Jefferies Family Scholarship
Jefferies Family Scholarship is a New York, NY public charity that provides educational scholarships and recognition to children of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. employees. The organization’s stated purpose is to support these students’ academic goals and recognize achievement and individual excellence.
Jefferies Family Scholarship at a glance
In short: Jefferies Family Scholarship gave $731K across 66 grants in 2025 (avg $11K), mostly in New York. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $731,288
- +406.6% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 66
- Average grant
- $11,080
- Median grant
- $12,500
- Total assets
- $12,528,749
- +0.7% vs 2024
- Primary geography
- New York (100% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated October 2026.
How to apply to Jefferies Family Scholarship
- How to Apply
-
Eligible students apply through the program’s application process. Scholarships are initially awarded for one year, and recipients may apply for renewal while meeting academic requirements, up to graduation or a maximum of four years. The website says an educational scholarship can result in up to $50,000 over four years; students may then apply again as new applicants.
- Review Cycle
- For the 2027–2028 academic year, the student application deadline is February 1, 2027. The parent’s financial-need materials are due February 15, 2027.
- Deadline
- For the 2027–2028 academic year, the student application deadline is February 1, 2027.
- Contact
Mailing address: 520 Madison Avenue 11Th Floor, New York, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 707-6477
Website: https://jefferiesscholarship.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who Jefferies Family Scholarship funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Grant Size Distribution
66 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 66 grants of 66 (100%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
All grant dollars reported for filing year 2025 went to recipients in New York.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 66 itemized grants.
States
Cities
How Jefferies Family Scholarship gives
- In 2025 it paid out 124% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
From the foundation's IRS Form 990 filings. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $41K (2020) to $731K (2025). In 2025 it made 66 grants totaling $731K.
Hatched bars: grants paid as reported on the IRS filing, which lists no individual grants for that year.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 50 individual scholarships Recipients not named | — | $634,865 |
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Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Qualifying Distributions | Net Investment Income | Distributable Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $12,528,749 | $1,243,252 | $924,539 | $731,288 | 66 | $731,288 | $1,031,009 | $591,610 |
| 2024 | $12,435,974 | $326,715 | $909,333 | $144,346 | Total only | — | $230,561 | — |
| 2023 | $11,887,555 | $984,974 | $724,624 | $131,040 | Total only | — | $753,706 | — |
| 2022 | $11,492,094 | $843,027 | $584,198 | $115,109 | Total only | — | $750,607 | — |
| 2021 | $12,874,716 | $831,242 | $589,470 | $91,444 | Total only | — | $673,059 | — |
| 2020 | $10,875,129 | $741,669 | $531,445 | $40,500 | Total only | — | $704,634 | — |
| 2019 | $10,823,469 | $562,154 | $510,934 | $62,500 | Total only | — | $488,416 | — |
"Total only": grants paid as reported on the IRS filing, which lists no individual grants for that year.
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Jefferies Family Scholarship reported a distributable amount of $592K for 2025 — 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 scholarship program provides monetary assistance to students with financial need who show academic achievement or perseverance in the face of adversity. It also offers the Jefferies Award of Merit to students who demonstrate similar qualities but do not have financial need. The organization says financial need is weighed heavily in scholarship decisions, while selection also considers academic merit, extracurricular activities, leadership, achievement, and other factors.
The program’s awards are for individual students, not outside organizations. Applicants must be full-time students at an accredited school with academically based admissions requirements, and their parent or legal guardian must be employed by Jefferies Financial Group Inc. or a subsidiary when the award is made. Scholarships are awarded for one academic year; recipients may apply for renewal, subject to academic requirements, including a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2025, the organization reported 66 scholarships totaling $731,288. Awards ranged from $1,146 to $15,000, with a median of $12,500. The largest listed awards included $15,000 each to Ariana Estrada, Jessica Casey, and Kathy Guizar, and $14,865 to Julia Almodovar. The listed purposes were educational scholarships.
Applications require a student application and a Parent’s Financial Statement, with required documents uploaded for the financial-need portion. The student must save the application before the parent receives instructions to complete that portion. The website states that applications for the 2026–2027 school year are closed.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Chanel Brewster, Mark Sahler, Mo Ahmed, Julia Dworkin, and Paul Gray as directors; Jeffrey Agnew and Chris Kanoff as co-chairmen; Larry Dunn as investment chair; Carrera Jefferies Shea as secretary; and Richard Garrison as treasurer.
Jefferies Family Scholarship is led by Chris Kanoff, Co-Chairman on every filing since 2019; none of the 12 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Chris Kanoff
Co-Chairman
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jeffrey Agnew
Co-Chairman
On filings since 2019
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Larry Dunn
Investment Chair
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Chanel Brewster
Director
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Mark Sahler
Director
On filings since 2020
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Chase Upshaw
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Julia Dworkin
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Mo Ahmed
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Zachary Goldberg
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Paul Gray
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Carrera Jefferies Shea
Secretary
On filings since 2019
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Richard Garrison
Treasurer
On filings since 2019
4 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (8)
- Former: Jason Schechter (2020–2024) — Director
- Former: Peter Forlenza (2022) — Director · Filing note: From 072121
- Former: Brian McGrathResigned (2021) — Director
- Former: Brian McGrath (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Roland Kelly (2019–2020) — Director · Filing note: Resigned 63020
- Former: Kevin Kology (2019) — Director-
- Former: Michael Alexander (2019) — Director-
- Former: Tim Cronin (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.
Frequently asked questions about Jefferies Family Scholarship
How much does Jefferies Family Scholarship give each year?
Jefferies Family Scholarship gave $731K across 66 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it reported $144K in grants paid.
What is Jefferies Family Scholarship's typical grant size?
Jefferies Family Scholarship's median grant in 2025 was $12,500, and its average grant was $11,080, across 66 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
Where does Jefferies Family Scholarship give grants?
Jefferies Family Scholarship gives mostly in New York: 100% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there.
Does Jefferies Family Scholarship give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 66 grants with a stated purpose on Jefferies Family Scholarship's 2025 IRS Form 990-PF were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Educational Scholarship" (45 grants), "Educational Scholarships" (17 grants) and "JAM Award" (3 grants).
How large is Jefferies Family Scholarship?
Jefferies Family Scholarship reported $12.5M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $731K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $592K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does Jefferies Family Scholarship fund?
The scholarship program provides monetary assistance to students with financial need who show academic achievement or perseverance in the face of adversity. It also offers the Jefferies Award of Merit to students who demonstrate similar qualities but do not have financial need. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Jefferies Family Scholarship?
Eligible students apply through the program’s application process. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Jefferies Family Scholarship's EIN?
Jefferies Family Scholarship's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 95-3594410. 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 January 8, 2020)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS January 22, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS February 11, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS February 21, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS March 12, 2024)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS April 17, 2025)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS March 13, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2025
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