Friends of the Children
Friends of the Children is a national nonprofit based in Portland, Oregon. It pairs youth facing significant obstacles with paid professional mentors, called Friends, and commits to those relationships from early childhood through high school graduation for 12 or more years.
Friends of the Children at a glance
In short: Friends of the Children gave $13.5M across 32 grants in 2025 (avg $421K), top state Oregon. 9% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $13,475,394
- -12.8% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 32
- +10.3% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $421,106
- -21.0% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $215,875
- Total assets
- $32,742,941
- +0.4% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 9% first-time grantees (3 of 32, 2025)
- Primary geography
- Oregon (38% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to Friends of the Children
- Contact
Mailing address: 44 Ne Morris St, Portland, OR 97212-3015
Phone: (503) 820-0903
Website: https://friendsofthechildren.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who Friends of the Children funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Youth Resources Inc ($3.4M). Together the top 10 received $10.5M.
Grant Size Distribution
129 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was in the $100–250K range: 41 grants of 129 (32%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The organization is based in Portland, Oregon. Its website describes a national network spanning rural, Indigenous, suburban, and urban communities across 22 states and reports partnerships with the Oglala Lakota Nation, the Confederated Salish-Kootenai Tribes, and the Klamath Tribes. The 2022 grants listed include recipients in Arizona, New York, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Oregon, North Carolina, and Montana.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 32 itemized grants.
States
Cities
Is Friends of the Children open to new grantees?
9%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 3 of 32 grantees (9%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $1.3M; repeat grants $332K. How we count
Medians: $1.1M first-time, $157K repeat.
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990 filings (2019–2025). 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 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $3.8M (2019) to $15.5M (2024). In 2025 it made 32 grants totaling $13.5M.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Youth Resources Inc Portland, OR | Building Project | $3,391,500 |
| Friends of the Children - Stockton Stockton, CA | Chapter Support | $1,797,000 |
| Friends of the Children - Eastern Washington Spokane, WA | Chapter Support | $1,102,000 |
| Friends of the Children - Eastern Oregon La Grande, OR | Chapter Support | $949,350 |
| Friends of the Children - Seattle Seattle, WA | Chapter Support | $713,750 |
| Friends of the Children - He Sapa Rapid City, SD | Chapter Support | $624,470 |
| Friends of the Children - SW Washington Vancouver, WA | Chapter Support | $582,428 |
| Friends of the Children - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA | Chapter Support | $515,135 |
| Friends of the Children - Western Montana Missoula, MT | Chapter Support | $403,020 |
| Friends of the Children - New York New York, NY | Chapter Support | $395,100 |
Ready to take the next step with Friends of the Children?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Net Investment Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $32,742,941 | $22,354,442 | $23,375,085 | $13,475,394 | 32 | $761,162 |
| 2024 | $32,619,125 | $11,888,314 | $24,586,137 | $15,456,783 | 29 | $829,725 |
| 2023 | $39,705,816 | $19,795,606 | $16,404,803 | $9,515,028 | 26 | $759,616 |
| 2022 | $36,919,587 | $29,716,709 | $11,721,731 | $6,474,148 | 22 | $247,223 |
| 2021 | $17,852,364 | $12,689,808 | $8,348,864 | $4,601,655 | 20 | $169,425 |
| 2020 | $11,441,239 | $11,021,088 | $12,200,705 | $8,739,306 | 17 | $29,174 |
| 2019 | $12,902,392 | $9,298,797 | $7,158,847 | $3,791,079 | 13 | $454,880 |
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
The organization states its mission as impacting generational change by empowering youth facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with paid professional mentors for 12 or more years. Its model selects children ages 4 to 6 with significant adversity, pairs each with a full-time professional mentor, and provides individualized, relationship-based support through high school graduation.
The 2022 grants listed include several Friends of the Children chapters. Those chapters describe their missions as empowering youth facing the greatest obstacles through long-term professional mentoring. The funder also supported Thompson Child & Family Focus, which describes its work as strengthening children, families, and communities through trauma-informed, evidence-based services across mental health, foster care, and prevention.
Grantmaking
In 2022, Friends of the Children reported grants to the organizations below. The available filing data lists zero grants in each of 2023, 2024, and 2025; it does not provide total grant dollars or typical grant size for those years.
The 2022 grants show support for Friends of the Children chapters and a child- and family-serving organization.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Stephen M. Graham as chair; George Granger as immediate past chair; Bruce A. Schoen as treasurer; and DJ Wilson as vice chair and secretary. It also lists Karie Conner, Erica Baird, Greg Goodwin, Thomas Keller, Sharon Maghie, and John Miner as directors.
Friends of the Children is led by Terri Sorensen, CEO on every filing since 2019; 6 of 23 officers listed in 2025 are compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Terri Sorensen
CEO
On filings since 2019
40 hrs/week
$243K (2019) → $390K (2025)
Stephen M. Graham
Chair
Co-Vice Chair → Vice Chair, 2022
Vice Chair → Chair, 2024
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Bryan R. Parker
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Dan Saltzman
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
David Shapiro
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Erica Baird
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Greg Goodwin
Director
Director → Immediate Past Chair, 2021
Immediate Past Chair → Director, 2024
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Henry G. Morriello
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
John Miner
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Karie Conner
Director
Director → Vice Chair, 2024
Vice Chair → Director, 2025
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Sharon Maghie
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Thomas Keller
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Amy Tykeson
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Nancy Pollard
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Traci Rossi
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Erinn Kelley-Siel
Chief Strategy Officer
Chief Officer of Expansion → Chief Expansion Officer, 2022
Chief Expansion Officer → Chief Strategy Officer, 2024
On filings since 2019
40 hrs/week
$145K (2019) → $226K (2025)
Carmi Lori Brown
Chief Officer of Performance
Chief Program Officer → Chief Officer of Performance, 2025
On filings since 2020
40 hrs/week
$91K (2020) → $153K (2025)
Abigail Weast
COO & CFO
Chief Operating Officer → COO, 2023
COO → COO & CFO, 2024
On filings since 2021
40 hrs/week
$122K (2021) → $191K (2025)
Shanna Lamar
Chief Development Officer
On filings since 2023
40 hrs/week
$153K (2023) → $168K (2025)
Angela Groves
Chief Officer of Development & Sustainability
New on the 2025 filing
40 hrs/week
$154K (2025)
Bruce A. Schoen
Treasurer
Director → Treasurer, 2024
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Dj Wilson
Vice Chair & Secretary
Director → Secretary, 2023
Secretary → Vice Chair & Secretary, 2025
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
George Granger
Immediate Past Chair
Co-Vice Chair → Chair, 2020
Chair → Immediate Past Chair, 2024
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (22)
- Former: Duncan Campbell (2019–2024) — Director
- Former: Peggy Maguire (2019–2024) — Director
- Former: Tarece Johnson (2022–2024) — Chief Officer of Belonging
- Former: Ellen Frawley (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Michael Feldser (2019–2023) — Treasurer
- Former: Shane Wall (2019–2023) — Director
- Former: Brittany Merritt (2023) — Chief Development Officer
- Former: Tarece Johnson-Morgan (2023) — Chief Officer of Belonging, Culture & Equity
- Former: Cynthia Grant (2019–2022) — Secretary
- Former: Don Washburn (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Amanda Squibb (2021–2022) — Director
- Former: John Gilleland (2021–2022) — Director
- Former: Yi-Chin Chen (2021–2022) — Director
- Former: Cheryl Jones (2022) — Chief People Officer
- Former: Michelle Charbonneau (2022) — Director of Tech Solutions
- Former: Gary Clemons (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Thomas Lee (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Vanessa Wilkins (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Rachel Arnold (2020–2021) — Director
- Former: Mary Rennekamp (2021) — Chief Development Officer
- Former: Abby Weast (2020) — Chief Operating Officer
- Former: Clinton Moloney MBA (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 $390K, to Terri Sorensen (CEO). 6 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.
Frequently asked questions about Friends of the Children
How much does Friends of the Children give each year?
Friends of the Children gave $13.5M across 32 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. In 2024 it gave $15.5M across 29 grants.
What is Friends of the Children's typical grant size?
Friends of the Children's median grant in 2025 was $215,875, and its average grant was $421,106, across 32 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Organizations receiving their first grant from Friends of the Children that year got $1.3M on average.
Where does Friends of the Children give grants?
Friends of the Children's top state is Oregon, with 38% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990. The next largest states were Washington (20%) and California (18%). The most frequent recipient cities were Portland, OR (2 grants).
Does Friends of the Children give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 32 grants with a stated purpose on Friends of the Children's 2025 IRS Form 990 were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Chapter Support" (31 grants).
Who are Friends of the Children's largest grantees?
Friends of the Children's largest 2025 grantees include Youth Resources Inc ($3,391,500), Friends of the Children - Stockton ($1,797,000) and Friends of the Children - Eastern Washington ($1,102,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990. Together they received 47% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Friends of the Children?
Friends of the Children reported $32.7M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $22.4M.
What does Friends of the Children fund?
The organization states its mission as impacting generational change by empowering youth facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with paid professional mentors for 12 or more years. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Friends of the Children?
Friends of the Children has no public application process in the sources Grantable reviewed. Check friendsofthechildren.org for current guidelines, or contact the foundation directly before submitting a request.
What is Friends of the Children's EIN?
Friends of the Children's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 93-1300690. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(8)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS May 20, 2020)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS March 29, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS February 14, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS March 3, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS March 11, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS February 20, 2025)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS March 15, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2025
Live grants for the work Friends of the Children funds
Youth Development Open opportunities, soonest deadline first.
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Friends of the Children's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Friends of the Children funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 25, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/friends-of-the-children-morg_01a4463ec6894602a577b008d3171259
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_931300690_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Friends of the Children funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/friends-of-the-children-morg_01a4463ec6894602a577b008d3171259},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-25. 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 Friends of the Children'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.
Friends of the Children down — hundreds of funders to go?