American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California (aclu nc union) defends and advances the principles of freedom, equality and justice contained in the united states constitution. Aclu nc union, a California mutual benefit corporation described in section 501(c)(4), conducts legislative, community action and education programs in order to protect and defend civil liberties and civil rights.
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California at a glance
In short: American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California gave $2.6M across 4 grants in 2025 (avg $648K), mostly in California. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $2,593,286
- +1.8% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 4
- +33.3% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $648,322
- -23.7% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $117,500
- Total assets
- $18,051,936
- +19.0% vs 2024
- Primary geography
- California (100% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated September 2026.
Who American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 4 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was ACLU CA Action ($2.3M). Together the top 4 received $2.6M.
Grant Size Distribution
24 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 8 grants of 24 (33%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 4 itemized grants.
Cities
How American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California gives
- Giving held roughly steady from 2022 to 2025 (+15%). Method
From the foundation's IRS Form 990 filings. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $240K (2019) to $5.9M (2023). In 2025 it made 4 grants totaling $2.6M.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| ACLU CA Action Sacramento, CA | Legislative | $2,348,286 |
| Yes for Marriage Equality Los Angeles, CA | Ballot Measure | $135,000 |
| Comm Protect Public Safety Sacramento, CA | Ballot Measure | $100,000 |
| Yes on Prop 6 Sacramento, CA | Ballot Measure | $10,000 |
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Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Net Investment Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $18,051,936 | $9,584,433 | $6,148,837 | $2,593,286 | 4 | $205,465 |
| 2024 | $15,172,752 | $6,301,021 | $6,788,705 | $2,548,286 | 3 | $193,085 |
| 2023 | $14,653,023 | $8,539,200 | $9,980,855 | $5,948,286 | 4 | $71,519 |
| 2022 | $16,577,611 | $8,409,590 | $6,785,976 | $2,261,422 | 1 | $36,363 |
| 2021 | $14,569,952 | $8,859,137 | $6,545,437 | $1,760,739 | 12 | $84,682 |
| 2020 | $12,119,871 | $7,554,377 | $5,757,464 | $375,100 | 5 | $90,937 |
| 2019 | $11,058,622 | $10,004,650 | $9,813,954 | $239,900 | 5 | $97,331 |
About American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California
Based on IRS filings
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California is a public charity, based in San Francisco, CA. IRS filing data is available from 2019 through 2025. As of 2025, the organization holds $18.1M in total assets. In 2025, it awarded 4 grants totaling $2.6M. Net investment income was $205K.
Leadership & Key People
Officers and directors from IRS filings
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California is led by Abdi Soltani, Executive Director on filings since 2019; 5 of 45 officers listed in 2025 are compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Abdi Soltani
Executive Director
On filings since 2019
8 hrs/week
$97K (2019) → $67K (2025)
Adam Bailey
Chair
Vice Chair → Chair Elect, 2022
Chair Elect → Chair, 2023
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Allen Asch
Gov Chair
Director → Gov Chair, 2025
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Beverly Tucker
Personnel Chair
Director → Personnel Chair, 2022
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Daniel Galindo
Audit Chair
Director → Audit Chair, 2025
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Beth Von Emster
Development Chair
Director → Development Chair, 2025
On filings since 2022
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Graham Drake
Cepac Chair
Director → Cepac Chair, 2025
On filings since 2022
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Anthony Wan
Treasurer, F & I Chair
Director → Treasurer, F & I Chair, 2025
On filings since 2023
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Phyllida Burlingame
Legal-Policy Director
On filings since 2022
4 hrs/week
$22K (2023) → $38K (2025)
Shilpi Agarwal
Legal-Policy Director
On filings since 2022
4 hrs/week
$21K (2023) → $29K (2025)
Anita Brady
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Betsy Buchalter Adler
Director
Director → Audit Chair, 2022
Audit Chair → Director, 2025
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Chowning Poppler
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Katelynn Bishop
Director
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Magan Ray
Director
Chair → Director, 2020
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Meredith Marzuoli
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Sukaina Hussain
Director
Director → Equity Officer, 2022
Equity Officer → Director, 2025
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Mariko Yoshihara
Director
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Autumn Gonzalez
Director
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
D. Kristopher Meadows
Director
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Adrienne Bousian
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Kasson Stone
Director
Development Chair → Director, 2025
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Kobe Martinez Moore
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Kori Cordero
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Natalie Wormeli
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Niki Solis
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Stevent Hensley
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Melys Jerez
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Theresa Lofty Juelch
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Arlette Flores
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Ayisha Irfan
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Bobbie Simpson
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jackie Jolly
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Kalimah Salahuddin
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Maria-Elena Young
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Sandy Lucas
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Stephanie Flores
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Elise Traynum
General Counsel
General Counsel → Secretary & General Counsel, 2022
Secretary & General Counsel → General Counsel, 2023
On filings since 2020
8 hrs/week
$71K (2020) → $57K (2025)
Duc Le
COO
Hr Director → CFO & CAO, 2022
CFO & CAO → COO, 2024
On filings since 2021
8 hrs/week
$31K (2021) → $31K (2025)
Veronica Diaz
Aff Eq Officer
Director → Aff Eq Officer, 2025
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Marina Hsieh
Natl Delegate
Director → Natl Delegate, 2025
On filings since 2022
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Nancy Stuart
Vice Chair
Director → Vice Chair, 2025
On filings since 2022
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Zainab Ramahi
Affil Officer
Director → Affil Officer, 2025
On filings since 2023
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Elizabeth Gill
Senior Staff Attny
New on the 2025 filing
No compensation reported
Jacob Snow
Senior Staff Attny
New on the 2025 filing
No compensation reported
Former officers (43)
- Former: Dan Geiger (2019–2024) — Treasurer
- Former: Dorothy Stell (2019–2024) — Development Director
- Former: Erica Fernandez Zamora (2020–2024) — Policy Chair
- Former: Emmie Tran (2021–2024) — Director
- Former: Cici Vu (2022–2024) — Director
- Former: Candice Francis (2023–2024) — Communications Director
- Former: Farah Brelvi (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Justin Brown (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Matt Murray (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Robert Fuentes (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Yomi Wrong (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Kassie Stone (2020–2023) — Development Chair
- Former: Abdol Soltani (2022–2023) — Executive Director
- Former: Colin Lacon (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Jennifer Tapken (2019–2022) — CFO & CAO
- Former: Karina Montoya (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Kim Warmsley (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Marcel Woodruff (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Mark Toney (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Mickey Welsh (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Mike Chase (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Peter Gelblum (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Richard White (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Shalini Swaroop (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Sunil Balinga (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Tirien Steinbach (2020–2022) — Chief Program Officer
- Former: Ajay Krishan (2021–2022) — Director
- Former: Jackie Kennedy (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Naindeep Chann (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Kevin Baker (2020–2021) — Legislative Director
- Former: China Brotsky (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Forest Harlan (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Natasha Minsker (2019–2020) — Center Director
- Former: Pedro Ramirez (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Bharat Trehan (2019) — Vice Chair
- Former: Carla Lopez Perez (2019) — Director
- Former: Christine Sun (2019) — Legal & Policy Director
- Former: Jerry Schwarz (2019) — Director
- Former: Julia Mass (2019) — Senior Staff Atty
- Former: Linda Lye (2019) — Senior Staff Atty
- Former: Maria Hekker (2019) — Secretary
- Former: Milton Estes (2019) — Director
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Compensation Overview
From 2025 IRS filing
The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $67K, to Abdi Soltani (Executive Dir.). 5 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.
Frequently asked questions about American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California
How much does American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California give each year?
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California gave $2.6M across 4 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $2.5M across 3 grants.
What is American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California's typical grant size?
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California's median grant in 2025 was $117,500, and its average grant was $648,322, across 4 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990.
Where does American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California give grants?
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California gives mostly in California: 100% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990 went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were Sacramento, CA (3 grants).
Does American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 4 grants with a stated purpose on American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California's 2025 IRS Form 990 were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Ballot Measure" (3 grants).
How large is American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California?
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California reported $18.1M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $9.6M.
What is American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California's EIN?
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 94-2151925. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings.
Data update history
(7)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS February 5, 2025)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS February 2, 2026)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS January 30, 2020)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS January 29, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS January 31, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS February 6, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS February 1, 2024)
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