Discovery World Ltd logo

Discovery World Ltd

Public charity · Grantmaker Milwaukee, WI EIN: 39-1691578 Website

Discovery World educates, motivates,mobilizes and inspires the innovators and entrepreneurs of the 21st century. We connect innovation, science, and technology with exploration, environment, and our Great Lakes freshwater resources through interactive exhibits and experimental learning programs.

Key facts about Discovery World Ltd

In short: Discovery World Ltd gave $50K across 1 grant in 2025 (avg $50K), mostly in Wisconsin. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.

EIN
39-1691578
Latest 990 filing
Form 990, 2025
Annual giving (2025)
$50,000
Grants made (2025)
1
Average grant
$50,000
Median grant
$50,000
Total assets
$55,440,237
Primary geography
Wisconsin (100% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)

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

Financial Overview

From 2025 IRS Form 990 · View filing

Total Assets

$55.4M

+14.9% YoY

Annual Giving

$50K

Grant Count

1

Avg Grant Size

$50K

About Discovery World Ltd

Based on IRS filings

Discovery World Ltd is a public charity focused on Education, based in Milwaukee, WI. IRS filing data is available from 2019 through 2025. As of 2025, the organization holds $55.4M in total assets. In 2025, it awarded 1 grant totaling $50K. Net investment income was $677K.

Focus Areas

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Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

Grant Distribution by State

1state

Share of the 2025 grant dollars on its one itemized grant.

States

Cities

Milwaukee

Giving Over Time

Total grant dollars and number of grants per year

$0$20K$40K$60K0 grants2019 0 grants2020 0 grants2021 0 grants2022 0 grants2023 0 grants2024 1 grant2025

In 2025 it made 1 grant totaling $50K.

Grant Insights

How this funder distributes its grants

Top Recipients

Top recipient in 2025

Milwaukee Community Sailing Center Inc: $50KMilwaukee Community SailingCenter Inc$50K

The largest 2025 recipient was Milwaukee Community Sailing Center Inc ($50K).

Grant Size Distribution

1 grants across all recorded years

<$50K1$50–100K$100–250K$250–500K$500K–1M$1–5M$5M+

The most common grant size was in the $50–100K range: 1 grant of 1 (100%).

Giving History

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
Milwaukee Community Sailing Center Inc Milwaukee, WIOperational Support$50,000

Financial History

Multi-year comparison from IRS filings

Revenue
Expenses
Net Investment Income
$0$5M$10M$15M$20M2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Metric202520242023
Total Assets$55,440,237$48,248,410$50,429,159
Revenue$15,677,245$7,692,362$7,505,313
Expenses$8,781,127$8,985,856$8,620,464
Net Investment Income$676,548$457,745$231,979

Data update history

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS June 16, 2026)

Leadership & Key People

Officers and directors from IRS filings

Discovery World Ltd is led by John Emmerich, CEO & President since 2024 (on filings since 2019); 3 of 46 officers listed in 2025 are compensated.

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • John Emmerich

    CEO & President

    Vice President Exhibits & Audience Engagement → CEO & President, 2024

    On filings since 2019

    55 hrs/week

    $127K (2019) → $227K (2025)

  • Bruce Keyes

    Chair

    Secretary → Chair, 2023

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Benjamin Wagner

    Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Bruce Milne

    Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Chad Cundiff

    Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Dirk Debbink

    Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Joshua Gimbel

    Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Karl Gouverneur

    Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Mary Jo Layden

    Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Mustafa Emir

    Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Ruth Harper

    Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Ryan Michalski

    Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Sherry Husa

    Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Terence McMahon

    Director

    Board Chair → Chair, 2023

    Chair → Director, 2024

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Ward Komorowski

    Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Adonica Randall

    Director

    On filings since 2021

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Amit Nanavati

    Director

    On filings since 2021

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • John Goller

    Director

    On filings since 2021

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Karen Dettmer

    Director

    On filings since 2021

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Neil Riegelman

    Director

    On filings since 2021

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Phillip Stollenwerk

    Director

    On filings since 2021

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Roger Smith

    Director

    On filings since 2021

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Brian Kage

    Director

    On filings since 2022

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Adam Bellmer

    Director

    On filings since 2023

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Hussien Talb

    Director

    On filings since 2023

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Joel Phillips

    Director

    On filings since 2023

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Molly Schweiger

    Director

    On filings since 2023

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Tessa Myers

    Director

    On filings since 2023

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Katherine Lamacchia

    Director

    On filings since 2024

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Mitul Rustagi

    Director

    On filings since 2024

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Stan Dillon

    Director

    On filings since 2024

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Tere Sackerson

    Director

    On filings since 2024

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Elizabeth Scalf

    Director

    New on the 2025 filing

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • James Mundschau

    Director

    New on the 2025 filing

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Jeff Sippel

    Director

    New on the 2025 filing

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Melissa McCord

    Director

    New on the 2025 filing

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Patrick Kressin

    Director

    New on the 2025 filing

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Sarah Alt

    Director

    New on the 2025 filing

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Sheryl Hopkins

    Director

    New on the 2025 filing

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Carl Schoettel

    Chief Operating Officer

    On filings since 2019

    55 hrs/week

    $119K (2019) → $152K (2025)

  • Nicole Bray

    Chief Financial Officer

    New on the 2025 filing

    55 hrs/week

    $100K (2025)

  • Heather Hipke

    Treasurer

    Director → Treasurer, 2021

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Lori Richards

    Vice Chair

    Director → Vice Chair, 2020

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Chad Melnick

    Vice Chair

    Director → Vice Chair, 2024

    On filings since 2021

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Karen Bauer

    Rotated Officer Board During

    Director → Rotated Officer Board During, 2025

    On filings since 2023

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Kellen Kasper

    Secretary

    Director → Secretary, 2024

    On filings since 2023

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

Former officers (36)
  • Former: Bryan Wunar (2019–2024) — CEO & President-
  • Former: Katie Muldoon (2019–2024) — Rotated Officer Board During
  • Former: Nicole Cook (2019–2024) — Rotated Officer Board During
  • Former: Varun Laroyia (2019–2024) — Rotated Officer Board During
  • Former: James Karls (2021–2024) — Chief Financial Officer -
  • Former: Therese Schneider (2022–2024) — Vice President External Affairs
  • Former: Jayne Hladio (2019–2023) — Director
  • Former: Joe Pfaff (2019–2023) — Vice Chair
  • Former: John Miller (2019–2023) — Director
  • Former: Jon Simons (2019–2023) — Director
  • Former: Jon Spigel (2019–2023) — Director
  • Former: Kris Baritt (2019–2023) — Director
  • Former: Mark Metzendorf (2019–2023) — Director
  • Former: Paul Schultz (2019–2023) — Director
  • Former: Will Nasgovitz (2019–2023) — Rotated Officer Board During
  • Former: Kevin Shafer (2021–2023) — Rotated Officer Board During
  • Former: Greg Gomez (2019–2022) — Director - Former
  • Former: John Stetzenbach (2019–2022) — Director - Former
  • Former: Jon Donahue (2019–2022) — Director - Former
  • Former: Kip Richie (2019–2022) — Director - Former
  • Former: Meg Boyle (2019–2022) — Director - Former
  • Former: Paul Luber (2019–2022) — Director - Former
  • Former: Tim Behling (2019–2022) — Director - Former
  • Former: Jeff Ticknor (2019–2021) — Director
  • Former: Sang Kim (2019–2021) — Director
  • Former: Val Klump (2019–2021) — Director
  • Former: James Kanter (2021) — Director
  • Former: Jason Kelroy (2019–2020) — Director
  • Former: Jeff Spence (2019–2020) — Director
  • Former: Jim Kanter (2019–2020) — Director
  • Former: John Stollenwerk (2019–2020) — Director
  • Former: Karen Sands (2019–2020) — Director
  • Former: Tom Marshall (2019–2020) — Director
  • Former: Dennis Krakau (2019) — Board Chair
  • Former: Joel Brennan (2019) — CEO & President
  • Former: Kate Halfwassen (2019) — Chief Financial Officer

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

John Emmerich — CEO and President: $227KJohn EmmerichCEO and President$227KCarl Schoettel — Chief Operating Officer: $152KCarl SchoettelChief Operating Officer$152KNicole Bray — Chief Financial Officer: $100KNicole BrayChief Financial Officer$100K

The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $227K, to John Emmerich (CEO and President). 3 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.

Frequently asked questions about Discovery World Ltd

How much does Discovery World Ltd give each year?

Discovery World Ltd gave $50K across 1 grant in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990.

How large is Discovery World Ltd?

Discovery World Ltd reported $55.4M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $15.7M.

What is Discovery World Ltd?

Discovery World Ltd is a public charity focused on Education, based in Milwaukee, WI. It holds $55.4M in total assets as of 2025.

Where does Discovery World Ltd operate?

Discovery World Ltd has awarded grants in Wisconsin.

What is Discovery World Ltd's EIN?

Discovery World Ltd's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 39-1691578. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.

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

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