Connection research · Research date 2026-09-18
Lee Bodner links Sunflower's three nonprofit owners through documented leadership roles
Recorded status: Current NVF role and historical 2024 chair overlap verified; current cross-board tenure requires confirmation
This is a dated research record. Its qualifications and open questions are part of the account. Association alone does not establish wrongdoing or control.
New Venture Fund, Sunflower's lead investor, identifies Lee Bodner as president. His official biography says he previously was an Arabella managing director leading engagement with NVF and organizations including Sixteen Thirty Fund. It also describes him as chair of Windward and Hopewell. The underlying 2024 filings independently establish this historical overlap: Windward names him board chair, and Hopewell names him board chair and president. Hopewell's current page names Anna Brower as president since September 2025, while Windward's current web roster does not list Bodner. Accordingly, the dual chair roles are confirmed for 2024 but not independently resolved for September 2026; the undated NVF biography may retain older information.
Brower previously served as New York Attorney General Letitia James's chief of staff, managed James's transition and was deputy campaign manager for the 2018 campaign, according to Hopewell's biography. These are direct employment/political-work connections. They do not establish that James directs Hopewell or Sunflower.
NVF's current board index names Thomas Gibian (chairperson/secretary), Katherine Miller (treasurer/vice-chair), Akilah Massey, Margaux Day, Chuck Redmond, Adam Eichberg and Daniel Ramos. These are NVF directors, not a verified list of Sunflower directors. NVF identifies Janna Freed as general counsel and formerly Arabella deputy general counsel. No family relationship with Sixteen Thirty officer Dara Freed is inferred from a shared surname.
Sunflower confirms that its owners have board representation but does not name those representatives on its site. Ownership percentages, actual board seats, shareholder voting rights, purchase consideration and Sixteen Thirty contract approval provisions remain key missing records. The evidence supports a closely connected service structure and overlapping historical leadership, not proof that one individual governs all entities or directed an Idaho transaction.
Source references
- NVF — Lee Bodner — Official biography read September 18, 2026; undated
- Windward Fund 2024 Form 990 — PDF page 8, Part VII
- Hopewell Fund 2024 Form 990 — PDF page 8, Part VII; downloaded and text inspected
- Hopewell — Who We Are — Anna Brower biography
- NVF — Board of Directors — Official index read in browser September 18, 2026
- NVF — Janna Freed — Official biography
- Sunflower Services — About Us
- Windward leadership — Current web roster