Enlight Foundation
Enlight Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California, focused on education equality and youth empowerment. Founded in 2004, it says it works toward systems change by investing in young people, elevating youth voices, and collaborating with other foundations, researchers, and nonprofits.
Enlight Foundation at a glance
In short: Enlight Foundation gave $49.0M across 29 grants in 2024 (avg $1.7M), mostly in Pennsylvania. 41% of 2024 grantees were new. Source: 2024 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2024)
- $48,989,253
- +23.7% vs 2023
- Grants made (2024)
- 29
- +81.3% vs 2023
- Average grant
- $1,689,285
- -31.8% vs 2023
- Median grant
- $330,000
- Total assets
- $253,693,664
- +2.4% vs 2023
- New grantees (estimate)
- 41% first-time grantees (12 of 29, 2024)
- Primary geography
- Pennsylvania (58% of itemized 2024 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2024 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2024; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to Enlight Foundation
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- No
- How to Apply
-
The foundation states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds. The Emerging Climate Champions Award has a separate open-call process: applicants must register before submitting an online application.
- Review Cycle
- The award announcement lists a registration deadline of August 15, 2025, and an online application deadline of September 22, 2025.
- Deadline
- The award announcement lists a registration deadline of August 15, 2025, and an online application deadline of…
- Contact
Mailing address: PO Box 60058, Palo Alto, CA 94306
Phone: (650) 804-1232
Website: https://enlightfoundation.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Open Grants
1 open opportunity from Enlight Foundation
Who Enlight Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2024
The largest 2024 recipient was National Philanthropic Trust ($28.3M). Together the top 10 received $45.3M.
Grant Size Distribution
136 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was in the $100–250K range: 29 grants of 136 (21%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The foundation is based in Palo Alto, California. In 2024, grant dollars by recipient state were reported as Pennsylvania 58%, California 18%, Massachusetts 10%, New York 7%, and Minnesota 6%. The Emerging Climate Champions Award is described as open to organizations around the world.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2024 grant dollars across all 29 itemized grants.
States
Cities
Is Enlight Foundation open to new grantees?
41%
first-time grantees, 2024
In 2024, 12 of 29 grantees (41%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $414K; repeat grants $2.6M. How we count
Medians: $125K first-time, $734K repeat.
- 38% of 2024 grantees were also funded in 2023. Method
- Giving grew 125% from 2021 to 2024. Method
- In 2024 it paid out 332% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2020–2024). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2020 to 2024, annual grant giving ranged from $13.6M (2020) to $49.0M (2024). In 2024 it made 29 grants totaling $49.0M.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| National Philanthropic Trust Jenkintown, PA | Charity | $28,333,333 |
| World Savvy Minneapolis, MN | Education | $3,000,000 |
| Action for the Climate Emergency Charlestown, MA | Medical & Charity | $3,000,000 |
| Schwab Charitable Donor Advised Fun San Francisco, CA | Charity (Statement 5) | $2,300,000 |
| Solutions Journalism Network New York, NY | Culture | $2,250,000 |
| San Francisco General Hosp Foundati San Francisco, CA | Child Trauma Research Program. | $2,000,000 |
| Boston University Boston, MA | General Education Program | $1,500,000 |
| Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Menlo Park, CA | Charity | $1,200,000 |
| Pinewood School Los Altos, CA | Education | $1,000,000 |
| Leland Stanford Junior University Stanford, CA | Education and Environment | $734,400 |
Ready to take the next step with Enlight Foundation?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Qualifying Distributions | Net Investment Income | Distributable Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $253,693,664 | $61,888,075 | $55,894,622 | $48,989,253 | 29 | $50,398,561 | $55,989,097 | $15,165,672 |
| 2023 | $247,700,568 | $101,729,191 | $47,545,397 | $39,613,833 | 16 | $39,933,232 | $90,653,058 | $24,286,168 |
| 2022 | $193,609,352 | $140,853,059 | $27,212,532 | $24,735,664 | 23 | $24,974,135 | $135,785,485 | $21,530,127 |
| 2021 | $79,885,462 | $33,331,453 | $22,228,153 | $21,776,392 | 27 | $21,944,529 | $32,801,413 | $19,305,335 |
| 2020 | $68,776,720 | $10,021,233 | $13,741,837 | $13,601,605 | 41 | — | $9,783,951 | $13,764,291 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Enlight Foundation reported a distributable amount of $15.2M for 2024 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
The foundation’s stated mission focus is education equality and youth empowerment. Its three current pillars are youth mental wellbeing, youth-driven climate change solutions, and next-generation social change makers; its website also lists education as a grantmaking area.
The organizations it supports span a range of work. For example, World Savvy describes its work as helping educators and community leaders reimagine learning and create inclusive, future-ready schools. Children’s Health Council says it provides services for learning differences and mental health. Solutions Journalism Network says it works to establish rigorous reporting on responses to social problems as a core function of journalism. These are the grantees’ descriptions of their own missions.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2024, Enlight reported 29 grants totaling $48,989,253. Grant amounts ranged from $50,000 to $28,333,333, with a median of $330,000. Notable grants included $28,333,333 to National Philanthropic Trust for “CHARITY,” $3,000,000 to World Savvy for education, $3,000,000 to Action for the Climate Emergency for “MEDICAL & CHARITY,” and $2,250,000 to Solutions Journalism Network for culture. Other large grants included $2,300,000 to Schwab Charitable Donor Advised Fund, $2,000,000 to San Francisco General Hospital Foundation for a child trauma research program, and $1,500,000 to Boston University for a general education program.
The Emerging Climate Champions Award is a collaborative global open call announced by Enlight Foundation, The Patchwork Collective, and Lever for Change. The announcement describes a $25 million award providing 25 flexible, multi-year gifts of $1 million to youth-led organizations advancing climate solutions. The call invites organizations led by people ages 15–35 that have operated for at least two years, are community-led, and have demonstrated experience, strong potential, and measurable results. The announcement encourages applications from around the world, including historically under-resourced or under-represented communities.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The foundation’s website identifies Xin Liu as Founder and President and Lindsay Louie as CEO. The 2024 filing lists Lindsay A. Louie as CEO and Xin Liu as Director and CEO. The website also identifies Linda Wang as Director of Programs and Annika Duan as Program Officer.
Enlight Foundation is led by Lindsay A. Louie, CEO on every filing since 2023; 1 of 2 officers listed in 2024 is compensated.
Officers on the 2024 filing
Lindsay A. Louie
CEO
On filings since 2023
40 hrs/week
$73K (2023) → $297K (2024)
Xin Liu
Director & CEO
On filings since 2020
10 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2020–2024. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Compensation Overview
From 2024 IRS filing
The highest reported compensation on the 2024 filing was $297K, to Lindsay a Louie (CEO).
Frequently asked questions about Enlight Foundation
How much does Enlight Foundation give each year?
Enlight Foundation gave $49.0M across 29 grants in 2024, according to its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2023 it gave $39.6M across 16 grants.
What is Enlight Foundation's typical grant size?
Enlight Foundation's median grant in 2024 was $330,000, and its average grant was $1,689,285, across 29 grants on its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Enlight Foundation that year got $414K on average.
Where does Enlight Foundation give grants?
Enlight Foundation gives mostly in Pennsylvania: 58% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest states were California (18%) and Massachusetts (10%). The most frequent recipient cities were San Francisco, CA (6 grants), New York, NY (5 grants), Stanford, CA (2 grants) and Palo Alto, CA (2 grants).
Does Enlight Foundation give general operating support?
Occasionally: 3% of Enlight Foundation's 2024 grants with a stated purpose (1 of 29) were for general or operating support, per its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. Recurring purposes include "Charity" (8 grants), "Education" (5 grants) and "Education Program" (3 grants).
Who are Enlight Foundation's largest grantees?
Enlight Foundation's largest 2024 grantees include National Philanthropic Trust ($28,333,333), World Savvy ($3,000,000) and Action for the Climate Emergency ($3,000,000), according to its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 70% of its itemized 2024 grant dollars.
How large is Enlight Foundation?
Enlight Foundation reported $253.7M in total assets on its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $50.4M in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $15.2M (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does Enlight Foundation fund?
The foundation’s stated mission focus is education equality and youth empowerment. Its three current pillars are youth mental wellbeing, youth-driven climate change solutions, and next-generation social change makers; its website also lists education as a grantmaking area. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Enlight Foundation?
The foundation states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Enlight Foundation's EIN?
Enlight Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 20-1063909. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2024.
Does Enlight Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?
No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(1)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Enlight Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Enlight Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/enlight-foundation-morg_e5c16b64264a480180503dd52d952799
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_201063909_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Enlight Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/enlight-foundation-morg_e5c16b64264a480180503dd52d952799},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-11. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.
Figures come from Enlight Foundation'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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