U.S. Energy Foundation

What U.S. Energy Foundation does

U.S. Energy Foundation (USEF) is a 501(c)(3) public charity founded in 1991 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, that operates as a philanthropic grantmaking intermediary for the U.S. clean energy policy field. Its mission is to secure a clean and equitable energy future to tackle the climate crisis, with a stated goal of reducing U.S. energy-related carbon emissions by over one-third by 2030 versus a 2005 baseline. The organization makes grants to a diversified network of policy advocates, think tanks, universities, environmental and community groups, faith organizations, consumer groups, and business and labor coalitions that advance clean energy policy in the power, transportation, buildings, and industry sectors across five U.S. geographies (West, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Federal). It does not provide commercial products or services and does not accept unsolicited grant requests.

The organization's revenue model is donations and charitable contributions from U.S.-based philanthropic foundations and individuals; it explicitly does not accept foreign funding. Major institutional funders include Barr Foundation, ClimateWorks Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, Gund Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, McKnight Foundation, Oceankind, Packard Foundation, Caerus Foundation, Climate Imperative, Sea Change, Herbert Simon Family Foundation, McKinney Family Foundation, Rainier Climate, Cleveland Foundation, Lakeshore Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and Windward Fund. Distribution occurs through grantmaking rather than commercial channels, with operational support delivered via a remote-first workforce of more than 100 staff distributed across four U.S. regions.

USEF is governed by a Board of Directors drawn from clean energy, government, advocacy, finance, and communications leaders, and led by a professionalized executive team including CEO Jason Mark (formerly SVP of U.S. Programs at USEF; prior roles at Union of Concerned Scientists and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory), SVP and COO Brian Stanley, SVP Strategic Partnerships Jane L. Breyer, SVP Programs Jessica Finn Coven (former Director of Seattle's Office of Sustainability and Environment), VP People and Culture Jonathan Lonian, and VP Programs and Equity Adrianna Quintero (former Senior Attorney at NRDC). The organization files annual IRS Form 990s, employs comprehensive total rewards including 100% employer-paid medical premiums and a 5% 401(k) contribution plus match, and pursues a community-led go-to-market model that empowers local coalitions to drive clean energy policy action at the state and regional level.

Name

U.S. Energy Foundation

Legal name

U.S. Energy Foundation

Website

https://ef.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

U.S. Energy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity founded in 1991 that makes grants to U.S. policy advocates, think tanks, and community coalitions to advance clean energy policy in the power, transportation, buildings, and industry sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Clean Energy Advocacy & Grantmaking

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

Keywords

• Clean energy philanthropy
• Energy policy grants
• Climate advocacy funding
• Renewable energy policy
• Clean energy grantmaking

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Funding: U.S. Energy Foundation receives funding from U.S.-based philanthropic organizations and individuals to support grants for clean energy education, analysis, and policy advocacy. USEF does not accept foreign funding. All funding comes from U.S.-based organizations and individuals.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

U.S. Energy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity that provides philanthropic grants to support clean energy education, policy analysis, and advocacy across the power, transportation, buildings, and industry sectors. The foundation does not sell products or services; it is funded exclusively by U.S.-based philanthropic organizations and individuals and redistributes these funds as grants to policy experts, think tanks, environmental and community groups, and other advocacy organizations.

Product overview

U.S. Energy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity and philanthropic organization, not a product or technology company. It does not offer software products, platforms, or modules. The organization's mission is to secure a clean and equitable energy future to tackle the climate crisis by providing grants to educational and policy-focused initiatives. Its work focuses on advocacy, grantmaking, and coalition-building across four key sectors—Power, Transportation, Buildings, and Industry—across five U.S. regions (West, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Federal).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• ClimateWorks Foundation: ClimateWorks Foundation is a direct peer: a major climate-focused grantmaking foundation that funds policy and advocacy globally across transportation, power, buildings, and land use. Both USEF and ClimateWorks sit in the same clean energy grantmaking ecosystem and co-fund many of the same advocacy networks.
• Energy Foundation China: Energy Foundation China is USEF's affiliated sibling organization, performing the same clean energy policy grantmaking role in China that USEF performs in the U.S. The two organizations share mission, structure, and historical lineage, making them the closest direct comparator.

Emerging players

• Windward Fund: Windward Fund is a climate-focused intermediary funder identified as a primary donor in third-party reporting on USEF and its advocacy partners. It plays a peer funding role for clean energy advocacy grantees, often co-funding with USEF.
• Pisces Foundation: Pisces Foundation is a smaller, more focused climate grantmaker that prioritizes state-level clean energy policy and environmental justice — a niche that overlaps directly with USEF's regional programs in the West and Midwest. Comparable in mission but smaller in scale.

Broad incumbents

• MacArthur Foundation: MacArthur Foundation funds climate and clean energy policy work as part of a broader grantmaking portfolio. It is listed as a core funder of USEF and a co-funder of many of USEF's grantees, making it both a funder and a parallel grantmaking peer in the same climate policy arena.
• Kresge Foundation: Kresge Foundation's Climate Program funds state and local clean energy policy, equity, and resilience work, with significant overlap to USEF's regional model. Although Kresge is a broad multi-program foundation, its climate portfolio is a peer function in the same funding ecosystem.
• Bloomberg Philanthropies: Bloomberg Philanthropies is a major funder of USEF's advocacy partners (notably through the Beyond Carbon initiative) and operates a parallel clean energy advocacy strategy. Although its portfolio spans many causes, its climate work directly overlaps with USEF's mission and grantmaking approach.
• Barr Foundation: Barr Foundation runs a significant Climate Solutions program focused on U.S. state-level decarbonization policy, directly overlapping with USEF's state and regional grantmaking model. It is publicly listed as a core USEF partner.
• Packard Foundation: The David and Lucile Packard Foundation runs a major Climate and Land program that funds clean energy policy advocacy in the U.S. and globally, making it a co-funder and peer grantmaker with significant overlap with USEF's mission.
• Hewlett Foundation: The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation runs a large climate and clean energy program that funds many of the same advocacy and policy grantees as USEF. While not a clean-energy-only foundation, it is a major capital source in the same grantmaking ecosystem and a peer in the climate philanthropy space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/EnergyFdn
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-energy-foundation
• Xx.com/energyfdn

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about U.S. Energy Foundation