Hopelab Foundation Inc.

Hopelab Foundation operates as a hybrid social innovation lab and funder rather than a traditional grantmaking foundation, and this distinction determines how applicants should approach the organization. While Hopelab's total programmatic spending exceeded $15.7 million in FY2023, external grants paid to third parties totaled $3.5 million — the remainder funding internal research, product co-creation, and equity investments in startups via the Ventures program. Understanding which of Hopelab's three engagement channels fits your organization is the essential first step.

The Ventures pathway supports for-profit and hybrid ventures building scalable digital solutions for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ young people. Hopelab has deployed $13 million across 25 active portfolio companies at the Seed to Series A stage, with 75% of portfolio founders carrying lived experience from target communities. The research and fellowships pathway includes the Early Career Research Grant ($10,000 plus dataset access), the HBCU Translational Science Fellowship, and the Young Innovators in Behavioral Health Awards — all open-application programs. The collaborative partnership pathway — the route for established nonprofits and academic research institutions — is the most competitive and relationship-dependent channel: organizations like Cornell University ($255,809, Purpose Commons initiative), Crisis Text Line ($200,000, COVID data analysis), and Panorama Global ($330,000, Upswing Fund for Adolescent Mental Health) all had prior working relationships with Hopelab before receiving significant funding.

The foundation's grantmaker profile explicitly flags a "preselected only" approach, confirming that unsolicited cold proposals rarely succeed. Successful entrants consistently combine three elements: a behavioral science evidence base, a technology-enabled delivery mechanism, and active co-creation with BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth. Grantees such as Koko/Livebetter Corp ($290,000 across two grants) and Ksana Health ($74,900) exemplify this profile — evidence-informed, youth-facing, and specifically targeting the most underserved populations.

The most strategic entry for first-time applicants is to establish visibility in Hopelab's research ecosystem before requesting funding. Publish in Hopelab's active domains — LGBTQ+ youth mental health, digital behavioral health, BIPOC resilience — and participate in the FAST (Funders for Adolescent Science Translation) pooled fund collaborative through Seattle Foundation or engage with Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund events. The January 2026 transition to CEO Jaspal Sandhu, a UC Berkeley health equity and human-centered design scholar, signals continuity with a deepened equity lens, making 2026 a particularly opportune moment to initiate first contact with program staff.

Hopelab's external grant-making has grown substantially over recent fiscal years: from $504,474 in grants paid (FY2020) to $964,759 (FY2021), $920,215 (FY2022), and $3,484,967 (FY2023) — a nearly 7-fold increase over three years. FY2024 shows total revenue of $26.3 million against total assets of $27.3 million, suggesting a significant capital event or major contribution, though FY2024 grants_paid data is not yet finalized. It is critical to distinguish Hopelab's "total giving" figures ($10.7M–$15.7M annually across all fiscal years) from "grants paid": the former encompasses both external grants and substantial internal programmatic expenditures across four program areas; the grants_paid line ($504K–$3.5M) represents actual disbursements to external organizations.

Across 41 recorded grants in the grantee database, total disbursements sum to $2.39 million. The median grant is approximately $49,125, with an average of $58,279 — figures that mask a top-heavy distribution. The five largest grants (Panorama Global $330,000, Koko/Livebetter Corp $290,000, Cornell University $255,809, Crisis Text Line $200,000, Seattle Foundation $110,000) account for over half of all documented grant dollars. The practical working range for most first-time partners is $15,000–$100,000, with transformative grants ($200,000–$330,000) reserved for established relationships and pooled fund vehicles. Grants under $50,000 account for approximately 55% of grant count but only 22% of total dollars.

Geographically, California leads with 13 grants (32% of count), reflecting the San Francisco headquarters. New York follows with 10 grants (24%), driven by academic and nonprofit partnerships including Crisis Text Line and the Global Development Incubator. Oregon (4 grants), Pennsylvania (3), and Washington, D.C. (3) round out the top geographies. The Pacific Northwest cluster reflects Hopelab's Seattle Foundation FAST fund participation. International funding is essentially absent — this is a domestic U.S. funder.

Thematically, LGBTQ+ youth mental health and digital support platforms account for approximately 35% of documented grant dollars. BIPOC youth resilience and racial equity interventions represent roughly 25% (Race Space, Ksana Health, Education Training and Research Associates). Digital health tools and research infrastructure — AI-assisted apps, data platforms, survey tools — constitute approximately 20%. Teen vaping cessation (Rescue Agency/Quit the Hit, Nurse Family Partnership) remains a consistent niche. The parallel Ventures equity portfolio ($13M across 25 companies) represents a significant additional capital channel not captured in grants_paid figures — organizations building at the product or startup layer must account for this when sizing their engagement strategy.

The five peer foundations identified by asset profile and NTEE Health category represent a useful structural comparison, though their programmatic missions diverge significantly from Hopelab's youth digital mental health focus.

Among the peer set, the Pediatric Epilepsy Research Foundation ($35.2M, TX) is the closest structural analog — a mission-driven health research funder supporting a specialized population through competitive grants — though its clinical neurology focus differs markedly from Hopelab's behavioral and digital health lens. COPIC Medical Foundation ($22.5M, CO) primarily serves Colorado medical professionals, making it geographically and thematically the most distant peer. The Zoll Foundation (MA, $27.4M) mirrors Hopelab's asset profile most closely, though Zoll operates in medical device-related philanthropy rather than social innovation.

What distinguishes Hopelab from every foundation in this peer set is its hybrid operating model: simultaneously a research organization, an active venture investor ($13M deployed across 25 portfolio companies), and a grantmaker. No peer in this comparison maintains an equity investment portfolio or runs proprietary fellowship programs. This means Hopelab's total capital deployment — external grants plus equity investments — substantially exceeds what the grants_paid line alone implies, making it a more versatile and potentially higher-value long-term partner than asset comparisons suggest.

The most consequential development at Hopelab in 2025-2026 is a leadership transition: Margaret Laws, who earned $620,258 in compensation during her final full year as President and CEO and guided the organization for over a decade, handed the organization to Jaspal Sandhu, Ph.D., effective January 1, 2026. Sandhu, formerly Executive Vice President, is a UC Berkeley professor specializing in health equity and human-centered design and co-founder of the global design consultancy Gobee. His stated priorities center equity, belonging, and lived experience as core design principles — continuity with Hopelab's established direction, amplified.

In April 2026, Hopelab and The OpEd Project launched the Public Voices Fellowship on Youth Well-being and Power, selecting 25 inaugural thought leaders for a year-long cohort aimed at amplifying youth-centered voices in public discourse. Sandhu championed the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund during his EVP tenure — that fund has now raised over $4.5 million and distributed $1.8 million to 26 youth-led initiatives dedicated to responsible technology.

In May 2026, Hopelab published research with Data for Progress finding that 61% of LGBTQ+ young people report "fair" or "poor" mental health, while 97% identify at least one source of hope — directly informing Hopelab's resilience-framing approach to intervention design. That same month, Dr. Amy Green, Hopelab's Head of Research, testified before the California State Assembly's Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee on social media's impact on LGBTQ+ youth, marking a significant new policy advocacy posture.

In March 2025, Hopelab and Born This Way Foundation released a landmark joint report on LGBTQ+ youth's reliance on online communities as mental health lifelines, followed by a June 2025 companion brief on rural LGBTQ+ youth. In 2024, Hopelab expanded its Ventures portfolio with seven new investments — Backpack Health, Flourish Health, InStride, Manatee, Mightier, ReflexAI, and Wayfinder — extending reach into education, AI, and Medicaid spaces, bringing the active portfolio to 25 companies with 4.3 million youth served (87% BIPOC, 77% low-income).

Hopelab does not publish a standard grant portal or operate an annual open RFP cycle. Success requires identifying the correct entry point and building an authentic relationship before requesting funding.

For startup founders and social ventures, the Ventures pathway is the primary route. Email ventures@hopelab.org with a non-confidential pitch deck covering your business concept, market need, founder backgrounds, and youth impact strategy. Hopelab responds within 2-4 weeks. Four criteria are essential: (1) founders with lived experience from target communities — this is a portfolio-level screen, with 75% of funded companies meeting it; (2) scalable solutions targeting adolescents ages 10-25 as a core population, not a side market; (3) intentional health equity design for Black, Brown, Queer, or low-income youth; and (4) early evidence of product-market fit or clinical efficacy. Seed to Series A is the sweet spot — avoid pitching growth-stage rounds where Hopelab's early-stage expertise adds less value.

For academic and early-career researchers, the Early Career Research Grant ($10,000 plus access to Hopelab's proprietary youth well-being dataset) at hopelab.org/programs/research is the most accessible open-application entry point. The dataset access may be as strategically valuable as the cash award for researchers dependent on representative youth data. Research questions about BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth resilience, digital intervention efficacy, and youth participatory action research (YPAR) methodology align most strongly with past funded work — see partnerships with Cornell ($255,809), University of Oregon ($30,368), U Penn ($49,125), Harvard ($16,315), and UCSD ($25,000).

For nonprofit and research organizations, relationship-building must precede any funding request. Attend Hopelab-affiliated convenings: FAST (Funders for Adolescent Science Translation) through Seattle Foundation, Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund events, the HLTH Techquity Initiative (Hopelab contributed $15,000), and Milken Institute moonshot discussions ($25,000 contribution). Use language from Hopelab's framework consistently: "equity-centered design," "youth co-creation," "translational science," "lived experience," and "BIPOC and Queer young people." Avoid generic mental health literacy framing — specify which underserved population, which technology-enabled mechanism, and which measurable well-being outcome.

The 2026 CEO transition to Jaspal Sandhu is a natural window for first contact. New CEOs typically signal openness to new partnerships in their first 12-18 months, and Sandhu has publicly committed to centering belonging and equity — organizations already working in this frame have a genuine opening to initiate exploratory conversations in 2026.