California · Nonprofit
MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso
MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso (California) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $253,954 to it, the largest being CHANNEL ISLANDS HARBOR FOUNDATION INC ($54,954). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $557k
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $254k
- Net assets
- $128k
What MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso does
Mission
MERITO is a 501(c)3 charitable organization dedicated to protecting the ocean by facilitating education, conservation, and scientific research opportunities for multicultural youth and their communities while increasing awareness and understanding of the importance of the ocean, ocean-related threats, and environmentally friendly practices. MERITO also strives to motivate diverse youth to pursue science, technology or engineering careers that relate to the ocean.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
In 2024, the MERITO Foundation staff and board immersed 4,950 4th-12th grade students in transformative place-based and project-based learning experiences and engaged over 15,000 adults through outreach and community events. Students participated in hands-on experiences in environmental monitoring, habitat restoration, outdoor recreation and STEAM challenges that helped them develop critical thinking skills and introduced them to environmental advocacy and green entrepreneurship. Outreach and community events included hosting the Earth Day Festival in Ventura, and involving the Spanish speaking communities of West Ventura in the co-design of the Parkway Preserve adjacent to the Ventura River. Each of these experiences was offered at no cost to the youth and communities we serve. Our work helped improve the health of our coast, our ocean, and the regions youth. The 4,950 students participated in Merito's 9-month ocean, climate & environmental education programs, including: Ventura River Action Network (V-RAN) in partnership with VUSD; From the Avenue to the Channel Islands (ATCI) in partnership with De Anza MS; Vamos a la Playa! (VLP) thanks to a Whale Tail Grant, the Port of…
$487,330 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $487,330.
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 $28k to $89k (+213%).
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 53% · 2022 65% · 2023 90% · 2024 78%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
101% of MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 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
Rocio Lozano Knowlton
Exec. Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 3 funders to 2 funders, grant income fell $79k → $23k.
1 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 18% 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 MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso’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
MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% 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
84% 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 MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 56% · 2018 54% · 2019 61% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 65% — growing more concentrated.
“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.
Where its funders are
50% of MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $45k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso has grown faster than half of the 4,264 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,264 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso
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
89% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso: 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 MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso?
- MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso (California) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $253,954 to it, the largest being CHANNEL ISLANDS HARBOR FOUNDATION INC ($54,954). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $253,954 in grants to MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso?
- CHANNEL ISLANDS HARBOR FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $54,954 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso 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.
Play a game about who funds MERITO Foundation Inc FKA MutliCultural Education for Reso →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 7 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