Cinelli Family Foundation

The Cinelli Family Foundation — formally the Al and Sharon Cinelli Family Foundation — is a private grantmaking foundation established in March 2022 and headquartered in Lawrence, Kansas. Operating under the dual mandate "Finding Cures. Expanding Minds.," it channels resources across two deeply personal giving pillars: cancer research targeting leukemia, breast cancer, and pancreatic cancer, and K-12 education innovation.

This is not a foundation with an open application portal. Grantmaking is relationship-driven and invitation-based, with no publicly listed RFP cycles for direct foundation grants. Organizations seeking support should treat initial outreach as a relationship-building exercise, not a grant application. Use the "Connect" section of cinellifamilyfoundation.org to initiate contact, and expect a multi-touch cultivation process before any funding conversation.

The foundation's cancer research investments favor two tracks. The first is major institutional partnership: substantial gifts to established cancer centers such as the University of Kansas Cancer Center ($10 million in September 2024 for a GMP laboratory) and ongoing support for KU's mobile medical unit ($875,000 in 2025). The second is investigator-level research through the ACGT partnership, which administers the Cinelli Family Foundation Investigator Award — a competitive two-step application process targeting cell and gene therapy researchers at tenure-track or tenured faculty level.

For education, the foundation works with nonprofits, universities, and curriculum developers that can demonstrate clear K-12 learning impact through research, technology, or programmatic intervention. STEM-focused education models appear particularly resonant given the foundation's featured partnerships, including MC2 STEM High School.

First-time applicants should understand that the Cinelli Family Foundation is in a period of rapid transformation. Its endowment grew from $25.8 million in FY2023 to $235.7 million in FY2024 following a major estate contribution after the founder's passing in fall 2023. Grants that might have seemed outside reach — major capital gifts, multi-million-dollar research partnerships — are now plausible conversations for well-aligned organizations.

The leadership team is small: Co-Executive Directors Janet Cinelli and Eric Ryan manage day-to-day operations alongside a family-controlled board (Albert Cinelli, Albert Cinelli Jr., John Cinelli, Cheryl Cinelli Palermo). Personal mission alignment and genuine relationship investment are the most important factors in securing consideration.

The Cinelli Family Foundation's grant history reflects a young institution scaling rapidly from a standing start. In FY2021, the foundation held $8.3 million in assets and disbursed zero in grants. FY2022 saw early-stage giving: $25,000 in grants paid and $100,576 in total giving, recorded as two grants of $25,000 each to Johns Hopkins University for higher education purposes. FY2023 represented a meaningful step-up: $562,000 in grants paid and $902,830 in total giving against $25.8 million in assets and $11.1 million in net investment income.

The defining shift came in FY2024, when assets surged to $235.7 million on $214.2 million in total revenue ($204.5 million from contributions, consistent with a major estate transfer). Charitable disbursements in FY2024 reached $2.04 million — more than double FY2023 — and total operating expenses climbed to $4.2 million, reflecting organizational build-out.

Known 2025 grant awards confirm a further escalation: $500,000 to Breakthrough Cancer (KRAS-targeted therapy development); $875,000 to KU Cancer Center (mobile medical unit); $350,000 to ACGT (pancreatic cancer T-cell therapy clinical trials); and $250,000 to the Cancer Research Institute (AI-ready immunotherapy data resource). These four grants total $1.975 million. The landmark $10 million capital gift to the KU Cancer Center GMP laboratory (September 2024) sits as an outlier for capital campaign-scale asks.

Synthesizing across years: the typical programmatic grant now ranges from $250,000 to $875,000, with a median of approximately $350,000–$500,000 for research awards. The ACGT Investigator Award caps at $500,000 over 2–3 years with 10% indirect cost maximum. Cancer research commands an estimated 85–90% of documented giving. Education giving, while prominently messaged, has not been confirmed at comparable scale in public filings. Geography skews toward national research institutions with notable concentration at University of Kansas-affiliated entities. Multi-year grant terms of 2–3 years are standard for research awards.

The Cinelli Family Foundation sits in a cohort of similarly-sized private foundations by asset base (approximately $235–$238 million in FY2024), though its program focus and operating model differ significantly from most asset-comparable peers.

Cinelli's distinguishing characteristics become clear in this context. Unlike Kataly Foundation, which focuses on systemic racial equity and climate justice, or JMT Charitable Foundation, which is tied to a financial vehicle rather than a personal family mission, Cinelli has a tightly defined biomedical and education mandate rooted in personal family history. Its giving-to-assets ratio of approximately 0.87% in FY2024 is conservative relative to the 5% minimum distribution requirement for private foundations, signaling that significantly larger annual disbursements are expected as the foundation matures and scales its grantmaking infrastructure through 2025–2026.

The most significant recent development is the foundation's extraordinary endowment growth. Following the passing of founder Al Cinelli in fall 2023, the foundation received an estimated $204.5 million in contributions in FY2024, growing total assets from $25.8 million to $235.7 million. This makes Cinelli one of the most rapidly growing private foundations in the $235M asset cohort.

On September 9, 2024, the foundation announced a $10 million gift to the University of Kansas Cancer Center — the largest recorded single grant — specifically designated to create a cellular therapeutics Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) laboratory in the new KU Cancer Center building.

In 2025, the foundation's website lists four active cancer research grants: $350,000 to ACGT for pancreatic cancer T-cell therapy clinical trials; $500,000 to Breakthrough Cancer for KRAS-targeted therapy development; $250,000 to the Cancer Research Institute for an AI-ready cancer immunotherapy data resource; and $875,000 to KU Cancer Center for its mobile cancer screening and education unit serving underserved communities in Kansas and Missouri.

The 2025 ACGT – Cinelli Family Foundation Investigator Award for breast cancer cell and gene therapy was actively open in early 2025, with abstracts due May 16, 2025 and award announcements expected November 2025. Co-Executive Directors Janet Cinelli and Eric Ryan each received $48,000 in FY2024 compensation. The board remains entirely family-governed with no reported leadership changes.

For cancer research applicants, the most navigable pathway is the ACGT Investigator Award administered through the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy. This structured program uses a two-step review: first, submit a 2-page abstract/LOI via the proposalCENTRAL platform (typically due mid-May, with May 16, 2025 as the most recent deadline); then, if invited, submit a full application (typically due late August) with award decisions in November. Budget requests should target up to $500,000 over 2–3 years, with no more than 10% indirect costs. Salary, equipment, and supplies are eligible; equipment purchases in the final grant year are prohibited. Critical detail: ACGT requires a royalty return on inventions developed under the award, so institutional technology transfer offices should review grant terms before submission. Contact blavery@acgtfoundation.org with questions.

For direct foundation grants outside ACGT, the pathway is purely relational. There is no published application form, deadline calendar, or grant portal. Reach out via the "Connect" page on cinellifamilyfoundation.org; address correspondence to Janet Cinelli or Eric Ryan by name. The most effective alignment language references specific disease targets — leukemia, breast cancer, and pancreatic cancer — and connects proposed work to transformation in early detection, treatment, or long-term patient outcomes. Avoid generic "underserved populations" framing without grounding it in specific cancer biology or measurable outcome frameworks.

For education applicants, emphasize K-12 scope specifically — post-secondary or general youth programming falls outside the current stated focus. Demonstrate a data-driven approach to measuring learning outcomes and reference innovation in learning technology, curricula, or pedagogical research. STEM education models have featured in foundation communications.

Timing matters: the foundation is in active build-out mode following its endowment growth. Starting a relationship now, before a formal cycle opens, positions organizations favorably. Budget requests in the $250,000–$875,000 range are most consistent with recent programmatic grant data for cancer research. For education, no confirmed grant sizes are publicly available; a modest initial ask in the $100,000–$250,000 range may be appropriate for a first relationship.