Research finding · Research date 2026-09-18
Who directs Sixteen Thirty Fund: board, officers, disclosed staff, and limits of the public organizational chart
Recorded status: 2024 filing verified; current president confirmed; complete 2026 board not verified
This is a dated research record. Its qualifications and open questions are part of the account. Association alone does not establish wrongdoing or control.
As of this September 18, 2026 review, Sixteen Thirty Fund's website identifies Amy Kurtz as president. The newest complete Form 990 located is for calendar 2024, filed in November 2025. It is a historical governance snapshot, not a verified September 2026 roster.
At year-end 2024 the disclosed five voting directors were Dara Freed (treasurer and interim chair from July 15, 2024), Marissa Brown (director and secretary from May 2, 2024), Jeff Cherry (director), LaToia Jones (director), and Eric Kessler (director). Raul Alvillar's chair service ended July 15, 2024; Douglas Hattaway's secretary service ended May 2, 2024. Amy Kurtz is marked an officer, not a voting director, in Part VII. Kessler subsequently announced in March 2025 that he had stepped down from the board. No verified replacement roster was located.
The filing also lists Ryan Johnson, project director; Amy Steinhoff and Patricia Kupfer, campaigns directors; and Carl Walz, campaigns director through December 2, 2024. Form 990's compensated-person list is not a complete staff directory and does not identify the internal reporting lines or each person's project.
A functional reconstruction is: governing board oversees executive leadership; president leads the organization; operational staff and sponsored projects implement work; outside vendors provide contracted services; independent grantees receive grants rather than automatically becoming subordinate units. The board reviews the president's compensation and the annual return. The fund's own description states that sponsored projects operate under its legal/tax status and source project funding. Specific spending delegations and approval thresholds are not disclosed in the sources reviewed. The 2024 return states that governing documents, conflict policy and financial statements are not publicly made available.
Founding history: the fund reports formation in 2009. Eric Kessler is verifiably Arabella Advisors' founder and an earlier Sixteen Thirty president/chair. His exact incorporation role and a complete original-founder roster require further examination of founding records; this note does not equate founding Arabella with sole founding or present control of Sixteen Thirty.
Organizational connections: Columbia identifies Kurtz's earlier work at America Votes, NEA, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund and LCV. Higher Heights for America PAC lists Jones as a board member and describes her Hustle government-affairs role. A dated 2015 interview identifies Brown as Democracy Initiative executive director and records her prior LCV and Alliance for Justice work. These biographies are separate from proof of approval of any Idaho grant.
Source references
- Sixteen Thirty Fund 2024 Form 990 — PDF pages 2, 8-9, 116-117; Part VII and Schedule O
- Sixteen Thirty Fund — About Us — President identification and latest linked annual return
- Sixteen Thirty Fund — Our Approach — Fiscal sponsorship model
- Eric Kessler departure announcement — March 2025 post
- NDI — Eric Kessler — Biography; its STF board reference is superseded by his departure announcement
- Columbia — Amy Kurtz — Biography
- Higher Heights — LaToia Jones — Board biography
- Rachel's Network — Marissa Brown interview — February 27, 2015