Kissick Family Foundation

The Kissick Family Foundation operates on a dual-track model that requires applicants to first understand which track their work fits — and then accept that only one track is actually open to outside applicants. Founded in 1994 by John Kissick (1942–2024), the Apollo Management and Ares Management co-founder who applied private equity discipline to philanthropy, the foundation now holds $104.9 million in assets (FY2024) and is led by second-generation Co-Presidents Kasey Kissick Duarte and Ryan Kissick, supported by professional staff including Director of Dementia Aggie McMahon Stephens, Director of Climate Oliver Sabot, and Grants Manager Sophie Mulgrew.

For the vast majority of its giving — ocean-based climate solutions, LA-area education and workforce development, and community organizations — the foundation gives exclusively to preselected partners and explicitly does not accept or review unsolicited requests. The multi-year commitments visible in the grantee data confirm this: Year Up at $800K over four grants, La's Promise Fund at $900K over six grants, Ocean Visions at $1M over three grants, and Only One Inc at $700K over seven grants. These are deep, relationship-driven partnerships, not open-competition grants.

The sole public pathway is the Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) Research Grant Program, administered through the Milken Institute's Science Philanthropy Accelerator for Research and Collaboration (SPARC). This is a genuine competitive grant program with peer review, specific eligibility criteria, and public RFPs. The foundation has invested nearly $6 million in this program across multiple cohorts, and the third cycle (2025–2026) offered up to five two-year grants of up to $500,000 each.

The foundation's philosophy — inherited from John Kissick's career backing underserved opportunities at Apollo and Ares — prizes early-stage risk-taking, supporting exceptional individuals over established institutions, and catalytic over sustaining investment. The FTD program embodies this: newly independent investigators are explicitly encouraged, applicants from adjacent scientific fields (AI/ML, imaging, immunology, computational biology, structural biology) are welcomed as bringing fresh perspectives, and the focus on sporadic FTD represents a deliberately underinvested area.

For organizations outside the FTD research space, the practical approach is relational: cultivate connections through existing grantee networks (Milken Institute, Year Up, Stanford, Ocean Visions), attend Milken Institute events where foundation staff are present, or seek warm introductions through Stanford or Cedars-Sinai board networks. A cold inquiry to contact@kissickfamilyfoundation.org is not an application pathway for any cause area.

Total annual giving has grown sharply across the reporting period: from $1.6M (FY2012) and $3.3M (FY2019) to $5M (FY2022) and $6.8M (FY2023), tracking a dramatic expansion of the asset base. Assets tripled from $35.5M (FY2019) to $104.9M (FY2024), driven by capital infusions of $21.7M (FY2020), $24.9M (FY2021), and $3M (FY2022) — consistent with family contributions — combined with investment returns averaging $10M+ annually in peak years. At $6.8M in FY2023 giving against $99.3M in assets, the foundation paid out approximately 6.8%, modestly above the IRS 5% minimum and suggesting capacity for further expansion.

Across 219 discrete grants totaling $15.6M in the grantee database, the average grant is $71,276 — heavily skewed by a handful of large, multi-year strategic commitments. The foundation's own typical grant size data shows a $25,000 median (range: $5,000–$100,000) for relationship-based giving, while flagship program partners receive far larger awards: The Windward Fund received $2M across three grants, Ocean Visions $1M across three grants, La's Promise Fund $900K across six grants, and the Milken Institute a cumulative $1.1M for FTD program management and research awards. The competitive FTD program offers up to $500,000 per project over two years (~$250,000/year), with indirect costs capped at 15%.

By program area, rough allocation from grantee data suggests: ocean and climate (~29% of identified giving, led by Windward Fund, Ocean Visions, Only One Inc, Sea Legacy Foundation, and Great Barrier Reef Foundation); education and workforce development (~22%, led by Year Up, La's Promise Fund, College Match, College Spring, Peer Health Exchange, and Teach For America); dementia research and awareness (~15%, through Milken Institute, 1907 Foundation, and associated organizations); institutional giving concentrated at Stanford (~12%); and community health, arts, and other causes (~22%).

Geographically, California dominates with 158 of 219 grants (72%), reflecting the Sherman Oaks headquarters and deep LA nonprofit relationships. New York (11 grants, 5%) and Massachusetts (10 grants, 5%) represent secondary markets. International giving — through Great Barrier Reef Foundation (Australia), Empower Africa, Riecken Community Libraries (Central America), and Earth Enable — accounts for roughly 8–10% of grant count but a higher share of dollar value. Officer compensation across all reported fiscal years was $0.

The Kissick Family Foundation occupies a distinctive niche: a mid-size family foundation (~$105M assets) that runs both a preselected institutional giving program AND a genuine open competitive research grant — a combination uncommon at this asset level. The table below compares it to foundations with overlapping focus areas; peer figures are approximate from publicly available 990 filings.

For FTD researchers, BrightFocus Foundation is the closest strategic parallel — open competitive grants, peer review, multi-year awards at similar per-project sizes — and pursuing both funders simultaneously is a viable strategy since they serve different scientific niches. Rainwater Charitable Foundation is the most direct peer in FTD mission but is inaccessible without an established relationship. Heising-Simons provides a useful benchmark for what a California family foundation with science and climate mandates can achieve at scale, and suggests Kissick has significant room to grow its climate program as assets continue to expand. Kissick's 6.8% FY2023 payout ratio, while above the 5% minimum, is lower than BrightFocus's deployment rate, indicating untapped grantmaking capacity.

The foundation's most significant recent public milestone was the September 15, 2025 joint announcement with the Milken Institute of $2M in second-cohort FTD research grants and simultaneous launch of the third funding cycle. The four second-cohort awardees represent a deliberately international and institutionally diverse group: Karen Duff, PhD (UK Dementia Research Institute, University College London) is investigating TRIM11 as a therapeutic agent for tau-driven sporadic FTD; Timothy Miller, MD/PhD (Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis) is developing small-molecule TDP-43 degraders; and Mercedes Prudencio, PhD and Wilfried Rossoll, PhD (both Mayo Clinic Jacksonville) are conducting complementary studies on ANXA11 protein function and TDP-43 aggregate proteomics respectively. The $2M second-cohort award brought the program's cumulative investment to nearly $6M.

The most consequential internal development was the death of founder John H. Kissick in 2024 and the transition to second-generation leadership. John Kissick — co-founder of Apollo Management (1990) and Ares Management (1997) and a board member of Stanford and Cedars-Sinai — was the foundation's philosophical anchor. His children Kasey Kissick Duarte and Ryan Kissick assumed the Co-President roles; professional staff (CSO Emily Medress, Director of Dementia Aggie McMahon Stephens, Director of Climate Oliver Sabot, Grants Manager Sophie Mulgrew) provide operational continuity.

The third FTD grant cycle closed its LOI deadline in November 2025 and full proposals in February 2026; awardees are expected to be announced June 2026. Foundation assets reached $104.9M in FY2024 on $20.8M in revenue; FY2024 giving has not yet been publicly reported. No other major programmatic announcements, leadership departures, or geographic strategy changes were identified. The foundation does not maintain a public news section on its website.

For FTD research applicants — the only group with an open pathway — the most critical insight is that this program explicitly rewards outsider thinking. The foundation's RFP language and awardee history signal that researchers from computational biology, AI/machine learning, imaging, immunology, structural biology, and systems neuroscience are not just welcome but preferred over narrowly credentialed FTD specialists. If your work applies a cutting-edge methodology to sporadic FTD pathology, lead with that angle in your LOI rather than situating yourself within existing FTD literature.

The LOI (750 words maximum) is the primary filter — most applicants are screened out at this stage. Prioritize three things: (1) the specific scientific gap in sporadic FTD you are addressing, (2) your novel approach or methodology, and (3) why Kissick Foundation funding specifically enables this work. The third element is critical: the foundation's identity as a "first funder" and bold risk-taker means showing you represent the kind of early-stage bet they want to make — not a project that would be funded anyway by established neuroscience funders.

For full proposals (invited applicants only), the six-page scientific proposal is tight. Invest heavily in significance and approach sections rather than background. The data-sharing and protocol synopsis page is explicitly scored — identify your data repository by name, commit to preprint release within 12 months of project completion, and specify your open-access publication plan. Budget at the full $500,000 maximum (including up to 15% indirect costs) unless your science genuinely requires less; plan your IRB or IACUC approvals before the award notification, since funding is held pending institutional approvals.

For climate, education, and community organizations: guidance is relational rather than procedural. Engage with grantee organizations — Ocean Visions, Year Up, Only One Inc, La's Promise Fund — through their public programs and events. Attend Milken Institute symposia and conferences where Kissick foundation staff are present. Seek warm introductions through Stanford alumni or Cedars-Sinai board networks, both deeply connected to the Kissick family. The foundation's stated email (contact@kissickfamilyfoundation.org) is appropriate for courtesy introductions, not grant solicitations. No volume of cold outreach substitutes for a trusted grantee referral, and the foundation's own language — "catalyzing change through bold and dynamic philanthropy" — signals it backs transformative leaders it already knows.