher education pathways to be developed to better align to industry needs. Number 6: funded by the ecmc foundation, bhef's faculty innovation fellowship prepares faculty as…
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,395,687.
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 2023 to 2024, from $2.5M to $1.6M (−36%).
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: 2017 35% · 2018 26% · 2019 34% · 2020 35% · 2021 26%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
54% of BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Kristen D Fox
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Laura K Ipsen
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $250k → $2.0M.
2 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $50k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Washington University). These are real filings, and they are not money BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM raised.
From the IRS filings of BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM’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
BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM leans on a few funders — its largest provides 58% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
33% 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 BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 87% · 2019 100% · 2020 69% · 2021 66% · 2022 87% · 2023 50% — 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
43% of BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 40% 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
BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $100k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 9,398 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.0M on record — $2.3M federal, $739k state.
- National Science Foundation$2.2M
- Department of Defense$40k
- Management Consultant Services$739k
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 BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM
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
55% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
57%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM: 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 BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM?
- BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,813,500 to it, the largest being JPMORGAN CHASE FOUNDATION ($3,395,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $5,813,500 in grants to BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM?
- JPMORGAN CHASE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,395,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BUSINESS - HIGHER EDUCATION FORUM 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.
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 10 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