Upward Scholars
Upward Scholars provides adult immigrants the boost they need to move up the economic ladder through education and career development support.
Upward Scholars at a glance
- Total assets
- $1,202,197
- -7.6% vs 2024
- Revenue (2025)
- $1,545,192
- +34.1% vs 2024
- Net investment income (2025)
- $38,601
- +21.1% vs 2024
- Expenses (2025)
- $1,646,557
- +25.6% vs 2024
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990, 2025; updated October 2026.
How to apply to Upward Scholars
Open Grants
1 open opportunity from Upward Scholars
Who Upward Scholars funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Grant Size Distribution
1 grant across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 1 grant of 1 (100%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
Grant Distribution by State
States
Cities
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2019 to 2023, annual grant giving ranged from $4K (2022) to $6K (2021). In 2023 it reported $5K in grants paid, as a total without an itemized list.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sequoia Adult School Menlo Park, CA | Annual cash stipend for school to allocate on as-needed basis for Literacy books and GED test fees for SAS students. | $6,000 |
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Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Net Investment Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $1,202,197 | $1,545,192 | $1,646,557 | — | — | $38,601 |
| 2024 | $1,300,455 | $1,152,558 | $1,310,899 | — | — | $31,867 |
| 2023 | $1,439,965 | $1,688,819 | $1,321,450 | $4,500 | Total only | $25,070 |
| 2022 | $1,033,994 | $1,190,906 | $1,040,926 | $4,000 | Total only | $6,726 |
| 2021 | $896,809 | $956,944 | $777,075 | $6,000 | 1 | $87 |
| 2020 | $739,591 | $708,306 | $522,708 | $5,000 | Total only | $926 |
| 2019 | $506,813 | $383,455 | $370,691 | $5,000 | Total only | $4,718 |
"Total only": grants paid as reported on the IRS filing, which lists no individual grants for that year.
About Upward Scholars
Based on IRS filings
Upward Scholars is a public charity focused on Education, based in Redwood City, CA. IRS filing data is available from 2019 through 2025. As of 2025, the organization holds $1.2M in total assets. Net investment income was $39K.
Focus Areas
Leadership & Key People
Officers and directors from IRS filings
Upward Scholars is led by Linda Prieto, Executive Director on every filing since 2019; 4 of 22 officers listed in 2025 are compensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Linda Prieto
Executive Director
On filings since 2019
40 hrs/week
$117K (2019) → $35K (2025)
Anna Dyer
Executive Director
New on the 2025 filing
40 hrs/week
$15K (2025)
Erika Pretell
President
Director → President, 2021
On filings since 2019
4 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Diana Viscarra
Programs Director
New on the 2025 filing
40 hrs/week
$103K (2025)
Anuj Gaggar
Director
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Rodrigo Espinosa
Director
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Amado Flores Rentera
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Anglica Elizondo Bryant
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
David Moore
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jeannie Karl
Director
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Stefani Jacobson Willis
Director
On filings since 2022
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Oliver Araque
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Jennifer Min
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Leticia Gonzalez-Ratchev
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Maria Nguyen
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Nancy Park
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Rob Lyman
Director
New on the 2025 filing
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Marta Dugarte
Ops & Finance Manager
New on the 2025 filing
40 hrs/week
$102K (2025)
Eric Takaha
Treasurer
Assistant Treasurer → Treasurer, 2022
On filings since 2021
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Beth Harrison
Secretary
On filings since 2022
3 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Sangita Jayaraman
Vice President
Director → Vice President, 2024
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Susanna Tang
Treasurer
On filings since 2024
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (18)
- Former: Marilyn Ezrin (2020–2024) — Vice President
- Former: Gabriel Swank (2021–2023) — Treasurer
- Former: Julie Harstein (2019–2022) — Director
- Former: Wendy Kuehnl-Ortiz (2022) — Director
- Former: Manny Amo (2019–2021) — Secretary
- Former: Stef Jacobson-Willis (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Wendy Keuhnl-Ortiz (2019–2021) — Director
- Former: Amado Flores (2020–2021) — Director
- Former: Angie Elizondo-Bryant (2020–2021) — Director
- Former: Matheus Riolfi (2020–2021) — Director
- Former: Elizabeth Weal (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Irma Zoepf (2019–2020) — President
- Former: Kara Rosenberg (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Moises Bautista (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Ryan Schwartz (2019–2020) — Treasurer
- Former: Susan Miller Hornbeek (2019–2020) — Director
- Former: Adam Varro (2019) — Director
- Former: Kevin Wang (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 $103K, to Diana Viscarra (Programs Director). 4 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.
Frequently asked questions about Upward Scholars
How large is Upward Scholars?
Upward Scholars reported $1.2M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990. Its revenue that year was $1.5M.
What is Upward Scholars?
Upward Scholars is a public charity focused on Education, based in Redwood City, CA. It holds $1.2M in total assets as of 2025.
Where does Upward Scholars operate?
Upward Scholars has awarded grants in California.
What is Upward Scholars's EIN?
Upward Scholars's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 45-4128140. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990 filings.
Data update history
(7)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS April 22, 2022)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS April 27, 2020)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS May 4, 2021)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS May 2, 2023)
- Updated Form 990 for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS April 25, 2024)
- Added Form 990 for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS May 12, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2024
Live grants for the work Upward Scholars funds
Education Open opportunities, soonest deadline first.
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in Upward Scholars's focus areas in our free grants database
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