OVERVIEW: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative focuses primarily on AI-powered biomedical science, with additional grantmaking and partnerships in K–12 education and the communities where founders Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg live and work. Its science work is organized through Biohub, while its education portfolio now operates as Learning Commons. Place-based giving centers on San Mateo County, California, and Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i.
IP TAKE: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has changed dramatically since launching with a mission to build a more inclusive, just and healthy future. Once a major K–12 and social-policy funder, CZI has wound down much of its earlier work in education, immigration, criminal justice, racial equity and other advocacy areas. Its center of gravity is now AI-powered biology, biomedical research and large-scale scientific infrastructure.
This is an exceptionally wealthy but highly selective funder. Major grants increasingly flow to Biohub institutes, universities, research consortia and organizations capable of producing sophisticated tools, datasets and open scientific resources. CZI also maintains in-house technology teams that work alongside grantees and partners.
CZI does not accept general unsolicited proposals, but it is not entirely closed. Biohub periodically issues specialized RFAs and runs investigator and fellowship programs. Rare As One recruits patient-led rare-disease organizations in competitive cohorts. Learning Commons works with outside research, curriculum and technology partners, while Digital Promise administers CZI-backed education competitions. The annual Community Fund accepts applications from eligible San Mateo County nonprofits.
A cold pitch is unlikely to succeed. The strongest route is a tightly matched open opportunity, a substantive partnership proposition or a warm introduction from someone inside CZI’s existing ecosystem.
Science prospects should monitor Biohub closely and demonstrate exceptional expertise, interdisciplinary capacity and a commitment to open data. Education organizations should approach Learning Commons with concrete assets, such as datasets, curricula, research frameworks or pilot sites. San Mateo County nonprofits should emphasize local roots and collaboration. Kaua‘i organizations will need strong ties to local networks and the Hawai‘i Community Foundation.
PROFILE: Priscilla Chan, a former teacher and pediatrician, and Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook cofounder, established the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) in 2015. Unlike a conventional foundation, CZI operates through several entities: the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC; the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Foundation, a private foundation; a donor-advised fund at Silicon Valley Community Foundation; and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Advocacy, a 501(c)(4). Its work also includes venture investments, internally developed technology, free tools and capacity-building support.
These four organizations share the broadly stated mission of helping “solve some of society’s toughest challenges — from curing or preventing disease to improving education and addressing the needs of our local communities.”
Grants for AI, Science and Biomedical Research
Science is now the clear center of CZI’s work. Its founders have called CZI a “science-first philanthropy” and basic science research is the organization’s primary focus. It intends to devote at least $10 billion to scientific research over the next decade.
Biohub brings together scientists, engineers and AI researchers to develop models, datasets, imaging systems and biological technologies intended to improve understanding of disease. Biohub operates in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York and brings “together scientists, engineers, and AI experts with a shared mission to help scientists cure or prevent all disease.” Its shared, open tools include Biomodels, Datasets, Benchmarks, and Portals, with AI-supported Virtual Cells that enables developers to the build further AI models and biologists to “apply them with ease.”
CZI organizes this work around four scientific grand challenges:
- Building AI-based virtual-cell models that can predict cellular behavior
- Developing imaging systems that can map and measure complex biological systems
- Creating tools that monitor inflammation in living tissue
- Engineering the immune system to detect, prevent and treat disease
Major grants tend to support universities, research institutes, medical centers, scientific consortia and multidisciplinary teams with the capacity to pursue complex projects over long periods.
AI, Virtual Cells and Biological Data
- CZI and Biohub are investing heavily in AI systems that model cells, proteins and biological processes. The five-year, $500 million Virtual Biology Initiative includes $100 million for external research and coordinated data generation and $400 million for Biohub technology, infrastructure and internal data production.
- Participating institutions and networks include the Allen Institute, Arc Institute, Broad Institute, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Human Cell Atlas and Human Protein Atlas.
- This is not a $500 million open grant program. Biohub has not announced a general application process for the initiative. Grantseekers should instead watch for narrower RFAs, institutional partnerships and consortium opportunities that emerge from the work.
Science RFAs and Investigator Programs
Biohub combines targeted grantmaking with open competitions in defined areas of frontier research.
- Opportunities have included awards for synthetic biology, live-tissue instrumentation, advanced imaging, rare-disease research, postdoctoral fellowships and regional investigator programs.
- Eligibility varies widely by competition. Some RFAs are international and open to universities, nonprofits, government laboratories and for-profit research organizations, while others are limited to faculty at Biohub partner universities.
- As of July 2026, Biohub’s open vitrification RFA supports two-year projects developing improved freezing and monitoring technologies for cryogenic electron tomography. The competition permits applications from domestic and international nonprofit and for-profit organizations, universities, hospitals, laboratories and eligible government agencies. Because opportunities and deadlines change requently, researchers should monitor Biohub’s funding page and join its science-funding mailing list.
- Open science is a recurring expectation. Competitive applicants should be prepared to share data, software, protocols, models and research findings rather than build proprietary resources for limited use. Biohub explicitly supports rapid dissemination and the reuse of scientific outputs.
Rare As One
Rare As One supports patient-led rare-disease organizations that are building collaborative research networks. Grants and accompanying capacity-building assistance help organizations establish shared research priorities, patient registries, natural-history studies, disease models and relationships among patients, scientists and clinicians.
- Since 2019, Biohub has supported 94 patient-led organizations through Rare As One. The program is cohort-based rather than continuously open. Biohub plans to invite organizations to apply for a fourth cycle in fall 2026.
- This is one of CZI’s more realistic opportunities for small or emerging nonprofits. Strong candidates are genuinely patient-led, represent a clearly defined rare-disease community and are positioned to build research infrastructure—not merely provide patient services or awareness campaigns. Previous cycles have offered multiyear funding, training, mentorship and participation in a broader peer network.
CZI also provides ongoing support to the Kemper Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard University. Named after Zuckerberg’s mother and launched in 2022 with a $500 million commitment from CZI, the institute’s mission is to “innovate and advance the field of intelligence research and devise solutions to complex problems for the benefit of humanity.” In addition to research and computing, the institute “offers a range of fellowship and educational programs, catering to students at various levels of study, including graduate, post-baccalaureate, and undergraduate.”
For additional information about its past science grantees, projects, and partners, see CZI’s searchable Grants Database, Ventures Database, and its Newsroom, as well as via Medium for updates on CZI grantees.
Grants for Education and AI
Once a premier K-12 funder known for its adherence to the whole child approach to learning, CZI shifted focus radically in 2025 after clawing back on its DEI-backed education program. IP founder David Callahan has writen that while “education remains a focus of CZI, that work centers mainly on technological innovation following a retreat over several years from its previously expansive agenda.”
CZI’s education work now operates under the name Learning Commons. Launched in 2025, Learning Commons builds open AI infrastructure intended to make learning science more usable in education technology.
- Its work includes educational datasets, research frameworks, evaluation tools and software that help developers assess whether AI-generated material is accurate, rigorous and appropriate for students.
- Learning Commons combines grantmaking with product development and co-building partnerships. It works with school districts, educators, academic researchers, curriculum providers, standards organizations, nonprofits and technology developers. Prominent tools include Knowledge Graph, which connects curricula, academic standards and learning-science research, and Evaluators, which assess the quality of AI-generated educational content.
- Learning Commons also supports the K–12 AI Infrastructure Program, a $26 million donor collaborative administered by Digital Promise.
- The program funds openly licensed datasets, benchmarks and models intended to help AI systems understand student thinking and support formative assessment.
- Other funders include the Gates Foundation, Overdeck Family Foundation, Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Valhalla Foundation and Walton Family Foundation.
- Recent education grant partners include Student Achievement Partners, Quill, Leanlab Education, Magpie Literacy, Achievement Network and New Meridian. These projects support open datasets, assessment rubrics and other resources that can be integrated into AI-enabled learning products.
- Grantseekers should distinguish Learning Commons from CZI’s earlier education initiatives. Gradient Learning, now called Prism, operates within Transcend. Summit Learning is legacy work rather than a central current funding program. Along remains associated with CZI’s previous product-development work, but there is no evidence of a standing Along grant opportunity. These initiatives should not be treated as separate, open CZI grant programs.
- For other examples of previous CZI grants and ventures in K-12 education, see the organization’s searchable Grants Database, Venture Database, or its Newsroom.
- Learning Commons does not publish a general unsolicited-proposal process. The best opening is a specific partnership proposition: high-quality research or curriculum data that can be made machine-readable; validated measures of teaching and learning; a district willing to test tools; or technical expertise in open, interoperable education infrastructure. Its partnerships page specifically invites engagement from researchers, content providers, schools, districts, developers and funders.
Grants for Community Development
CZI’s current community work is place-based. Its most visible grantmaking supports San Mateo County, California, and Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i. These portfolios include direct-service grants, community partnerships, shared spaces and occasional responsive giving. This focus area was dramatically restructured and reduced in late February 2025, when CZI dismissed much of the team working on housing affordability, economic inclusion, and other forms of “social advocacy funding,” including work and grants focused on immigration reform and racial equity.
- The CZI Community Fund is CZI’s clearest opportunity for conventional nonprofits. It holds an annual open RFA for organizations serving San Mateo County.
- The Fund supports direct services in: Affordable housing, Homelessness, Food security, Workforce development, Health and wellbeing, Education and youth, and Arts and culture.
- Selected organizations receive two-year unrestricted or project grants of up to $200,000.
- CZI favors organizations with strong local roots, meaningful community engagement, experienced leadership, a clear analysis of local conditions and evidence of collaboration with other organizations. National or statewide nonprofits may receive project support for work based in San Mateo County, but locally embedded groups appear better positioned for unrestricted support.
- The fund previously used community members to help review proposals. Beginning with the 2026 cycle, applications are reviewed by a panel of CZI employees.
- Beyond the Community Fund, CZI makes targeted community-affairs grants and responsive awards in San Mateo County and the greater Bay Area. No general application process is available for this additional funding.
- The Chan Zuckerberg Kaua‘i Community Fund is held at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation.
- It supports affordable housing, health and wellbeing, education and youth, local food production and distribution, workforce development, conservation, Native Hawaiian culture and emergency response.
- Since 2016, Chan and Zuckerberg have committed more than $100 million to over 100 organizations on Kaua‘i.
- Recent partners include Hawai‘i Foodbank Kaua‘i, Kaua‘i Habitat for Humanity, Ho‘ōla Lāhui Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i Community Lending, National Tropical Botanical Garden and numerous locally led food, cultural and conservation organizations.
- No current open application process is posted. Prospects should monitor both CZI and the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and build relationships within Kaua‘i’s established nonprofit and community-leadership networks.
- CZI also operates a free meeting and event facility in Redwood City for eligible Bay Area nonprofits and public entities. Community Space is an in-kind resource rather than a grant program, and membership does not imply access to CZI funding.
- CZI offers its Community Space, located in Redwood City, as a “free meeting and event space for organizations to convene, collaborate, and host events and programs that support the local community.” Importantly, the space is not available for political or advocacy events, or those that do not align with CZI’s current mission or values. See details about available rooms and how to book a room here.
Other Opportunities and Investments
- CZI Ventures makes equity investments in companies developing products in education, life sciences and related fields. These are impact investments, not charitable grants, and nonprofits should not treat the venture portfolio as an application pathway.
- The organization’s donor-advised fund at Silicon Valley Community Foundation is likewise a funding vehicle, not an independently accessible grant program. CZI may recommend that an award be paid through the fund, but grantseekers cannot apply to the DAF as a separate CZI portfolio.
Important Grant Details:
CZI’s grants vary enormously by program and funding entity. The annual San Mateo County Community Fund awards up to $200,000 over two years, while science awards can reach several million dollars. Large institutional commitments to Biohub and university research centers dwarf most nonprofit grants.
- The Foundation’s 2024 Form 990-PF reported approximately $235.4 million across 53 grants. The median award was about $1.2 million and the average about $4.4 million, although the average is distorted by major payments to CZI-affiliated research institutions. The tax filing covers only the private foundation. It does not provide a complete accounting of grants made through CZI’s LLC, donor-advised fund or advocacy entity, and some listed payments represent installments on multiyear commitments.
- Science RFA contact information varies by opportunity and is posted with each competition.
- Grantseekers should subscribe separately to CZI, Biohub and Learning Commons updates, since each organization maintains its own announcements and funding information.
- Grantseekers with questions about CZI’s science grants can contact the organization through email at sciencegrants@chanzuckerberg.com.
- Community Fund questions: community@chanzuckerberg.com
- The organization’s telephone number is listed as (650) 804-7100, but networking with staff on LinkedIn might be a more effective means of contact.
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