Maryland · Nonprofit
FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC
FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC (Maryland) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,179,548 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($900,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.3M
- Funders on record
- 15
- Grants received
- $2.2M
- Net assets
- $986k
What From Prison Cells to Phd Inc does
Mission
Prison to professionals p2p seeks to reach touch and change the lives of people with criminal convictions through advocacy mentoring and policy change. P2p helps inspire people with criminal convictions to excel beyond what society and life circumstances have set to be the norm. We invest in potential.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
P2p compass: this program aims to provide internet access to 14 prisons in two states (7 in maryland, 7 in missouri) to promote health equity among people who are transitioning out of the carceral system (beginning programming 1 year prior to participants' release and 1 year following their release) by providing the tools, programming, resources, and social capital needed to promote health equity and excel in higher education. The intervention was developed to increase health care access, education, and preventative health behaviors. Tools include increased access to healthcare through provided telehealth services both when individuals are within the carceral system (and have 1 year or less until their scheduled release) and providing access to telehealth when individuals are released, programming, and resources will lead in the long-term to increased employment opportunities, income, preventative health behaviors, and health outcomes.
$425,935 spent45% of program spendingP2p scholars: p2p's flagship program provides formerly incarcerated and justice-impacted individuals with comprehensive support to pursue higher education and professional advancement. Services include mentorship, academic coaching, peer support, career development, leadership training, technology access, and assistance navigating barriers to education and employment. Since inception, the program has supported more than 750 justice-impacted individuals, including approximately 450 graduates who have completed educational and professional milestones. P2p also operates specialized cohorts, including programming focused on women impacted by incarceration and peer mentorship opportunities connecting formerly incarcerated scholars with currently incarcerated individuals.
$236,631 spentof which $76,170 as grants$39,469 earned by the program25% of program spendingThe neighborhood access program is a family reunification and higher education initiative designed to strengthen relationships among system-impacted families through shared educational experiences. In partnership with higher education institutions and community organizations, nap provides accredited educational opportunities, student services, and wraparound support for incarcerated individuals, formerly incarcerated individuals, and their families. Although the mellon grant began in august 2024, nap became a major organizational initiative and received substantial restricted funding
$141,978 spent15% of program spendingP2p supports justice-impacted individuals through an integrated approach focused on reentry, education, employment, and systems change. Programs include transitional housing with wraparound services, higher education and stem pathways, workforce development, policy advocacy, and community-informed research. These efforts create pathways to stable housing, careers, and economic mobility, with investments focused on higher education and stem, transitional housing, workforce development, and policy advocacy.
$141,978 spentof which $6,508 as grants15% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $946,522.
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 2022 to 2023, from $73k to $1.0M (+1324%).
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 39% · 2021 46% · 2022 31% · 2023 9% · 2024 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (93% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 5 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
Stanley Andrisse
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $27k → $301k.
3 of 15 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.
From the IRS filings of FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC’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
FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 83%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
45% 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 FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 94% · 2020 66% · 2021 62% · 2022 74% · 2023 52% — 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
40% of FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 47% 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
FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC draws 85% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $51k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 1,337 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,337 crime & legal nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC
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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
73% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC: 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 FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC?
- FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC (Maryland) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,179,548 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($900,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC have?
- IRS filings report 15 organizations giving $2,179,548 in grants to FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $900,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FROM PRISON CELLS TO PHD INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 15 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