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Pew Charitable Trusts
| Pew Charitable Trusts | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | 501(c)(3) |
| Affiliation: | Nonpartisan |
| Top official: | Susan Urahn, President and Chief Executive Officer |
| Founder(s): | Joseph N. Pew, Jr. |
| Year founded: | 1948 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Budget | |
| 2014: | $327,878,042 |
The Pew Charitable Trusts (PCT) is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.. Four members of the Pew family founded the organization in 1948 as "a grantmaking organization that made donations anonymously," expanding to research on federal policy in 1986, state government policy in 1994, and public opinion in 1995. As of September 2025, the group was affiliated with the Pew Research Center, a separate nonprofit group responsible for social science research.[1]
Background
Four of the children of Sun Oil Company founder Joseph Newton Pew founded the Pew Memorial Foundation as a charitable organization in 1948. Its initial projects included providing funding for cancer research, the Red Cross, and historically-Black colleges. In 1957, the group reorganized into the Pew Memorial Trust. The four siblings created six other trusts between 1957 and 1979, all of which were later integrated into the Pew Memorial Trust.
In 2002, the organization reorganized as the Pew Charitable Trusts, a public charity. The group said the change gave "us more flexibility to engage in new initiatives and operate programs for maximum effectiveness and efficiency." In 2004, the affiliated Pew Research Center was established, taking over the Trusts' social science analysis work.[1]
As of September 2025, the Pew Charitable Trusts described its mission as:[2]
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” |
Leadership
As of September 2025, the following individuals held leadership positions at the Pew Charitable Trusts:[4]
- Susan K. Urahn, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer
- Caya Lewis Atkins, vice president for government performance
- Les Baxter, senior vice president for strategy
- Priya Bery, senior vice president for partnerships
- Elaine Bowman, vice president for human resources
- Nasserie Carew, senior vice president for communications and chief communications officer
- Michael Caudell-Feagan, executive vice president for programmatic initiatives and chief program officer
- Makeba Clay, vice president for organizational culture and engagement
- Roger-Mark De Souza, vice president for environment
- Tom Dillon, senior vice president for environment and crosscutting initiatives
- Michael Dimock, Ph.D., president of the Pew Research Center
- Donna Frisby-Greenwood, senior vice president for Philadelphia and scientific advancement
- Steve Ganey, vice president for environment
- Maryam Henson, vice president for partnerships
- Rea Holmes, vice president for legal affairs
- Kil Huh, Ph.D., senior vice president for government performance
- Ralph Leslie, executive vice president for operations, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer
- James G. McMillan, senior vice president for legal affairs
- Matthew Milios, vice president for communications
- Sarah Senno, vice president for finance and treasurer
- Melissa Skolfield, executive vice president for external affairs
- Herman Taylor, vice president for workplace services
- Anthony Vitelli, vice president for information technology and chief information officer
- Joel Wiginton, senior vice president for government relations
Work and activities
Legislative and policy work
Over its six decades of existence, the Pew Charitable Trusts have taken on several projects to “improve public policy, inform the public and invigorate civic life.”[5] The organization works at the local, national and global levels to fulfill this goal. Some of the most prominent projects include the following:
Philadelphia Research Initiative
As a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pew Charitable Trusts began this project to assist citizens at the local level. According to the Pew website, this project works to “help Philadelphia’s citizens and leaders understand and address key issues facing the city” through research and analysis.[6]
Clean Energy Initiative
This project works to "accelerate the clean energy economy for its national security, economic and environmental benefits."[6] Analysts within this project believe Americans must reevaluate the way the nation consumes energy in order to "reduce dependence on foreign oil, create jobs, enhance global competitiveness and decrease carbon emissions."[7]
Drug Safety Project
The goal of the Drug Safety Project is to ensure that pharmaceutical manufacturing and distributing is conducted in a safe and reliable manner.[8] Due to the "increasing complexity" of America's prescription drug supply chain, this study seeks to shorten the passage of medicine from the producer to the consumer. Researchers on the project argue that a shorter supply chain will result in fewer mistakes and fewer incorrect dosages.[8]
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this organization made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope. Know of one we missed? Click here to let us know.
Affiliations
- See also: Pew Research Center
As of September 2025, the Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of the Pew Charitable Trusts. The organization is the Pew Research Center's primary funder.[9]
Finances
The following is a breakdown of the Pew Charitable Trusts' revenues and expenses from 2003 to 2023. The information comes from ProPublica
| Year | Revenue | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | $0.3 million | $0.05 million |
| 2004 | $108.4 million | $70.7 million |
| 2005 | $234.5 million | $224.6 million |
| 2006 | $292.1 million | $230.3 million |
| 2007 | $321.6 million | $249.3 million |
| 2008 | $390.3 million | $243.9 million |
| 2009 | $323.7 million | $224.5 million |
| 2010 | $303.5 million | $258.9 million |
| 2011 | $300.1 million | $277.5 million |
| 2012 | $298.6 million | $339.9 million |
| 2013 | $321.8 million | $307.1 million |
| 2014 | $327.9 million | $295.6 million |
| 2015 | $331.5 million | $320.0 million |
| 2016 | $710.7 million | $311.5 million |
| 2017 | $335.4 million | $313.7 million |
| 2018 | $337.9 million | $366.8 million |
| 2019 | $355.7 million | $343.6 million |
| 2020 | $346.8 million | $351.6 million |
| 2021 | $343.5 million | $347.8 million |
| 2022 | $341.4 million | $376.5 million |
| 2023 | $415.2 million | $361.4 million |
See also
External links
- Pew Charitable Trusts official website
- Pew Charitable Trusts on Facebook
- Pew Charitable Trusts on Instagram
- Pew Charitable Trusts on LinkedIn
- Pew Charitable Trusts on X
- Pew Charitable Trusts on YouTube
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pew Charitable Trusts, "History," accessed September 8, 2025
- ↑ Pew Charitable Trusts, "Mission & Values," accessed September 8, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Pew Charitable Trusts, "Leadership," accessed September 8, 2025
- ↑ ‘’Pew Charitable Trusts,’’ “Home Page,” accessed June 22, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 ‘’Pew Charitable Trusts,’’ “Projects,” accessed June 22, 2015
- ↑ Pew Charitable Trusts, "Clean Energy Project," accessed June 23, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Pew Charitable Trusts, "Drug Safety Project," accessed June 23, 2015
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "About Pew Research Center," accessed September 8, 2025
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