Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc
The Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc is a private foundation based in Washington, DC. It supports seed or partial funding for novel projects and forward-looking leaders and teams, with priorities that include science and technology, French-American cooperation, and other work aligned with its mission.
Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc at a glance
In short: Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc gave $3.8M across 56 grants in 2025 (avg $68K), top state New York. 71% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $3,784,399
- -4.3% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 56
- +3.7% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $67,579
- -7.7% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $55,000
- Total assets
- $22,080,196
- -1.6% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 71% first-time grantees (36 of 51, 2025)
- Primary geography
- New York (26% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- Yes
- Invitation Only
-
The Foundation rarely accepts unsolicited inquiries and asks prospective applicants not to submit a proposal without an invitation. Its website says an inquiry should briefly describe the project and its purpose, explain its alignment with the Foundation’s mission, and include the approximate budget and expected project length; the Foundation prefers projects lasting one to two years. For an invited proposal, the Foundation requests a single electronic document of no more than ten pages, including the cover sheet, proposal, narrative biographies, and budget. Its filing states that a written application should describe the need, nature, and amount of the request and include a budget justifying the amount; an organization’s IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter and relevant exhibits should also be included, if applicable.
- Contact
Application contact: L Brown
Mailing address: 601 13Th St Nw Ste 940N, Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 872-8080
Website: https://rlounsbery.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Academie Des Sciences Institut De France ($235K across 2 grants). Together the top 10 received $1.7M.
Organizations only. It also paid 1 grant to individuals ($125,000), which are not listed by name.
Grant Size Distribution
274 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 135 grants of 274 (49%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The Foundation identifies French-American cooperation as a long-standing priority and names New York City and Washington, DC, as particular locations for elementary and secondary science and math education. Its 2025 grants also went to recipients in states including New York, DC, California, Alabama, Vermont, and Maryland, as well as to organizations with no U.S. state listed.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 56 itemized grants.
States
Cities
Is Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc open to new grantees?
71%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 36 of 51 grantees (71%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $73K; repeat grants $77K. How we count
Medians: $70K first-time, $55K repeat.
- 18% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving held roughly steady from 2022 to 2025 (+6%). Method
- In 2025 it paid out 342% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2020–2025). 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 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $3.3M (2020) to $4.0M (2024). In 2025 it made 56 grants totaling $3.8M.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Biobus Inc New York, NY | Launching Biobus's Mobile Science Labs in New England | $200,000 |
| The Halo Trust (USA) Inc Washington, DC | Next-generation detection and the application of machine learning to landmine clearance | $199,525 |
| Friends of Ecole Normale Superieure Timonium, MD | Bridging Computational Gaps to Tackle Epidemic Spread | $175,230 |
| President and Fellows of Middlebury College James Martin Center for Nonprol Middlebury, VT | Building global nuclear security expertise:the cns visiting fellows program | $150,000 |
| Resources for the Future Washington, DC | Lowering Expectations of the Size of Human Population | $140,000 |
| National Academy of Sciences Washington, DC | Richard Lounsbery Award | $131,165 |
| Academie Des Sciences Institut De France | From enlightenment to ai: 250 years of scientific revolutions across the atlantic podcast series | $130,000 |
| Albertine Foundation New York, NY | Lafayette Fellowship | $125,000 |
| Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University Stanford, CA | RLF French-American Fellowship, Dr. a. Laudrain | $125,000 |
| Friends of CS Inc Red Hook, NY | Celebrating America's 250th with scholarships to study at U.S. universities | $125,000 |
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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 | $22,080,196 | $4,169,461 | $4,525,930 | $3,784,399 | 56 | $4,258,089 | $1,541,928 | $1,243,749 |
| 2024 | $22,436,665 | $4,098,039 | $4,702,958 | $3,954,807 | 54 | $4,458,763 | $1,568,943 | $1,318,859 |
| 2023 | $23,041,584 | $2,968,965 | $4,535,840 | $3,882,800 | 53 | $4,327,508 | $518,421 | $1,211,449 |
| 2022 | $24,608,459 | $3,611,461 | $4,182,816 | $3,574,209 | 57 | $3,971,341 | $1,077,976 | $1,275,356 |
| 2021 | $25,179,814 | $4,875,585 | $4,331,930 | $3,588,125 | 54 | $3,966,579 | $2,132,443 | $1,479,028 |
| 2020 | $24,636,159 | $9,995,643 | $3,904,811 | $3,291,789 | 63 | — | $7,856,374 | $1,227,090 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc reported a distributable amount of $1.2M 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 Foundation’s mission is to enhance national strengths in science and technology. Its stated areas of support include research connecting outstanding groups outside the United States with American science; joint international research between nations in conflict; science and technology components of U.S. policy issues; elementary and secondary science and math education, especially in New York City and Washington, DC; historical studies and contemporary assessments of trends in the natural sciences; and start-up assistance for research infrastructure or new fields. French-American cooperation is a long-standing priority.
The Foundation generally provides seed money or partial support and rarely renews grants for continuing activities. It supports qualifying charitable organizations rather than individuals. Examples of 2025 grantees illustrate the range of work: BioBus says its mission is to help minority, female, and low-income K–12 and college students in New York City discover and pursue science; The HALO Trust (USA) says it works to protect lives and restore livelihoods affected by conflict; and Friends of École Normale Supérieure says it advances research and teaching to improve decision-making and understanding. Albertine Foundation describes its work as supporting French-American relations through cultural and educational projects.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2025, the Foundation reported 56 grants totaling $3,784,399. Grant amounts ranged from $3,000 to $200,000, with a median of $55,000. The Foundation also describes its 2025 board-approved grantmaking as more than $3.5 million, including support for French-American scientific collaboration, scientists working in conflict-affected regions, research and exploration, science education, and the history of science.
Among the largest reported 2025 grants were $200,000 to BioBus Inc for launching mobile science labs in New England; $199,525 to The HALO Trust (USA) Inc for work on next-generation detection and machine learning for landmine clearance; $175,230 to Friends of École Normale Supérieure for research on epidemic spread; and $150,000 to Middlebury College’s James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies for a visiting fellows program in global nuclear security. Other awards included $140,000 to Resources for the Future for work on expectations about human population size, $131,165 to the National Academy of Sciences for the Richard Lounsbery Award, and $130,000 to the Académie des Sciences, Institut de France, for a podcast series on scientific revolutions across the Atlantic. The Foundation also awarded $125,000 to Albertine Foundation for the Lafayette Fellowship and $125,000 to Friends of CS Inc for scholarships to study at U.S. universities.
The Richard Lounsbery Award is given in alternate years to French and American scientists aged 45 and below for extraordinary achievement in biology and medicine, with the stated aims of stimulating research and encouraging scientific exchange between the United States and France.
The Foundation excludes for-profit businesses, capital projects, capital equipment lasting more than two years, endowments, political campaigns or lobbying, fundraising events, individuals, proposals consisting strictly of travel, and meetings or convenings that account for more than 30% of a proposal budget. It will not support more than 50% of an individual’s annual salary.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Jesse H. Ausubel as chairman; Rose E. Gottemoeller as vice chair; June Yearwood as treasurer; and Maxmillian Angerholzer III, Catherine Dulac, Claire E. Max, Richard J. McHenry, David D. Sabatini, and Michael J. Shelley as directors. Elizabeth Holleman Brown is listed as executive director and corporate secretary.
Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc is led by Elizabeth Holleman Brown, Executive Director & Corporate Scty since 2023 (on filings since 2020); 9 of 10 officers listed in 2025 are compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Elizabeth Holleman Brown
Executive Director & Corporate Scty
Director of Programs & Corporate → Executive Director & Corporate Scty, 2023
On filings since 2020
40 hrs/week
$116K (2020) → $150K (2025)
Jesse H. Ausubel
Chairman
On filings since 2020
8 hrs/week
$50K (2020) → $55K (2025)
Catherine Dulac
Director
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
$20K (2020) → $22K (2025)
Claire E. Max
Director
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
$20K (2020) → $22K (2025)
David D. Sabatini
Director
Vice Chairman → Director, 2025
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
$20K (2020) → $22K (2025)
Maxmillian Angerholzer III
Director
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
$20K (2020) → $22K (2025)
Richard J. McHenry
Director
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
$20K (2020) → $22K (2025)
Michael J. Shelley
Director
On filings since 2023
2 hrs/week
$11K (2023) → $22K (2025)
Rose E. Gottemoeller
Vice Chair
Director → Vice Chair, 2025
On filings since 2022
2 hrs/week
$20K (2022) → $22K (2025)
June Yearwood
Treasurer
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (1)
- Former: R. Nicholas Burns (2020–2021) — Director
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2020–2025. "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 $150K, to Elizabeth Holleman Brown (Executive Director & Corporate SCTY). 9 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.
Frequently asked questions about Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc
How much does Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc give each year?
Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc gave $3.8M across 56 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $4.0M across 54 grants.
What is Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc's typical grant size?
Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc's median grant in 2025 was $55,000, and its average grant was $67,579, across 56 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc that year got $73K on average.
Where does Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc give grants?
Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc's top state is New York, with 26% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. The next largest states were District of Columbia (23%) and California (9%). The most frequent recipient cities were New York, NY (14 grants), Washington, DC (11 grants), Boston, MA (3 grants) and Tuscaloosa, AL (2 grants).
Does Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc give general operating support?
Occasionally: 5% of Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (3 of 56) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
Who are Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc's largest grantees?
Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc's largest 2025 grantees include Academie Des Sciences Institut De France ($235,000 across 2 grants), National Academy of Sciences ($231,165 across 2 grants) and Biobus Inc ($200,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It also paid 1 grant to individuals ($125,000), which are not listed by name. Together they received 18% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc?
Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc reported $22.1M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $4.3M in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $1.2M (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc fund?
The Foundation’s mission is to enhance national strengths in science and technology. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc?
The Foundation rarely accepts unsolicited inquiries and asks prospective applicants not to submit a proposal without an invitation. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc's EIN?
Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 13-6081860. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.
Does Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc accept unsolicited proposals?
Yes, 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
(6)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS May 13, 2021)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS May 10, 2022)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS May 10, 2023)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS May 13, 2024)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS May 9, 2025)
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS May 12, 2026)
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 22, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/richard-lounsbery-foundation-inc-morg_cc998c41f0034be6acbd87b64bf87421
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_136081860_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/richard-lounsbery-foundation-inc-morg_cc998c41f0034be6acbd87b64bf87421},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-22. 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 Richard Lounsbery Foundation Inc'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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