Andrus Family Fund

What Andrus Family Fund does

The Andrus Family Fund (AFF) is a private family foundation and a program of the Surdna Foundation, headquartered in New York. Founded in 1999 and operational since 2001, AFF awards approximately $5 million in grants annually (cumulative $73M since inception) to support the self-determination, power, and liberation of Black, Brown, AAPI, and Indigenous youth ages 16–24 impacted by youth incarceration, family policing, and other disruptive systems. Its funding posture is explicitly abolitionist, prioritizing alternatives to incarceration, restorative justice, narrative change, healing justice, and youth-led organizing.

AFF distributes grants through open application cycles, invited proposals, and a participatory grantmaking mechanism called the Visionary Freedom Fund (VFF), which is co-funded by a consortium of 11 foundations and steered by a youth-led "Power Table." In its inaugural 2021 cycle, VFF distributed $2.5M across 26 youth-led organizations selected from 600+ applicants. The organization's other programmatic offerings include the AFPP Social Justice Philanthropy Toolkit (a seven-module online curriculum), the Out of the Margins podcast, narrative-change convenings, and the Education Anew: Shifting Justice convening series.

AFF has no commercial technology product, pricing model, or external revenue stream. Its "business model" is philanthropic grantmaking funded by endowment returns and family contributions flowing through the Surdna Foundation. Leadership is provided by Director Mishi Faruqee, with C'Ardiss 'CC' Gardner Gleser (inaugural community-member Board Chair) leading a board that has been progressively diversified since 2017 to include lived-experience leaders.

Name

Andrus Family Fund

Legal name

Andrus Family Fund

Website

https://affund.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Andrus Family Fund is a private family foundation and program of the Surdna Foundation that awards approximately $5M annually to youth-led and youth-serving social justice organizations advancing abolition, youth justice reform, and the self-determination of systems-impacted Black, Brown, AAPI, and Indigenous youth.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Justice Philanthropic Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN), Family Offices & Philanthropic Advisors (Grantmaking) (BPAGAKAD), Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC), Maternal, Child & Family Health Program Funding (HLAJALAG)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grantmaking
• Youth justice funding
• Social justice philanthropy
• Trust-based philanthropy
• Abolitionist grantmaking

Headquarters

HQ city

New York, New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grantmaking & Endowment Distribution: The Andrus Family Fund is a philanthropic grantmaker and a program of the Surdna Foundation. It distributes approximately $5M annually in grants supporting youth justice, child welfare, and social justice organizations. Revenue is generated through endowment returns and family philanthropy contributions rather than commercial activity.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Andrus Family Fund is a private family foundation and program of the Surdna Foundation that awards approximately $5 million in grants each year (and $73 million cumulatively since 2001) to support the self-determination, power, and liberation of youth and families impacted by youth incarceration, family policing, child welfare, and other disruptive systems. Its core offerings include direct grantmaking, the Visionary Freedom Fund (a youth-led participatory grantmaking initiative), the Social Justice Philanthropy Toolkit (a 7-module online educational curriculum), and the Out of the Margins podcast series.

Product overview

Andrus Family Fund operates as a unified philanthropy organization with multiple programmatic offerings. The core offering is direct grantmaking to youth justice organizations, distributing approximately $5M annually. Key programs include the Visionary Freedom Fund (a participatory grantmaking initiative with a youth-led Power Table), the Social Justice Philanthropy Toolkit (a 7-module educational curriculum on social justice philanthropy), and the Out of the Margins Podcast (a content series). The organization also publishes research reports and maintains educational resources for the field.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Visionary Freedom Fund: A youth-led grantmaking initiative to transform the youth justice system
• Social Justice Philanthropy Toolkit
• Out of the Margins

Products and services

• Andrus Family Fund (AFF) Grantmaking Core philanthropic grantmaking program awarding approximately $5M each year in multi-year unrestricted general operating grants to youth justice, family policing abolition, child welfare reform, and social justice organizations led by directly impacted communities. Recipients include nonprofits such as UYC, CURYJ, Make the Road New York, Common Justice, and others.
• Visionary Freedom Fund (VFF) A pooled, youth-led participatory grantmaking initiative co-funded by 11 foundations (Akonadi, Hazen, Heising-Simons, Libra, Ms. Foundation, Perrin Family, Pinkerton, Satterberg, Public Welfare, Wellspring, and Andrus Family Fund) that resources long-term visions by the youth justice movement. A Power Table of directly impacted youth determines grantmaking strategy and deployment.
• Social Justice Philanthropy Toolkit (AFPP) A 7-module online educational curriculum at curriculum.affund.org covering racial equity, oppressive systems, philanthropic traditions, money/values/opportunity, early messages and racial equity, and personal bias. Designed to inspire and cultivate the next generation of social justice philanthropy leaders.
• Out of the Margins Podcast A podcast series centering youth in the movement to abolish harmful systems and envision community-centered approaches to supporting youth and families. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, and Stitcher, featuring movement leaders such as the National Center for Youth Law, upEND Movement, Communities for Just Schools Fund, Movement for Family Power, Young Women's Freedom Center, and Common Justice.

Quantifiable outcome

• $5M awarded annually in grants; $73M awarded since 2001; $2.5M distributed to 26 youth-led organizations through Visionary Freedom Fund inaugural cohort
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

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

• National Center for Youth Law (NCYL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFeatured guest on AFF's 'Organizing for Abolition. Envisioning Liberation.' podcast series. NCYL is a leading voice in family policing abolitionist movement, working with the upEND Movement on racial justice framing of family policing as an extension of slavery.
• upEND MovementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-convened podcast episode with NCYL on the AFF podcast. upEND Movement approaches family policing abolition and is central to AFF's funding priorities around ending youth incarceration and family policing.
• Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFF co-sponsored the Education Anew: Shifting Justice convening with CJSF. CJSF's Executive Director Allison Brown appeared on the Out of the Margins podcast. CJSF focuses on ending criminalization of Black and Brown youth in schools.
• Juvenile Law CentermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMovement partner featured in AFF video spotlight series. Works on alternatives to incarceration for systems-impacted youth. Articulates the importance of centering young people in advocacy for reform.
• PolicyLinkmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFeatured in AFF movement partner spotlight. Anand Subramanian of PolicyLink explains abolition through the lens of centering young people in the movement. PolicyLink provides research and policy support to AFF's narrative change efforts.
• Youth First InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFF grantee and key movement partner. Hernan Carvente-Martinez serves on the VFF Power Table as National Youth Partnership Strategist. The organization leads the national campaign to close youth prisons. Mishi Faruqee, AFF Director, previously served as president of Youth First Initiative.
• Movement for Family PowermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMovement partner of AFF. Erin Miles Cloud explains how dismantling the child welfare system fits within the wider abolitionist movement. Featured in the podcast series 'Organizing for Abolition. Envisioning Liberation.'
• Young Women's Freedom Center (YWFC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFF movement partner. Jessica Nowlan speaks about investing in systems-impacted youth leadership and building collective power in the abolitionist movement. Featured in the Out of the Margins podcast and video spotlights.
• Make the Road New York (MRNY)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFF grantee and founding member of Make the Road New York. Jesus Gonzalez, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Center for Popular Democracy, is a founding member of MRNY and serves on AFF's board. Featured in the Visionary Freedom Fund with member Angie Tamayo León.
• Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerErik Stegman, Executive Director of NAP, serves on the VFF Power Table as a philanthropic partner. NAP advocates for increased investments by philanthropy in tribal organizations. Erik previously led the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute.
• Center for Popular DemocracymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFF grantee partner. Jesus Gonzalez, Director of Strategic Initiatives at CPD, is a founding member of MRNY and serves on AFF's board. CPD is a national organization building power in communities of color.
• Common JusticecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing AFF grantee. Developed and advances solutions to violence that transform the lives of those harmed while fostering racial equity without relying on incarceration. Danielle Sered, Director, authored the book 'Until We Reckon' and appeared on the Out of the Margins podcast.
• National Black Women's Justice Institute (NBWJI)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Monique Morris, President and Founder, was featured on the Out of the Margins podcast discussing her book 'PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools.' AFF supports NBWJI's work on racial and gender justice.
• Color of ChangemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipant in the 'Speaking Truth to Power: Narrative Change for Youth Power Building' convening co-hosted by AFF and partners. Amity Payne, Interim Director of Storytelling and Marketing, presented on narrative strategy as a tool to restructure how people think about systemic racism.
• PopCulture CollaborativemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-presenter at the Narrative Change convening. Works to shift stories consumed by mainstream America through arts and culture strategy. Partnered with AFF on the Education Anew: Shifting Justice convening.
• Narrative InitiativemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-presenter at AFF's narrative change convening. Provided the working definition of narrative change guiding the convening: 'A narrative reflects a shared interpretation of how the world works, and who holds power.'
• IllumiNativemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipant in the narrative change convening co-hosted by AFF. Works to increase visibility of Native people and issues through cultural strategy and narrative change.
• Firelight MediamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipant in the narrative change convening. Documentary filmmakers focused on stories of people of color; provides narrative infrastructure through film and media.
• Reframe MentorshipmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-presenter at the narrative change convening. Joseph Phelan presented on strategic communications as a tool to support narrative power. Listed among narrative movement builders.
• Forward Movement (Consulting)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerOne of two consulting firms (founded and led by women of color) hired by AFF to conduct a nationwide search for community board members in 2021. Aided in diversifying AFF's board with BIPOC and directly impacted leaders.
• Movement Talent (Consulting)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerConsulting firm (founded and led by women of color) hired by AFF for nationwide search and recruitment of community board members in 2021. Introduced the 2021 cohort of social justice leaders to AFF's board.
• Execitives' Alliance to Expand Opportunities for Boys and Men of ColormajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAFF partners with this funder collaborative, a collaboration of foundations focused on changing conditions for young people of color. Through this partnership, AFF connects youth to caring communities, proven services, and vital skills.
• Equal Justice Initiative (EJI)majorOthersLincoln Mondy, AFF's Program Officer, authored a reflection on the staff and board learning trip to EJI's Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. EJI's work on confronting mass incarceration informed AFF's abolitionist funding approach.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Satterberg Foundation: The Satterberg Foundation is a direct peer in participatory, trust-based grantmaking focused on youth justice and racial equity. It co-funds the Visionary Freedom Fund and shares AFF's abolitionist orientation, with overlapping board leadership (AFF Board Chair is also Satterberg's Director of Programs).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/AndrusFamFund
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCEZC2Vr4ukFkRQbVPUx-mIQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/affund
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/andrus-family-fund
• Instagraminstagram.com/affund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Andrus Family Fund