What Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation does

The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) philanthropic foundation established in 2001 by hedge fund manager Steve Cohen and Alexandra Cohen, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The foundation distributes grants by invitation to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations across seven primary cause areas: underserved communities, children's health and education, the arts, sustainability, Lyme and tickborne disease research, psychedelic research, and women's health. Its economic model is contribution-based rather than revenue-generating — Steve and Alex Cohen fund giving directly, and the foundation does not sell products or services and does not accept unsolicited proposals. Cumulative giving exceeds $1.5 billion across more than 4,000 disbursements since founding, with 2025 alone delivering $144M+ across 273 grants.

The foundation's programmatic surface is organized around several named initiatives: the Cohen Lyme & Tickborne Disease Initiative (launched 2015, $112M+ across 60+ research projects, making it the largest private funder of Lyme research in the US); the Psychedelic Research & Health Initiative supporting psilocybin and MDMA research at Johns Hopkins, MAPS, UCSD, and CIIS; the Giving Tour (launched 2016, covering 33+ states); the Ticks Suck® public awareness campaign with national PSAs and tick habitat heatmaps; the #LoveTheGive / GIVE Bag program; and Awareness Date Giving tied to observances such as Black History Month, Women's History Month, and Earth Day. Named institutional grantees include Johns Hopkins University, Mount Sinai Health System, NewYork-Presbyterian, Stamford Hospital, City Harvest, God's Love We Deliver, Brooklyn Museum, MoMA, MOCA, Columbia University, Duke University, The Menopause Society, and LaGuardia Community College — which received a landmark $116.2M gift in 2024, the largest in CUNY history. A small team of approximately 11–12 staff executes this portfolio under President Alexandra M. Cohen and Executive Director Jeanne Melino, with no parent company, subsidiaries, or institutional capital backing identified.

Name

Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation

Legal name

The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, Inc.

Website

https://www.steveandalex.org/

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) that has distributed over $1.5 billion since 2001 to invited 501(c)(3) nonprofits across underserved communities, children's health, arts, sustainability, Lyme disease research, psychedelics research, and women's health.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grant-Making

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL), Arts, Culture & Humanities Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAJ)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grant-making
• Private foundation giving
• Lyme disease research funding
• Psychedelic research grants
• Children's health philanthropy

Headquarters

HQ city

Stamford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grant-Making: The foundation receives contributions from its founders Steve and Alex Cohen and distributes grants to qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. In 2025 alone, the foundation gave more than $144 million across 273 grants. The foundation supports causes including underserved communities, children's health and education, the arts, sustainability, Lyme and tickborne disease research, and psychedelics research.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) philanthropic foundation that receives contributions from founders Steve and Alex Cohen and distributes grants by invitation to qualifying 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Its funding covers causes including underserved communities, children's health and education, the arts, sustainability, Lyme and tickborne disease research, and psychedelics research, supported by standalone initiatives such as the Ticks Suck® awareness campaign, the Cohen Psychedelic Research & Health Initiative, the Giving Tour, and Awareness Date Giving.

Product overview

The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation is a philanthropy organization that does not offer a traditional product platform. Instead, it operates as a charitable foundation making grants to public 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. The Foundation's work is organized around several key initiatives: the Ticks Suck® Lyme and tickborne disease initiative, the Cohen Psychedelic Research & Health Initiative, the Giving Tour national campaign, and Awareness Date Giving programs. These initiatives represent the Foundation's focus areas rather than commercial products or services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ticks Suck® Lyme and Tickborne Disease Awareness Initiative A public education and awareness initiative focused on Lyme and tickborne diseases that provides prevention resources, tick habitat heatmaps, and patient stories to help U.S. families protect themselves year-round.
• Cohen Psychedelic Research & Health Initiative A research funding initiative supporting studies on psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin and MDMA for treating conditions including addiction, PTSD, depression, and anxiety through grantees such as Johns Hopkins, MAPS, UCSD, and CIIS.
• The Giving Tour A national campaign launched in 2016 that visits and supports nonprofit organizations across all 50 U.S. states, including major gifts to charities, and has reached 33+ states and territories.
• Awareness Date Giving Program A giving program that makes targeted donations to nonprofits in honor of specific awareness dates including Black History Month, Women's History Month, Earth Day, Mother's Day, and Pride Month.
• #LoveTheGive GIVE Bag Program A free kindness kit launched in celebration of National Pay It Forward Day that distributes GIVE Bags filled with thoughtful items to encourage random acts of kindness toward those in need.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $1.5 billion given to nonprofits since 2001
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 December 2025HHS renewed funding for the LymeX Innovation Accelerator, a $10 million public-private partnership established in 2020, for another three years in collaboration with the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation. The initiative uses artificial intelligence to improve earlier and more accurate Lyme disease detection. This fulfills commitments from the Make America Healthy Again Commission Strategy Report.
• The Menopause SocietymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 October 2025The Menopause Society received a $5 million grant from the foundation to support the digital-innovation phase of its NextGen Now initiative. The grant funds development of digital tools including an integrated learning platform, virtual reality modules, and a mobile app to reach healthcare professionals and enhance menopause care.
• Johns Hopkins UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPledged support for Johns Hopkins' Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research. Foundation funding enables researchers to study healing effects of psilocybin on people with challenging medical conditions including depression, anorexia, Alzheimer's, and Lyme disease. Foundation is one of the largest private funders of psychedelic research in the country.
• USONA InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupporting since 2020 for optimization and validation of the psilocybin manufacturing process to ensure quality and reproducibility. Establishing current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) is critical for Phase 3 studies and FDA approval process.
• Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupporting completion of Phase 3 clinical trials on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. In 2017, FDA designated this as a Breakthrough Therapy.
• University of California, San Diego (UCSD)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducting clinical trial to evaluate effects and brain mechanisms of psilocybin-assisted therapy for phantom limb pain among amputees.
• California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExpanding certificate training program for therapists to administer psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy by adding new US locations and improving virtual content.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Open Society Foundations: George Soros's private foundation making large grants across human rights, education, and public health globally. Directly comparable as a single-founder-funded, mission-driven grantmaking entity with substantial annual disbursements and a multi-cause portfolio.
• Bloomberg Philanthropies: Michael Bloomberg's private foundation making $1B+ annual grants across public health, arts, education, environment, and gun violence prevention. Directly comparable in founder-driven model, multi-cause horizontal strategy, and emphasis on measurable outcomes.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The world's largest private foundation, founded by ultra-wealthy individuals (Bill & Melinda Gates), making large-scale grants across global health, education, and poverty. Directly comparable to the Cohen Foundation in operating model — large annual grantmaking funded by founder contributions, multi-cause portfolio, and invitation-driven grantee relationships.
• Ford Foundation: One of the largest US private foundations with an endowment of ~$16B making grants across inequality, education, and civic engagement. Directly comparable as an established, multi-decade private foundation with horizontal cause portfolio and large annual grantmaking.
• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's philanthropy, organized as an LLC, making large grants and direct investments in biomedical research, education, and justice. Directly comparable as a tech-billionaire-funded foundation with significant biomedical research funding and bold bets on emerging fields.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: The largest US philanthropy devoted to health, with ~$13B in assets funding research and programs across public health and healthcare. Directly comparable in health-research-focused grantmaking and similar scale, with overlap in mental health, substance use, and women's health cause areas.
• Simons Foundation: Jim Simons's private foundation with ~$5B endowment funding scientific research in mathematics, physics, and autism. Comparable in funding high-risk, high-reward scientific research with multi-year grants to elite institutions, and similar ultra-wealthy hedge-fund founder origin.
• The Rockefeller Foundation: A historic US private foundation with ~$6B endowment making grants across health, food systems, and climate. Comparable as a multi-decade, family-founder legacy foundation with horizontal cause portfolio spanning health research, sustainability, and community development.

Broad incumbents

• Howard Hughes Medical Institute: A large biomedical research organization with ~$20B endowment supporting investigator programs and science education. Comparable as a major US private biomedical research funder, though more specialized in life sciences than the Cohen Foundation's broader horizontal portfolio.

Emerging players

• David Geffen Foundation: A private foundation funded by entertainment mogul David Geffen making grants in arts, education, medical research, and Jewish causes. Comparable in high-net-worth founder, arts/health education focus, and substantial landmark gifts, though smaller in annual disbursement volume than the Cohen Foundation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cohengive
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCyrTAilkoA_Q889qmpLiEMA
• Facebookfacebook.com/cohengive
• Instagraminstagram.com/cohengive/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments6 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation