Ortus Foundation

Ortus Foundation operates as a high-touch, relationship-first funder with one overriding rule: organizations cannot apply — they must be invited. Founded in 2022 by Sabrina Gracias, whose personal experience with depression and anxiety propelled her into mental health advocacy, Ortus is a young but well-capitalized foundation ($13.8M in assets) that combines grant dollars with deliberate network-building across the Intermountain West.

The foundation's giving philosophy centers on four pillars: school-based mental health programming, groundbreaking and nontraditional research (including psychedelic-assisted therapies and MDMA clinical trials), coalition-building among advocacy organizations, and direct investment in early-stage mental health companies. This dual role — philanthropic funder and active investor — is unusual for a foundation of this size and signals a bias toward systems-change and scalable models over one-time programmatic support.

Ortus favors two distinct types of organizations: nationally recognized research institutions capable of rigorous clinical or ethical research (Georgetown University, Baylor College of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine), and on-the-ground community organizations in the Intermountain West that address frontier isolation, limited resources, and above-average suicide rates in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Colorado. Understanding which track fits your organization before initiating contact is essential.

The relationship progression is deliberately informal. Rather than a formal LOI portal or grant cycle, Ortus asks prospective partners to make direct contact, share their research or ideas, and build a connection. 'Every Ortus partnership is different — and every one is personal' is their stated philosophy. First-time applicants should expect a multi-step engagement period — potentially several months — before any grant discussions begin.

For organizations in the Intermountain West, newly appointed Regional Director Dustin Brown is the primary relationship contact. National research institutions should target founder Sabrina Gracias directly. In either case, the most compelling first conversation will frame the work as filling a genuine gap in the youth mental health ecosystem, align with Ortus's existing portfolio, and demonstrate willingness to commit over multiple years rather than seek a single-cycle grant.

Ortus Foundation's financial profile reveals a foundation in an early scaling phase, with $13.8M in assets (FY 2024) and $702,041 in annual revenue generated primarily through investment income ($413,447) and asset sales ($287,395). The foundation draws on principal to fund grantmaking — a standard structure for young private foundations built on a single capital contribution.

Grant size has evolved significantly across the foundation's short history. Earlier 990 data captured in the Granted database shows 10 grants totaling $420,000, with an average grant of $42,000. That cohort included exploratory giving across a wider range of organizations: Erikson Institute ($200,000 across 2 grants), Joffrey Ballet ($100,000), Harvard University ($50,000), Eastern Congo Initiative ($40,000), and Lurie Children's Hospital Foundation ($30,000). The most recent FY 2024 data tells a sharply different story: 5 grants ranging from $100,000 to $350,000, with documented awards to Georgetown University ($350,000 for the Healy Student Hub campus wellness initiative), Baylor College of Medicine ($150,000 for the ELIPSIS psychedelic research ethics program), and Erikson Institute ($100,000). This trajectory — fewer grants, dramatically larger individual awards, tighter mission alignment — is the defining trend.

Program area distribution is now clearly weighted toward two categories: higher-education campus mental health systems and clinical or ethical research into novel therapies. Georgetown's $350,000 award represents the largest single known grant and suggests a ceiling in the $300,000–$350,000 range for major institutional partners. Community-level organizations in the Intermountain West (such as Mental Health Coalition of Teton Valley) appear to be funded at lower levels, consistent with the earlier grant-size range of $25,000–$75,000.

Geographically, research grants go to institutions wherever located (IL, MA, MD, TX, CA), while community service grants are tightly focused on the Intermountain West. Multi-year commitments are standard — JED Foundation, Georgetown, Baylor, and UCLA all carry multi-year designations — meaning grant renewal is a stronger near-term opportunity than cold outreach for most organizations. No published grant cycle or deadline exists; Ortus funds year-round on a rolling, relationship-driven basis.

The five peer foundations identified at the same ~$13.8M asset tier are all classified under Philanthropy & Grantmaking (NTEE T20) but are largely opaque in their public-facing operations.

Among this peer cohort, Ortus stands apart on every operational dimension. It is the only foundation with a named founder-leader, a published geographic strategy (Intermountain West), a live program portfolio visible on its website, dedicated staff, and active social media presence. The other four peers share a comparable asset base but have no publicly documented giving histories or application guidance — characteristic of family foundations that give informally and do not solicit outside relationships.

Ortus's assets of $13.8M are modest compared to major mental health funders like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation or Wellcome Trust, but within this peer group Ortus is clearly the most operationally active and mission-specific, making it accessible to niche youth mental health organizations that would be invisible to nationally competitive funders.

In 2025, Ortus Foundation sharpened both its geographic and research strategies with several concrete moves. The most operationally significant was the appointment of Dustin Brown as Regional Director for the Intermountain West — the first dedicated regional hire, signaling that community-level program grantmaking in Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Colorado is now a deliberate priority rather than an aspiration. This hire was paired with a direct 2025 grant to the Mental Health Coalition of Teton Valley's Community Counseling Fund, extending mental health services to 60+ individuals in Teton County, Idaho and Alta, Wyoming.

On the research front, Baylor College of Medicine's ELIPSIS program published initial findings from the Ortus-funded two-year study on psychedelic retreat ethics and societal implications. The multi-year clinical trial at UCLA School of Medicine examining MDMA-assisted therapy for adolescents ages 18–21 with treatment-resistant PTSD continues to advance. Ortus also joined the Clinton Global Initiative's Mental Health Action Coalition working groups in 2025, extending its national coalition footprint alongside existing state-level partnerships with the Wyoming Alliance for Suicide Prevention, Utah School Mental Health Collaborative, and Community Prevention Coalition.

The foundation cited improving national data — a 55% decline in youth suicides (ages 10–18) in Colorado from the 2020 peak and declining depression and suicide attempt rates among ages 12–25 nationally (2023–2024 data) — as signals that their field is making measurable progress. No leadership transitions beyond Brown's appointment were announced.

The most important fact about applying to Ortus Foundation is that there is no application — grants are made by invitation following relationship development, and unsolicited proposals will not be considered. This is stated explicitly on the website and confirmed in 990 filings. For grant seekers, this means strategy must focus entirely on earning an invitation, not drafting a proposal.

Initiating contact: Use the contact form on ortusfoundation.org. Keep the first message tight: 150–200 words maximum. One paragraph on your organization's work, one sentence on the concrete youth mental health outcome you're driving, and a specific ask to connect by call or video. Do not attach proposals, budgets, or letters of inquiry — these signal you haven't read their process.

Geographic routing: Intermountain West community programs → Dustin Brown, Regional Director. National research or clinical proposals → Sabrina Gracias, Founder/President. The IRS filings list Jeffrey A. Zaluda as an additional contact; he may serve an administrative or legal advisory role.

Alignment language: Mirror Ortus's own vocabulary: 'networks of change,' 'systems change,' 'novel therapeutics,' 'nontraditional models,' 'frontier communities,' 'early-stage.' Avoid 'awareness campaigns,' 'stigma reduction,' or 'one-time events' — Ortus funds structural and clinical change, not communication work.

Demonstrate innovation tolerance: Ortus funds MDMA clinical trials and psychedelic retreat research. If your approach is unconventional or pre-mainstream, lead with that — it is a differentiator here, not a liability.

Common mistakes to avoid: Sending an unsolicited formal proposal is the fastest path to rejection. Describing a one-time or project-based grant need misreads their model — every active relationship is multi-year. Omitting a geographic or research connection to their existing portfolio makes cold outreach much harder.

Relationship-building: Engage with Ortus content on LinkedIn and Instagram (@ortusfoundation) before outreach. Participate in shared coalitions — CGI's Mental Health Action Coalition, Wyoming Alliance for Suicide Prevention, Utah School Mental Health Collaborative — for warm introduction pathways. Attending mental health conferences where Ortus leadership presents creates the highest-quality first impressions.