Wenner-Gren Foundation

Name

Wenner-Gren Foundation

Legal name

Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, Incorporated

Website

https://wennergren.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1941

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Research Grant Foundation

NAICS

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

akta.pro primary industry

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK)

Keywords

• Anthropological research funding
• Academic grant programs
• Research fellowship awards
• Scholarly publishing services
• Nonprofit research foundation

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. Grant Disbursements (Charitable Mission): Wenner-Gren Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization that raises and distributes funds in support of anthropological research worldwide. Revenue is derived from an endowment and charitable contributions, not from product or service sales.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Wenner-Gren Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation that funds anthropological research worldwide through grants and fellowships for research, writing, convenings, media production, capacity building, and public engagement. It also publishes or supports peer-reviewed journals (Current Anthropology, Transforming Anthropology), convenes the Wenner-Gren Symposium Series, and maintains the SAPIENS digital magazine archive as a public-facing platform for anthropology.

Product overview

The Wenner-Gren Foundation is a 501(c)(3) foundation supporting anthropology worldwide through grants, fellowships, publications, and community programs. Its core offerings include: (1) Funding programs for research, writing, convenings, media production, capacity building, and public engagement; (2) Peer-reviewed journals including Current Anthropology (created 1959), Transforming Anthropology (launched 1990), and the Symposium Series; (3) SAPIENS Digital Magazine (2015-2025) - a now-archived digital publication with 25+ million readers and 1 million podcast downloads; (4) Forums featuring curated essays on anthropological futures. The foundation operates as a unified platform for advancing anthropological knowledge and building sustainable careers, rather than a commercial software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SAPIENS: A digital magazine about everything human, told through the stories of anthropologists. Founded in 2015, sunsetted in 2025 but remains as a free archive with 1,500 essays, videos, podcasts, and teaching resources.
• Current Anthropology
• Transforming Anthropology
• Wenner-Gren Forums
• Wenner-Gren Symposium Series

Quantifiable outcome

• SAPIENS attracted more than 25 million readers and 1 million podcast downloads over nearly a decade of publication.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship.

• University of Chicago PressflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe University of Chicago Press publishes Current Anthropology and Transforming Anthropology as editorially independent peer-reviewed journals supported by Wenner-Gren. Between 2020 and 2025, SAPIENS was also published in partnership with the University of Chicago Press. Wenner-Gren Symposia papers are published as open-access supplements to Current Anthropology.
• Association of Black AnthropologistsflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerWenner-Gren Foundation supports Transforming Anthropology, the flagship peer-reviewed journal of the Association of Black Anthropologists, which publishes rigorous scholarship on race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, nationality, and other forms of social difference and inequality. The journal was launched in 1990.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: Large private foundation funding higher education, the humanities, and arts with a multi-billion-dollar endowment. Overlaps with Wenner-Gren in scholarly publishing, humanities fellowships, and support for academic institutions.
• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH): U.S. federal grantmaking agency funding humanities research, preservation, and public programming. Overlaps with Wenner-Gren's mission at much larger scale and broader scope, and is a comparable funder for anthropology grantees.
• Ford Foundation: Major global foundation addressing inequality across multiple program areas including education and social justice. Comparable as an institutional grantmaker funding academic and public-interest research with global reach.
• National Science Foundation (NSF): U.S. federal agency funding fundamental research across science and engineering, including cultural anthropology through its Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences directorate. Provides large-scale grantmaking in adjacent disciplines that compete for anthropology scholars' attention.
• Open Society Foundations: Large private foundation funding human rights, education, and independent scholarship worldwide. Comparable to Wenner-Gren in funding international researchers and supporting public-facing knowledge platforms.

Direct peers

• Social Science Research Council (SSRC): Independent nonprofit that funds and convenes social science research worldwide through fellowships, grants, and working groups. Directly comparable to Wenner-Gren as a discipline-rooted, endowment-supported grantmaker with a portfolio of programs and publications.
• Russell Sage Foundation: Private foundation dedicated exclusively to social science research, supporting scholars through fellowships and a flagship journal (RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences). Closely mirrors Wenner-Gren's discipline-focused, journal-anchored grantmaking model.
• American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS): Nonprofit federation funding scholarly research across the humanities and social sciences, including fellowships and publication support. Closely parallels Wenner-Gren's model of supporting individual scholars and sustaining scholarly infrastructure.

Others

• Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (self): Not applicable. Listed for completeness only.

Emerging players

• National Humanities Center: Independent nonprofit in the U.S. supporting advanced humanities scholarship through residential fellowships and programs. Comparable as a smaller, specialized, fellowship-centered nonprofit in the humanities ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/WennerGrenOrg
• Facebookfacebook.com/wennergrenfoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wenner-gren-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/wennergrenorg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Wenner-Gren Foundation