Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Feb 2002.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
11 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
22 people listed on the 990; $1.7M paid to officers and key staff.
Brandon Wellford’s $202K as Director is at the 97th percentile of top reported officer pay among 90 <$100K medical research nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Ken Woody | — | $343,876 |
| Johannes Bouten | — | $290,980 |
| Steven J Bares | — | $250,000 |
| Brandon Wellford | $202,022 | $198,540 |
| Dean Didato | — | $167,216 |
| Phillip Cestaro JR | — | $147,838 |
| Leif E Honda | — | $138,496 |
| Jon Wetzel | — | $131,048 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Expands bioscience industries by strengthening regional competitiveness, infrastructure, education, and entrepreneur support.
Questions for Memphis Bioworks Foundation
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Managed workforce development grants focused on training WORKERS.(TOTAL persons benefited: >250)
Lead economic development programs focused on developing infrastructure, EDUCATION/WORKFORCE, and entrepreneurship in the life sciences and industrial bioscience AREAS.(TOTAL persons benefited: >100)
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $417K | $373K |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | −$17.7M | −$7.2M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $5.5M | $1.5M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $24.0M | $21.3M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $16.6M | $13.1M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $7.4M | $8.2M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $282K | $282K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $456K | $274K | $183K | |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $439K | $395K | $44K | |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $17K | $16K | $2K | |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $60K | $46K | $14K | |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $55K | $50K | $6K | |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $22K | $20K | $2K | |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $61K | $55K | $6K | |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $34K | $32K | $2K | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $26K | $23K | $3K | |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $8K | $6K | $2K | |
| TravelLn 17 | $550 | $495 | $55 | |
| InterestLn 20 | $419K | $419K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $18K | $16K | $2K | |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $43K | $38K | $4K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $9.9M | $45K | $9.9M | |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $1K | $1K | $121 | |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $11.9M | $1.3M | $10.6M | $0 |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $33 | $47K | −$47K | $5.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $0 | $29K | −$29K | $5.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $21 | $48K | −$48K | $5.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $2K | $19K | −$17K | $6.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $239K | $13.6M | −$13.4M | $6.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 Viewing | $1.9M | $11.9M | −$10.0M | $8.2M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,891,024 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 13 of 13 board members independent, 2 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,891,024 across 9 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $11,858,564 across 17 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $21,310,849 assets, 15 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $8,201,460 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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