PUBLIC RESEARCH DOSSIER · ORGANIZATION

Contours Inc.

10 published research records · Latest research 2026-09-16

LIVING DOSSIER

About Contours Inc.

A primary Way Back PAC FEC Schedule B filed July 30, 2025 reports a $15,000 payment to Tavern Research on April 24, 2025 for 'Research Services - Non-Contribution Account.' Separately, Tavern Research's own 2026 published polling identifies Contours Inc. as the commissioner of likely-voter surveys in Montana and Nebraska; Contours' own Sept.

From Tavern Research is a recurring professional-services node across Way Back, Contours and the WFF-backed 1861 Initiative (2026-09-16). Recorded status: PRIMARY/FEC + DIRECT PUBLISHER VERIFIED: Way Back paid Tavern $15K for research in 2025; Contours commissioned Tavern polls in 2026; WFF-backed 1861 later reported a $450K Tavern IE. Shared vendor node verified; data-sharing/coordination not established. This sourced excerpt establishes the research context; it is not a completed biography or identity determination.

More from the published research

IRS-derived FY2024 grant records show Global Impact Social Welfare Foundation (GISWF) gave Contours Inc. $6.62 million for program support.
Global Impact Social Welfare Foundation funded Contours $6.62M before Contours became a 2025 WFF funder · 2026-09-15
Recorded status: IRS-DERIVED + PRIMARY GRANT LETTER VERIFIED for GISWF→Contours $6.62M and Contours→WFF $350K; Inside Elections reports at least $750K Contours→WFF total in 2025, later increment not yet primary-reproduced. No same-dollar pass-through inference.

A September 4, 2025 Contours Inc. response to an IRS Form 1024-A information request includes the actual representative grant letter for Contours' April 2025 grant to Western Futures Fund.
Contours' 2025 WFF grant letter reveals WFF's stated western-state mission, grant restrictions and required reporting · 2026-09-15
Recorded status: PRIMARY-DOCUMENT VERIFIED from Contours' signed IRS response and attached WFF grant letter. Establishes mission alignment, conditions and reporting; explicitly cuts against an inference that Contours earmarked the $350K for a particular WFF political expenditure or downstream Idaho recipient.

FOLLOW THE RECORD

Connections

Specific connections are being assembled from the published research. A shared mention is not enough to establish a relationship.

Other names appearing in the same research (22)

These are research overlaps for discovery, not documented relationships. Read the underlying records before drawing conclusions.

People

Jonah Meyers · 2 shared records
Kelly Poduch · 2 shared records
Jorge Badillo · 1 shared record
Noah Taylor · 1 shared record
Sarah Stremlau · 1 shared record
Seth Bodnar · 1 shared record
Thomas Cook · 1 shared record

PACs

Way Back PAC · 4 shared records
Fight For Us PAC · 2 shared records
Government That Works PAC · 1 shared record
Montana Freedom PAC · 1 shared record

Organizations

SOURCED RECORD

Research & sources

These dated records accumulate as research is published. Each retains its original status, context, and source references.

Connection research · 2026-09-16Contours president Sarah Stremlau previously led Arabella fiscal sponsorship, adding a second documented Arabella-experience node

Recorded status: PRIMARY + SELF-BIO VERIFIED: Contours president Sarah Stremlau previously led Arabella fiscal sponsorship. This establishes personnel/operational continuity, not current Arabella control, funding or coordination.

Contours' own Sept. 4, 2025 IRS information-request response identifies Sarah Stremlau as President and states Contours was formed Dec. 27, 2024. In that same sworn response, Contours reported approximately $6.058M total 2025 year-to-date expenditures, including $700,000 in grants to two Section 527 political organizations, $49,990 in political-campaign research/polling and $25,600 in candidate recruitment; it said it had no employees and that independent contractors performed the political-campaign work. The IRS later issued Contours a determination letter dated Oct. 23, 2025 recognizing it as a 501(c)(4), effective Dec. 27, 2024. Separately, Stremlau's own current consulting biography states that she previously served as head of the fiscal sponsorship practice at Arabella Advisors; another professional biography describes her as a former Arabella Associate Managing Director who developed, incubated, launched and provided operational infrastructure to hundreds of charitable initiatives. This creates a documented operational-experience continuity: Contours' president previously led Arabella fiscal-sponsorship/nonprofit-incubation work. It is notable alongside the independently documented Jonah Meyers path from Arabella Managed Organizations into Blue Moon/WFF/Contours/Way Back operational roles. The evidence does NOT establish that Arabella currently owns, controls, funds or directs Contours; that Stremlau's former employer selected Contours' grantees or candidates; or that Stremlau and Meyers acted together at Arabella or currently coordinate. The significance is that two current actors in the Contours/WFF architecture have independently documented prior experience inside Arabella's managed-organization/fiscal-sponsorship infrastructure.

Sources

Contours Inc. Sept. 4, 2025 IRS information-request response — pp. 1–4, signed response and political-campaign activity disclosures

This dossier reflects published research, including its uncertainties. Inclusion or association alone does not establish wrongdoing. Submit a correction or additional evidence →