Issue One logo

Issue One

Public charity · Grantmaker Washington, DC EIN: 32-0384285 Website

Issue One is the leading crosspartisan political reform organization that educates the public, engages capitol hill, and advocates for solutions to fix our broken political system.

Issue One at a glance

Total assets
$9,375,046
-22.2% vs 2024
Revenue (2025)
$6,852,919
-53.8% vs 2024
Net investment income (2025)
$102,743
+9.1% vs 2024
Expenses (2025)
$9,529,898
+15.9% vs 2024
Latest 990 filing
Form 990, 2025 View filing

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

Who Issue One funds

How this funder distributes its grants

Grant Size Distribution

1 grant 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%).

Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

Grant Distribution by State

2states

Cities

WashingtonBoston

How Issue One gives

  • Giving fell 49% from 2019 to 2022. 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$50K$100K$150K$200K1 grant2019 2 grants2020 0 grants2021 1 grant2022 0 grants2023 0 grants2024 0 grants2025

From 2019 to 2022, annual grant giving ranged from $86K (2020) to $175K (2019). In 2022 it made 1 grant totaling $90K.

Grants by year

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
Issue One Action Washington, DCProgrammatic Support$90,000
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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$9,375,046$6,852,919$9,529,898——$102,743
2024$12,043,724$14,827,410$8,219,311——$94,189
2023$5,511,701$7,870,934$8,163,749——$-5,074
2022$6,409,189$6,980,798$6,280,243$90,0001$334
2021$5,399,422$19,436,963$16,323,377——$-25,642
2020$2,402,517$4,971,211$5,124,938$86,0632$168
2019$2,556,443$4,674,880$4,666,186$175,0001$175

About Issue One

Based on IRS filings

Issue One is a public charity focused on public and societal benefit, based in Washington, DC. IRS filing data is available from 2019 through 2025. As of 2025, the organization holds $9.4M in total assets. Net investment income was $103K.

Leadership & Key People

Officers and directors from IRS filings

Issue One is led by Nicholas Penniman, Chief Executive Officer on every filing since 2022; 8 of 25 officers listed in 2025 are compensated.

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • Nicholas Penniman

    Chief Executive Officer

    On filings since 2022

    39.9 hrs/week

    $254K (2022) → $354K (2025)

  • Whitney Hatch

    Board Chair

    On filings since 2019

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Jamie Dillon

    Senior Director of Advancement

    On filings since 2024

    39.8 hrs/week

    $122K (2024) → $142K (2025)

  • Amelia Leonardi

    Chief Operating Officer

    On filings since 2019

    39.5 hrs/week

    $140K (2019) → $281K (2025)

  • Ethan Rome

    Chief of Strategy & Program

    Chief of Communications → Chief of Strategy & Program, 2022

    On filings since 2020

    39.8 hrs/week

    $150K (2020) → $192K (2025)

  • Diana Aviv

    Board Member

    On filings since 2021

    2 hrs/week

    $23K (2025)

  • Alix Fraser

    Vice President & Technology Reform

    On filings since 2024

    39.8 hrs/week

    $126K (2024) → $157K (2025)

  • Nicole Lagace

    Vice President & Communications

    On filings since 2024

    39.8 hrs/week

    $122K (2024) → $157K (2025)

  • Louisa Imperiale

    Chief Advancement Officer

    New on the 2025 filing

    39.8 hrs/week

    $215K (2025)

  • David Gerson

    Board Secretary

    Board Member → Board Secretary, 2021

    On filings since 2019

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Jb Lyon

    Board Member

    On filings since 2019

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Katie Fahey

    Board Member

    On filings since 2019

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Carlos Curbelo

    Board Member

    On filings since 2021

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Emil Hill

    Board Member

    On filings since 2021

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Linda Willard

    Board Member

    On filings since 2021

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Patrick Toussaint

    Board Member

    On filings since 2021

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Peter Staple

    Board Member

    On filings since 2021

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Richard Gephardt

    Board Member

    On filings since 2021

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Barbara Brenner Buder

    Board Treasurer

    On filings since 2022

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Bill Burgess

    Board Member

    On filings since 2023

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Julie Ann Crommett

    Board Member

    On filings since 2024

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Elaine Walsh Carney

    Board Member

    New on the 2025 filing

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Jamie McDonald Eff May

    Board Member

    New on the 2025 filing

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Linda Douglass Eff Feb

    Board Member

    New on the 2025 filing

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

  • Tavan Pechet

    Board Member

    New on the 2025 filing

    2 hrs/week

    No compensation reported

Former officers (26)
  • Former: Dan Glickman (2019–2025) — Board Member · Filing note: Through dec 2024
  • Former: Ian Simmons (2019–2025) — Board Member · Filing note: Through nov 2024
  • Former: Tom Ridge (2019–2024) — Board Member · Filing note: Through oct 2023
  • Former: Deanna Ballard (2022–2024) — Board Member · Filing note: Through July 2023
  • Former: Mahdokht Fassihian (2023–2024) — Deputy Chief of Strategy & Program
  • Former: Elaine Walsh Carney Eff Oct (2024) — Board Member
  • Former: Anne Snouck-Hurgronje (2019–2023) — Chief Development Officer
  • Former: Malcolm Mike Peabody (2019–2023) — Board Member · Filing note: Through May
  • Former: Miti Sathe (2021–2023) — Board Member · Filing note: Through oct 2022
  • Former: Julie Ann Crommet Eff April (2023) — Board Member
  • Former: Meredith McGehee (2019–2022) — Executive Director
  • Former: R. William Burgess Jr. (2019–2022) — Board Member
  • Former: Steven Olikara (2019–2022) — Board Member
  • Former: Donna Brazile (2021–2022) — Board Member
  • Former: Elisabeth Reynolds (2019–2021) — Board Secretary
  • Former: Kerry Healey (2019–2021) — Board Member
  • Former: Larry Birenbaum (2019–2021) — Board Treasurer
  • Former: Nick Penniman (2019–2021) — Chief Executive Officer
  • Former: Richard Hanna (2019–2021) — Board Member
  • Former: Susan Myrick (2019–2021) — Board Member
  • Former: David Hawkings Jr. (2020–2021) — Editor in Chief
  • Former: David Meyers (2020–2021) — Publisher & Executive Executive Director
  • Former: Barbara Brenner (2021) — Board Treasurer
  • Former: Nilmini Rubin (2021) — Managing Director & Fix the System
  • Former: William Gray (2020) — Communications Director
  • Former: Vincent Joseph Ryan (2019) — Board Member

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

Nicholas Penniman — Chief Executive Officer: $354KNicholas PennimanChief Executive Officer$354KAmelia Leonardi — Chief Operating Officer: $281KAmelia LeonardiChief Operating Officer$281KLouisa Imperiale — Chief Advancement Officer: $215KLouisa ImperialeChief Advancement Officer$215KEthan Rome — Chief of Strategy and Program: $192KEthan RomeChief of Strategy and Program$192KAlix Fraser — Vice President, Technology Reform: $157KAlix FraserVice President, Technology…$157KNicole Lagace — Vice President, Communications: $157KNicole LagaceVice President, Communications$157KJamie Dillon — Senior Director of Advancement: $142KJamie DillonSenior Director of Advancement$142KDiana Aviv — Board Member: $23KDiana AvivBoard Member$23K

The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $354K, to Nicholas Penniman (Chief Executive Officer). 8 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.

Frequently asked questions about Issue One

How large is Issue One?

Issue One reported $9.4M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $6.9M.

What is Issue One?

Issue One is a public charity focused on public and societal benefit, based in Washington, DC. It holds $9.4M in total assets as of 2025.

Where does Issue One operate?

Issue One has awarded grants in District of Columbia, Massachusetts.

What is Issue One's EIN?

Issue One's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 32-0384285. 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

(4)

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS February 12, 2020)
  2. Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS January 26, 2021)
  3. Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS February 13, 2023)
  4. IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2025

Explore Open Grants

Browse active grant opportunities in Issue One's focus areas in our free grants database

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

Figures come from Issue One'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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