Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc logo

Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc

Public charity · Grantmaker Plainfield, IL EIN: 47-5244064 Website

The mission of the organization is to grow and support the next generation of food and beverage industry professionals.

Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc at a glance

In short: Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc gave $18K across 3 grants in 2025 (avg $6K), mostly in Illinois. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.

Annual giving (2025)
$17,750
+40.9% vs 2024
Grants made (2025)
3
+50.0% vs 2024
Average grant
$5,917
-6.1% vs 2024
Median grant
$5,150
Total assets
$678,109
-1.2% vs 2024
Primary geography
Illinois (100% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
Latest 990 filing
Form 990, 2025 View filing

Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated September 2026.

How to apply to Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc

Next open deadline
February 27, 2027 (Chicagoland Food Industry Scholarship - Incoming Freshman)

Who Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc funds

How this funder distributes its grants

Top Recipients

Top 3 recipients in 2025

IFT Feeding Tomorrow: $8KIFT Feeding Tomorrow$8KGirls Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana: $5KGirls Scouts of GreaterChicago and Northwest Indiana$5KUniversity of Illinois Foundation: $5KUniversity of IllinoisFoundation$5K

The largest 2025 recipient was IFT Feeding Tomorrow ($8K). Together the top 3 received $18K.

Grant Size Distribution

10 grants across all recorded years

10<$50K$50–100K$100–250K$250–500K$500K–1M$1–5M$5M+

The most common grant size was under $50K: 10 grants of 10 (100%).

Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

Grant Distribution by State

2states

Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 3 itemized grants.

Cities

ChicagoChampaignIthacaUrbana

How Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc gives

  • Giving grew 137% from 2022 to 2025. Method

From the foundation's IRS Form 990 filings. Methodology.

Giving History

Giving Over Time

Total grant dollars and number of grants per year

$0$20K$40K$60K$80K4 grants2020 1 grant2021 1 grant2022 3 grants2023 2 grants2024 3 grants2025

From 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $8K (2022) to $66K (2020). In 2025 it made 3 grants totaling $18K.

Grants by year

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
IFT Feeding Tomorrow Chicago, ILGeneral Support - Program Assistance$7,500
Girls Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana Chicago, ILEvent Support on Food Science$5,150
University of Illinois Foundation Champaign, ILGift cards to fund purchases of food science materials by teachers in Clark, Crawford, and Edgar counties, Illinois$5,100
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Financial History

Multi-year comparison from IRS filings

Figures from IRS filings, by filing year
Filing yearTotal AssetsRevenueExpensesGrants paidGrantsNet Investment Income
2025$678,109$114,645$152,266$17,7503$12,420
2024$686,658$197,967$120,324$12,6002$52,629
2023$655,243$108,155$106,997$43,5003$16
2022$637,575$69,141$104,391$7,5001$85
2021$661,313$17,859$98,799$8,0001$13
2020$687,681$110,534$85,696$65,5004$13,182

About Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc

Based on IRS filings

Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc is a public charity focused on Education, based in Plainfield, IL. IRS filing data is available from 2020 through 2025. As of 2025, the organization holds $678K in total assets. In 2025, it awarded 3 grants totaling $18K. Net investment income was $12K.

Focus Areas

Leadership & Key People

Officers and directors from IRS filings

Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc is led by Lynnda Nelson, Executive Director on every filing since 2020; none of the 21 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • Lynnda Nelson

    Executive Director

    On filings since 2020

    35 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Olawumi Yusuff

    Chair

    Board Member → Chair, 2025

    On filings since 2024

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Athena Uslander

    Board Member

    Director → Board Member, 2024

    On filings since 2021

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Jennifer Farrell

    Past Chair

    Chair Elect → Chair, 2024

    Chair → Past Chair, 2025

    On filings since 2021

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Kantha Shelke

    Board Member

    Director → Board Member, 2024

    On filings since 2021

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Linda Perucca

    Board Member

    Chair → Past Chair, 2024

    Past Chair → Board Member, 2025

    On filings since 2021

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Arthur Curran

    Board Member

    Director → Board Member, 2024

    On filings since 2023

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Binu Nair

    Board Member

    Director → Board Member, 2024

    On filings since 2023

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Helen Bengtson

    Board Member

    Director → Board Member, 2024

    On filings since 2023

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Marlita Sanders

    Board Member

    Director → Board Member, 2024

    On filings since 2023

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Molly Hicks

    Secretary

    On filings since 2023

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Ben Yeap

    Board Member

    On filings since 2024

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Christina Marczali

    Board Member

    On filings since 2024

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Dean Lippold

    Treasurer

    On filings since 2024

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Kevin Barasa

    Board Member

    On filings since 2024

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Maria-Paz Gonzalez

    Board Member

    On filings since 2024

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Mary Ellen Druyan

    Board Member

    On filings since 2024

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Mary Jo Maffei-Panagos

    Board Member

    On filings since 2024

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Misha Patel

    Board Member

    On filings since 2024

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Pat Donahue

    Chair Elect

    Board Member → Chair Elect, 2025

    On filings since 2024

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Sebnem Karasu

    Board Member

    New on the 2025 filing

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

Former officers (21)
  • Former: Rakesh Amin (2022–2024) — Board Member
  • Former: Upasana Hariram (2020–2023) — Past Chair
  • Former: Michael Gross (2021–2023) — Treasurer
  • Former: Dimetrio Garcia (2022–2023) — Director
  • Former: James Nasella (2022–2023) — Director
  • Former: Maria-Paz (2023) — Director
  • Former: Laura Saran (2020–2022) — Past Chair
  • Former: Tim Stubbs (2020–2022) — Director
  • Former: Alan Reed (2021–2022) — Director
  • Former: Courtney Gwinn (2021–2022) — Director
  • Former: Maddie Gerling (2021–2022) — Director
  • Former: Samantha Fonseca (2022) — Director
  • Former: John Fenstermacher (2020–2021) — Director
  • Former: Amy Parks (2021) — Director
  • Former: Katie Potthoff (2021) — Director
  • Former: Shawn Gebhardt (2021) — Director
  • Former: Ivonne Litwin (2020) — Director
  • Former: Jan Miller (2020) — Director
  • Former: John Budin (2020) — Treasurer
  • Former: Mike Carson (2020) — Director
  • Former: Stacey Popham (2020) — Director

Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2020–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.

Frequently asked questions about Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc

How much does Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc give each year?

Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc gave $18K across 3 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $13K across 2 grants.

What is Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc's typical grant size?

Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc's median grant in 2025 was $5,150, and its average grant was $5,917, across 3 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990.

Where does Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc give grants?

Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc gives mostly in Illinois: 100% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990 went to recipients there. The most frequent recipient cities were Chicago, IL (2 grants).

Does Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc give general operating support?

Yes: 33% of Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (1 of 3) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990.

How large is Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc?

Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc reported $678K in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $115K.

What is Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc?

Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc is a public charity focused on Education, based in Plainfield, IL. It holds $678K in total assets as of 2025.

What is Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc's EIN?

Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 47-5244064. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.

Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings.

Data update history

(2)

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS July 15, 2026)
  2. IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024

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The filing figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0. About GrantGraph Open

Figures come from Chicagoland Food Science Foundation Inc's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.

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