The Marcus Foundation

What The Marcus Foundation does

The Marcus Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation established in New York City by Grace and Alan Marcus in 2009, having spun off from The Grace R. and Alan D. Marcus Foundation originally founded in 1990. It is governed by two trustees — Amy Halperin Wood (Denver, CO) and Jonathan J. Halperin (Chevy Chase, MD) — operating with a lean staff of 1–10 employees and contact offices in Denver, Colorado and Chevy Chase, Maryland. The foundation explicitly notes it is not affiliated with an Atlanta-based foundation of the same name.

The foundation operates a grantmaking and strategic-partnership model concentrated in two program areas: (1) community food resources, supporting organizations that raise awareness of hunger and deliver short-term food assistance; and (2) sustainability, supporting efforts to remove structural obstacles to mainstreaming sustainable practices. Its website describes a "partner plus funder" posture in which the foundation co-funds with other funders, brokers grantee–vendor relationships, and places its own officers on short-term assignments with grantees. Recent programmatic activity includes a five-year, $21.9 million NeuroBridge AI Core grant to Georgia State University's TReNDS Center (2026) and Phase 1 clinical trial funding to Secretome Therapeutics for STM-01 in dilated cardiomyopathy (2025), alongside a long-standing base of smaller grants to organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, Audubon Naturalist Society, CERES, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, MAZON, GRIST, City Harvest, and the Jewish Family Service of Colorado.

The foundation does not have commercial products, pricing models, or disclosed revenue; it is funded by returns on its endowment, and revenue is not publicly disclosed. The underlying technology footprint is minimal — the public website is built on the Drupal CMS — and the foundation does not advertise APIs, applications, or proprietary AI/ML systems. Its economic engine is therefore its endowment and the grantmaking velocity it can sustain, rather than any technology or service revenue stream.

Name

The Marcus Foundation

Legal name

The Marcus Foundation

Website

https://marcusfound.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grantmaking
• Private foundation
• Community food resources
• Sustainability funding
• Nonprofit partnerships

Headquarters

HQ city

Denver

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Grantmaking and Philanthropy: The Marcus Foundation operates as a private foundation that provides grants and partnerships to organizations working in sustainability and community food resources. The foundation was created in 2009 when it became independent from The Grace R. and Alan D. Marcus Foundation (originally founded in 1990). It generates returns from its endowment to fund grantmaking activities.

Core offering

The Marcus Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation that provides grants and strategic partnerships to nonprofit organizations working in two areas: (1) community food resources, including awareness of hunger and delivery of food resources to meet critical short-term needs, and (2) sustainability, including efforts to change structural obstacles that hinder mainstream adoption of sustainable practices. The foundation funds and partners with organizations committed to innovative approaches in these focus areas.

Product overview

The Marcus Foundation is a philanthropic grant-making organization, not a product or technology company. It funds and partners with organizations focused on two primary areas: (1) assisting organizations that work to increase awareness of hunger and deliver food resources to meet critical short-term needs, and (2) supporting efforts to change underlying structural obstacles and incentives that hinder sustainable practices. The foundation operates as a grant-maker and strategic partner rather than a product or service provider.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Food Resources Grants and Partnerships Grant funding and strategic partnerships for nonprofit organizations, food banks, and community groups addressing hunger and food insecurity. The foundation provides financial support and operational collaboration to enhance grantee impact.
• Sustainability Grants and Partnerships Grant funding and strategic partnerships for environmental organizations and sustainability initiatives working to address structural obstacles that hinder mainstream adoption of sustainable practices.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

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

• TReNDS Center (Georgia State University)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Georgia State University's TReNDS Center leads the NeuroBridge AI Core in a five-year, $21.9 million study funded by The Marcus Foundation and Marcus Autism Center to research autism biomarkers. The project will enroll 7,500 children from birth to age 12 and integrate neuroimaging, behavioral, and genomic data to identify biological pathways and predictors of treatment response.
• Marcus Autism CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Marcus Autism Center co-funds the NeuroBridge AI Core research initiative with The Marcus Foundation to research autism biomarkers and enable precision-medicine interventions for children with profound autism.
• Audubon Naturalist SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecent grant recipient of The Marcus Foundation
• CERESminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecent grant recipient of The Marcus Foundation focused on sustainability
• Chesapeake Bay FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecent grant recipient of The Marcus Foundation focused on environmental sustainability
• MAZONminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecent grant recipient of The Marcus Foundation addressing hunger issues
• GRISTminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecent grant recipient of The Marcus Foundation focused on climate and sustainability
• Institute for Agriculture and Trade PolicyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecent grant recipient of The Marcus Foundation
• Global Alliance for the Future of FoodminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with The Marcus Foundation on sessions prior to Chesapeake Food Summit
• The Emerson CollectiveminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with The Marcus Foundation on sessions prior to Chesapeake Food Summit
• Jewish Family Service of ColoradominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecent grant recipient and former employer of Amy Halperin Wood, current trustee of The Marcus Foundation

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Market position

Strengths4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-marcus-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments4 records

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Frequently asked questions about The Marcus Foundation