Funding Partners

Founding Sponsors

The Center for Social Development gratefully acknowledges the visionary contributions of its founding partners.

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. The Mott Foundation was CSD’s first funder in 1994 and has been a supporter of CSD’s asset building research ever since. Mott’s support of Child Development Account (CDA) research has contributed to children’s account policies in several states and federal CDA proposals. Beyond the United States, this support has enabled CSD to inform CDA policies in Israel, Canada, Kazakhstan, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.

The Ford Foundation. The Ford Foundation has been an anchor funding partner in CSD’s asset-building research. They have provided critical support for a statewide universal CDA policy experiment that began in 2007 and continues today. The foundation also matched Washington University to establish an endowment for CSD’s long-term stability and flexibility. This funding enables CSD to invest in projects and applied scholars on the cutting edge of innovations.

Centene Corporation, Intuit Inc., JPMorgan Chase Foundation, and Mastercard. This group of funders provided early support and investment to create the Social Policy Institute at Washington University with an agenda in social research and innovation. In order to expand capacity and synergy, at the beginning of 2025, the Social Policy Institute integrated into a larger and renewed CSD. The new CSD continues to inform and advance innovations in social policy in the United States and globally.

Together, these philanthropic funders have built a sturdy foundation, enabling CSD to grow in both capability and scope, generating meaningful research evidence and effective policy innovations. CSD is enormously grateful.

Project Sponsors and Funders

The Center for Social Development thanks all of its sponsors and funders for their support.