The Dana Foundation

Name

The Dana Foundation

Legal name

The Charles A. Dana Foundation, Incorporated

Website

https://dana.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1950

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropy Research Grants

NAICS

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

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL), Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

Keywords

• Neuroscience research funding
• Philanthropy grant programs
• Brain science education
• Nonprofit foundation grants
• Neuroscience public engagement

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grantmaking: The Dana Foundation operates as a private philanthropy funded by its endowment. The foundation makes grants to advance neuroscience and society, supporting educational programs, research initiatives, public engagement, and training opportunities. They do not generate revenue from products or services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Dana Foundation is a private philanthropy that funds neuroscience research, education, and public engagement programs at the intersection of brain science and society. It administers named grant programs (Dana Frontiers, Dana NextGen, Dana Education), the global Brain Awareness Week campaign, and the Dana Career Network in Neuroscience & Society platform, awarding grants typically up to $150,000 over 12–18 month project periods to qualifying 501(c)(3) organizations.

Product overview

The Dana Foundation is a private philanthropy organization (not a technology product company) dedicated to advancing neuroscience that benefits society. The Foundation operates multiple grant programs that form its core offerings: Dana Frontiers (engagement programs), Dana NextGen (workforce development and training), and Dana Education (education projects), alongside the Brain Awareness Week global campaign. The Foundation also supports the Dana Career Network in Neuroscience & Society platform for career development and major initiatives like the Neurotech Justice Accelerator ($8.6M, 5-year initiative) and the Implantable Brain-Computer Interface Collaborative Community (iBCI-CC). Most grants range up to $150,000 for project periods of 12-18 months, with international funding limited to Brain Awareness Week partnerships with FENS and IBRO.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dana Frontiers: Program supporting multidirectional engagement to collaboratively identify and address key issues at the intersection of neuroscience and society.
• Dana NextGen
• Dana Education
• Brain Awareness Week
• Dana Career Network in Neuroscience & Society

Products and services

• Dana Frontiers

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 2,500 students reached through science engagement programs
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Implantable Brain-Computer Interface Collaborative Community (iBCI-CC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 March 2024Cross-sector collaboration to overcome challenges related to researching, developing, regulating, and paying for implantable brain-computer interface treatments. Convened by Mass General Brigham with support from the Dana Foundation.
• International Brain Research Organization (IBRO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with IBRO to provide funding for Brain Awareness Week outreach activities worldwide. The goal is to help participants expand their programming and reach broader and more diverse audiences with information about the brain.
• Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with FENS to provide funding for Brain Awareness Week outreach activities worldwide. The goal is to help participants expand their programming and reach broader and more diverse audiences with information about the brain.
• Rita Allen FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Civic Science Funders Collaborative, which aims to seed institutional and systemic change that will embed civic science into the norms, infrastructures, and incentives that shape how science is carried out.
• Burroughs Wellcome FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Civic Science Funders Collaborative working to embed civic science into scientific norms and incentives.
• Doris Duke FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Civic Science Funders Collaborative and co-founder of the Pathways for Health Research Collective with Dana Foundation participation.
• Gordon and Betty Moore FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Civic Science Funders Collaborative working to advance civic science practices.
• David and Lucille Packard FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Civic Science Funders Collaborative working to embed civic science into scientific norms.
• Kavli FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Civic Science Funders Collaborative and original funder of the 2018 NISE Network conference on public engagement with neuroscience that led to the Civic Science Fellows program.
• Civic Science Fellows ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProgram providing training for emerging leaders whose work spans scientific and civic contexts. Dana Foundation supports fellows through grants to host institutions, including those focused on neuroscience and society topics.
• Mass General BrighamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost of the Neurotech Justice Accelerator (NJAM), a five-year $8.6 million initiative to improve equitable access to beneficial neurotechnologies and mitigate associated risks in medical and legal settings.
• UCLA-CDU Dana Center for Neuroscience and SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of of the nearly $20 million Dana Center Initiative to align neuroscience to societal needs.
• Loyola University Chicago Dana Program for Neuroscience and SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the Dana Center Initiative, working to advance neuroscience and society through academic programs.
• Harvard Medical SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Neurotech Justice Accelerator, contributing faculty to the program including neurosurgery, neuroethics, and neurolaw expertise.
• University of MinnesotacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Neurotech Justice Accelerator with faculty expertise in law, brain, and behavior. Also created the Dana Foundation Career Network in Neuroscience & Society.
• American Brain CoalitionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with ABC to facilitate meaningful involvement of brain health community members in the neural device development and regulatory process through the FDA TAP Program.
• US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through ABC-FDA TAP Program to facilitate meaningful involvement of brain health community members in the neural device development and regulatory process.
• National Informal STEM Education Network (NISE Network)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to develop new approaches for public engagement with the ethical and societal impacts of neuroscience, including tools like Neuro Futures card game.
• Simons FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKelsey Martin, former executive vice president of autism and neuroscience programs at Simons Foundation, was appointed to the Dana Foundation Board of Directors.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Wellcome Trust: Largest U.K.-based biomedical research charity funding neuroscience, mental health, and public engagement with science. Comparable thematic focus on neuroscience and society but operates globally at substantially larger scale (multi-billion endowment) than Dana.
• Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation: Large private foundation with science, environmental, and patient care improvement programs. Civic Science Funders Collaborative partner. Operates at substantially larger scale than Dana but shares focus on embedding civic considerations into scientific practice.
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI): One of the largest private funders of biomedical research, with significant neuroscience programming and growing interest in science education and society-facing research. Comparable as a neuroscience funder but operates at materially larger scale with investigator-driven rather than grant-driven model.

Direct peers

• Simons Foundation: Major private foundation funding autism and neuroscience research with programs spanning basic neuroscience, computational neuroscience, and society-facing work. Directly comparable as a similarly-sized private philanthropy investing in brain science, with shared leadership connections (Kelsey Martin on Dana's Board, formerly EVP at Simons). Same private foundation model, similar scope of neuroscience grantmaking, and overlap in target institutions and researchers.
• Kavli Foundation: Private foundation supporting basic research in neuroscience, astrophysics, and nanoscience, with explicit focus on public engagement and the societal implications of science. Dana's CEO Caroline Montojo previously worked at the Kavli Foundation, and the two organizations co-steward the Civic Science Funders Collaborative and NISE Network activities. Highly comparable thematic focus on connecting science to society.
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: Private foundation supporting original research and education in science, technology, and economics, with strong programs in public engagement with science and neuroscience. Directly comparable as a private foundation with programmatic focus on the societal dimensions of science and a long history of grantmaking in similar dollar ranges.
• Burroughs Wellcome Fund: Private foundation funding biomedical research and science education with growing civic science programming. Direct Civic Science Funders Collaborative partner and similar in scale and grantmaking model to the Dana Foundation.
• Rita Allen Foundation: Private foundation investing in early-career scholars and civic science practice; co-steward of the Civic Science Funders Collaborative alongside Dana Foundation. Directly comparable as a peer-sized private foundation working on civic science, scholar development, and the relationship between science and society.
• Doris Duke Foundation: Major private foundation supporting medical research, arts, and child development, with a civic science portfolio and co-founding role in the Pathways for Health Research Collective alongside Dana. Comparable as a peer in scale and thematic overlap, especially in health research practice.

Regional players

• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS): U.S. federal agency funding neuroscience research at much larger scale, with growing neuroethics portfolio. Walter Koroshetz directed NINDS for over a decade before joining Dana as Senior Advisor, indicating a direct relationship between the two. Comparable focus on neuroscience research and training but public-sector and at vastly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/danaholdingcorp
• YouTubeyoutube.com/danafoundation
• Facebookfacebook.com/danafoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-dana-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/brainawarenessweek

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles21 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Dana Foundation