Annie E. Casey Foundation

What Annie E. Casey Foundation does

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private philanthropy established in 1948 by UPS founder Jim Casey and his siblings to honor their mother, operating from Baltimore, Maryland (relocated from Greenwich, Connecticut in 1994) with approximately $3.7 billion in assets at the end of 2025. The foundation employs 200 staff and partners with more than 700 grantee organizations across all 50 states, channeling resources toward children, youth, and families facing poverty, foster care involvement, juvenile justice contact, and disconnection from education and employment. Its work targets reducing child poverty, reforming juvenile justice, strengthening families, expanding economic opportunity, and advancing racial equity, with stated objectives such as a 43% reduction in detention populations in JDAI sites and Thrive by 25's commitment to direct at least half of investments over a decade to youth ages 14-24.

The foundation's core offerings are programs, publications, and data platforms rather than commercial software products. The KIDS COUNT Data Center and annual Data Book provide state-level tracking of child well-being across education, health, economic, and family domains, with hundreds of indicators and registered trademarks (KIDS COUNT, JDAI, LEAP). The Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) is a reform model deployed in more than 250 U.S. counties that has reduced daily detention populations by 43% in participating sites while maintaining public safety. Additional signature programs include the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative (active in 15 states with 17 sites helping youth transition from foster care), Evidence2Success (an evidence-based program investment platform piloted in Providence, Rhode Island), Thriving Families Safer Children, and leadership development programs (Children and Family Fellowship, Results Count, Rising Leaders for Results Fellowship). Technology components include the Casebook web platform for child welfare case management and a grantee portal at portal.aecf.org; no public-facing API is offered.

The foundation's business model is endowment-funded grantmaking rather than commercial revenue generation. It distributes grants directly to federal agencies, states, counties, cities, and neighborhood organizations, and supplements this with impact investments using endowment dollars to generate both financial returns and measurable social outcomes (including partnerships with LIIF on a $350.5 million California Infrastructure Grant Program). Distribution occurs through three primary channels: direct grantmaking to public systems, a 700+ grantee network, and the national KIDS COUNT Network of state-based advocates in all 50 states; civic sites in Baltimore and Atlanta serve as place-based anchors. The foundation has no pricing model because all grants, programs, and resources are provided at no cost to beneficiaries. Recent strategic moves include co-founding the AI for Economic Opportunity Fund with GitLab Foundation, Ballmer Group, and OpenAI (2026) and a school mental health guide with the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Name

Annie E. Casey Foundation

Legal name

The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Website

https://aecf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1948

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private philanthropy with approximately $3.7 billion in assets that funds programs, research, and advocacy to improve outcomes for vulnerable children, youth, and families across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Philanthropy and Child Welfare

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB), Grantmaking Agencies & Education Program Grants Administration (EDADAHAD)

Keywords

• Child welfare philanthropy
• Grantmaking foundation
• Juvenile justice reform
• Child well-being data
• Impact investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Baltimore

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Foundation Endowment & Grant Making: The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private philanthropy with approximately $3.7 billion in assets at the end of 2025. It generates returns on its endowment and distributes grants to federal agencies, states, counties, cities and neighborhoods to support children and families. It also makes impact investments using endowment dollars to generate financial returns alongside positive social impact for children and families.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private philanthropy that makes grants to federal agencies, states, counties, cities, neighborhoods, and nonprofit organizations to develop improved responses to challenges facing children, youth, and families. It operates signature programs such as the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), KIDS COUNT data and research, leadership development fellowships, civic site initiatives, and impact investments using its approximately $3.7 billion endowment.

Product overview

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private philanthropy (not a technology product company) that operates a portfolio of programs, publications, and data tools focused on improving outcomes for children, youth, and families. Its core offerings include the KIDS COUNT Data Book (annual state rankings on child well-being), the KIDS COUNT Data Center (online data platform), the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative (foster care transition program), the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI - juvenile justice reform implemented in 250+ counties), and various leadership development programs including the Children and Family Fellowship, Results Count, and Rising Leaders for Results Fellowship. Additional offerings include community change initiatives like Evidence2Success, civic site programs in Baltimore and Atlanta, impact investments in affordable housing, and digital content through the CaseyCast podcast.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• KIDS COUNT: A signature resource providing reliable data, policy recommendations and tools to advance policies that benefit children, including the annual KIDS COUNT Data Book and Data Center.
• Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative
• Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI)

Products and services

• KIDS COUNT Data Book Annual publication ranking U.S. states on 16 key measures of child well-being, introducing new child well-being scores that reveal progress and persistent challenges for children and families.
• KIDS COUNT Data Center Online data platform maintaining the best available statistics on the educational, social, economic and physical well-being of children at local, state and national levels for use by policymakers, advocates, researchers and the public.
• Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) Reform model implemented in more than 250 U.S. counties to reduce overreliance on temporary confinement for youth awaiting court dates while maintaining or improving public safety; participating sites have reduced daily detention populations by 43%.
• Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative Initiative uniting people, public systems and resources to help young people transition from foster care to adulthood, operating in 15 states across 17 sites and serving more than 23,000 teens annually.
• Children and Family Fellowship Elite leadership development fellowship for executives who can steer organizations serving children and families.
• Results Count Leadership development approach helping social-sector leaders build skills and work collaboratively to produce measurable results for children and families.
• Rising Leaders for Results Fellowship Fellowship for emerging leaders from public, nonprofit and for-profit sectors working within their communities toward measurable improvements for young people and families; debuted in 2023.
• Evidence2Success Platform guiding public system investment toward evidence-based programs that improve the growth and development of children and youth, piloted in Providence, Rhode Island and expanded to additional sites.
• Thriving Families, Safer Children National effort partnering with public, private and philanthropic institutions to advance approaches that create conditions for strong, thriving families where children are free from harm, launched in 2020.
• Thrive by 25 Initiative launched in 2021 dedicating at least half of the foundation's investments over the next decade to improving the well-being and prospects of youth and young adults ages 14-24.
• The Nia Building at Pittsburgh Yards Innovative real estate development in Atlanta's south side, opened in 2021, designed to grow equitable career, entrepreneurship and wealth-building opportunities for residents.
• CaseyCast Podcast Podcast series sharing insights on children, youth, and family well-being topics, including youth mental health, child welfare, and community change.

Quantifiable outcome

• Participating JDAI sites reduced daily detention populations by 43% while maintaining or improving public safety.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, secondary and minor.

• University of Maryland School of Medicine — National Center for School Mental HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 May 2026The National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, released a guide outlining steps state and local leaders can take to strengthen school-based mental health services for students, recommending a tiered system of services, a layered workforce model, and sustainable funding.
• GitLab FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 March 2026Co-funder of the AI for Economic Opportunity Fund, which awarded $250,000 grants to 16 organizations selected from over 800 applications to deploy AI solutions addressing economic mobility challenges. The fund has invested nearly $10 million across approximately 50 organizations since 2023, projecting $1.4 billion in economic gains for approximately 27,478 beneficiaries.
• OpenAIcoreTechnology or Integration · 5 March 2026Technical partner providing six months of cohort-based technical support from OpenAI engineers, API credits, and access to a practitioner network working at the intersection of AI and economic opportunity for AI for Economic Opportunity Fund grantees.
• BriteboundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 February 2026Co-investment partnership where Britebound awarded $13.3 million in grants to youth-serving nonprofits with co-investors including The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Hopelab, and The Raikes Foundation, aiming to scale access to career-connected learning.
• Cetera Inc.secondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 October 2025The Annie E. Casey Foundation partnered with Cetera Inc. to develop the free 'Elevating Youth Engagement' curriculum to improve youth engagement within child welfare systems, providing practical tools and exercises for professionals and young leaders to collaborate effectively.
• Casey Family ProgramscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA related foundation established by UPS founder Jim Casey in 1966 in Seattle, with a mission to provide and improve — and ultimately prevent the need for — foster care. In 2001, Casey Family Programs and the Annie E. Casey Foundation jointly launched the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.
• Marguerite Casey FoundationsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounded in 2001 to honor Marguerite Casey (Jim Casey's sister), this private grant-making foundation works to realize a country in which government prioritizes the needs of excluded and underrepresented people, families and communities.
• Cleveland ClinicminorOthersFormer employer of Stefan Strein, who previously managed large investment portfolios for Cleveland Clinic and the Annie E. Casey Foundation before being appointed to lead UNC's $14 billion endowment.
• LIIF (Low Income Investment Fund)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerLIIF released an ECE impact report detailing $660 million in cumulative investments impacting 430,000 children; the Annie E. Casey Foundation supports LIIF's early care and education capital innovation work, including managing California's $350.5 million Infrastructure Grant Program.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• The Kresge Foundation: U.S. private foundation of comparable size with place-based initiatives in U.S. cities targeting children, families and economic opportunity — directly comparable in mission and civic-site strategy.
• Ford Foundation: One of the largest U.S. private foundations with a comparable endowment-driven, multi-decade grantmaking model focused on inequality, economic opportunity and social justice — directly parallel to AECF's grantmaking scale and mission scope.
• David and Lucile Packard Foundation: Large U.S. private foundation combining grantmaking and impact investing for children, families and environment — similar endowment size range and use of program-related investments as AECF.
• MacArthur Foundation: Major U.S. private foundation with multi-hundred-million-dollar annual grantmaking across social and economic issues, including juvenile justice reform and evidence-based programs, comparable in scale and operating model to AECF.
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation: Large U.S. private foundation with similar evidence-based, data-driven grantmaking discipline across social and education policy; useful peer for operating model and grantmaking approach rather than subject matter overlap.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Large U.S. private foundation emphasizing data, evidence and policy advocacy on health and family well-being — highly comparable to AECF in size, evidence-based orientation, and flagship data publications.
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation: Large U.S. private foundation focused on children, families and racial equity with place-based civic sites in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans — analogous to AECF's child/family focus and civic-site operating model.

Direct peers

• Casey Family Programs: Founded by UPS founder Jim Casey in 1966 and operated as a sister organization to AECF; directly comparable because both focus on child welfare, foster care reform and field-building for children, with overlapping board history and joint initiatives like Jim Casey Youth Opportunities.
• Marguerite Casey Foundation: Founded in 2001 by Jim Casey's sister Marguerite as a Casey-family philanthropic vehicle focused on excluded families and communities — direct related-organization peer sharing founders, mission framing and grantmaking approach.

Emerging players

• Stuart Foundation: Private foundation funding child welfare, juvenile justice and education reform in California and Washington, with comparable reform models (e.g., probation reform) and evidence-based grantmaking orientation to AECF's JDAI work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aecfnews
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/AnnieECaseyFound
• Facebookfacebook.com/AnnieECaseyFndn
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/annie-e.-casey-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/annieecaseyfdn

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments5 records

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Frequently asked questions about Annie E. Casey Foundation