Jaquelin Hume Foundation

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The Jaquelin Hume Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization "support[ing] free-market solutions to education reform," and funds many conservative and libertarian organizations. [1] [2] Founded in 1962 and headquartered in San Francisco, Jaquelin Hume began funding various free-market initiatives and started focusing its money more specifically in education reform "including charter schools, vouchers, standards and curricula," in 1998. [2] Below are links to its annual IRS Form 990s, which list the organizations it has funded since 1999. This article is a breakout of the State Policy Network article.

Ties to the State Policy Network

Gisèle Huff, the Executive Director of the Jaquelin Hume Foundation, was scheduled to speak at the 25th annual meeting of the State Policy Network. The annual meeting was held in San Antonio, TX between August 29 - September 1, 2017. [3] Gisèle Huff is a member of the Board of Directors of the State Policy Network. [4] [5]

SPN is a web of right-wing “think tanks” and tax-exempt organizations in 50 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and the United Kingdom. As of April 2023, SPN's membership totals 163. Today's SPN is the tip of the spear of far-right, nationally funded policy agenda in the states that undergirds extremists in the Republican Party. SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told the Wall Street Journal in 2017 that the revenue of the combined groups was some $80 million, but a 2022 analysis of SPN's main members IRS filings by the Center for Media and Democracy shows that the combined revenue is over $152 million.[6] Although SPN's member organizations claim to be nonpartisan and independent, the Center for Media and Democracy's in-depth investigation, "EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government," reveals that SPN and its member think tanks are major drivers of the right-wing, American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)-backed corporate agenda in state houses nationwide, with deep ties to the Koch brothers and the national right-wing network of funders.[7]

In response to CMD's report, SPN Executive Director Tracie Sharp told national and statehouse reporters that SPN affiliates are "fiercely independent." Later the same week, however, The New Yorker's Jane Mayer caught Sharp in a contradiction. In her article, "Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?," the Pulitzer-nominated reporter revealed that, in a recent meeting behind closed doors with the heads of SPN affiliates around the country, Sharp "compared the organization’s model to that of the giant global chain IKEA." She reportedly said that SPN "would provide 'the raw materials,' along with the 'services' needed to assemble the products. Rather than acting like passive customers who buy finished products, she wanted each state group to show the enterprise and creativity needed to assemble the parts in their home states. 'Pick what you need,' she said, 'and customize it for what works best for you.'" Not only that, but Sharp "also acknowledged privately to the members that the organization's often anonymous donors frequently shape the agenda. 'The grants are driven by donor intent,' she told the gathered think-tank heads. She added that, often, 'the donors have a very specific idea of what they want to happen.'"[8]

A set of coordinated fundraising proposals obtained and released by The Guardian in early December 2013 confirm many of these SPN members' intent to change state laws and policies, referring to "advancing model legislation" and "candidate briefings." These activities "arguably cross the line into lobbying," The Guardian notes.[9]

News and Controversies

In 2017, the Jaquelin Hume Foundation donated money to support personalized learning programs, however educators question the methodologies and computer-driven learning environments supported by personalized learning programs. [10] [11] [12] [13]

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

The Jaquelin Hume Foundation has granted $220,000 to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) between 1999 and 2011, according to a review of the foundation's IRS filings by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).

Larger Jaquelin Hume Foundation grants go to ALEC members like SPN, the Heritage Foundation which received $1,725,000 between 1999 and 2011, Institute for Humane Studies, and the Manhattan Institute (TPPF). Data from IRS 990-PF Forms, 1999-2011 (see section below).

About ALEC
ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our ExposedbyCMD.org site.

Funding

Between 1999 and 2012 the Jaquelin Hume Foundation made $65,808,982 in donations. [14] In 2012, the Jaquelin Hume Foundation made $4,643,736 in donations. [15]

Top donations made by the Jaquelin Hume Foundation in 2012, per Conservative Transparency. [15]

Funding SPN and SPN State Think Tanks

TOTAL to SPN and SPN State Think Tanks = $24,304,817. Data from IRS 990-PF Forms, 1999-2011. (see section below)

Additional Right Wing Funding

TOTAL to Additional Right Wing Organizations 1999-2011 = $4,896,000. Data from IRS 990-PF Forms, 1999-2011. (see section below)

Core Financials

2015 [16]

  • Total Revenue: $385,241
  • Total Expenses: $3,423,720
  • Net Assets: $16,801,143
  • Contributions, Gifts, Grants Paid: $3,067,500

2014 [16]

  • Total Revenue: $2,670,239
  • Total Expenses: $6,155,045
  • Net Assets: $16,801,143
  • Contributions, Gifts, Grants Paid: $5,710,309

2013 [16]

  • Total Revenue: $1,386,545
  • Total Expenses: $4,688,343
  • Net Assets: $22,155,413
  • Contributions, Gifts, Grants Paid: $4,356,250

2012 [16]

  • Total Revenue: $1,379,787
  • Total Expenses: $5,014,624
  • Net Assets: $21,107,779
  • Contributions, Gifts, Grants Paid: $4,643,736

2011 [16]

  • Total Revenue: $2,485,622
  • Total Expenses: $5,484,857
  • Net Assets: $24,742,616
  • Contributions, Gifts, Grants Paid: $5,097,728

IRS 990-PF Forms, 1999-2015

  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2015 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, September 9, 2016.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2014 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, August 10, 2015.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2013 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received August 22, 2014.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2012 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received October 28, 2013.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2011 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received June 21, 2012.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2010 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received July 18, 2011.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2009 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received June 28, 2010.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2008 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received August 27, 2009.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2007 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received September 17, 2008.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2006 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received October 26, 2007.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2005 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received December 1, 2006.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2004 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received August 12, 2005.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2003 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received November 21, 2004.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2002 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received November 18, 2003.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2001 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received November 17, 2002.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2000 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, Received November 25, 2001.
  • Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 1999 Form 990, foundation's IRS filing, August 31, 2000.

Personnel

Staff

  • Gisèle Huff - Executive Director [17]

Board of Directors

As of September 2016, per IRS Form 990-PF 2015:[18]

  • William J. Hume - President and Trustee
  • George H. Hume - Vice President and Trustee
  • Edward A. Landry - Treasurer and Trustee
  • Gisèle Huff - Secretary

Contact Details

Employer Identification Number (EIN): 94-6080099

Jaquelin Hume Foundation
600 Montgomery Street, Suite 2800
San Francisco, CA 94111-2803
Phone: (415) 705-5115

References

  1. Jaquelin Hume Foundation, 2011 990 Form, corporate document, June 13, 2012.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Justin Torres, Jaquelin Hume Foundation: A single-minded focus leads a small foundation to an outsized impact, Philanthropy Roundtable website, Member Profile: March/April 2006.
  3. State Policy Network, Policy Track: Gisèle Huff, SPN website, Accessed August 15, 2017.
  4. The Learning Accelerator, Board of Directors: Gisèle Huff, The Learning Accelerator website, Accessed August 15, 2017.
  5. International Association of K-12 Online Learnng, Gisèle Huff: Executive Director, Jaquelin Hume Foundation, iNACOL website, Accessed August 15, 2017.
  6. David Armiak, State Policy Network and Affiliates Raises $152 Million Annually to Push Right-Wing Policies, ExposedbyCMD, September 30, 2022.
  7. Rebekah Wilce, Center for Media and Democracy, EXPOSED: The State Policy Network -- The Powerful Right-Wing Network Helping to Hijack State Politics and Government, organizational report, November 13, 2013.
  8. Jane Mayer, Is IKEA the New Model for the Conservative Movement?, The New Yorker, November 15, 2013.
  9. Ed Pilkington and Suzanne Goldenberg, State conservative groups plan US-wide assault on education, health and tax, The Guardian, December 5, 2013.
  10. Tim Newcomb, Will Personalized Learning Become the New Normal?, The Atlantic, March 29, 2017.
  11. Benjamin Herold, Rhode Island Announces Statewide K-12 Personalized Learning Push, Education Week, February 22, 2017.
  12. Julia Freeland Fisher, The inconvenient truth about personalized learning, The Clayton Christensen Institute website, May 4, 2016,
  13. Paul Barnwell, Are Teachers Becoming Obsolete?, The Atlantic, February 15, 2017.
  14. Conservative Transparency, Total Value Of Contributions, Conservative Transparency website, Accessed August 14, 2017.
  15. 15.00 15.01 15.02 15.03 15.04 15.05 15.06 15.07 15.08 15.09 15.10 15.11 15.12 15.13 15.14 15.15 15.16 15.17 15.18 15.19 15.20 15.21 15.22 15.23 15.24 15.25 15.26 15.27 15.28 15.29 15.30 15.31 Conservative Transparency, Top Beneficiaries of Jaquelin Hume Foundation, Conservative Transparency website, Accessed August 14, 2017.
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 ProPublica, Jaquelin Hume Foundation, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Accessed August 14, 2017.
  17. Gisele Huff, Gisele Huff, LinkedIn website, Accessed August 14, 2017.
  18. Jaquelin Hume Foundation, Form 990-PF 2015, IRS Return of Private Foundation. September 9, 2016.