Role in the network: One of three Moritz family foundations holding Formation Bio stock, with revenue figures that match its sibling foundation (Loud Hound) to within $486 on $38.6 million — functioning as a coordinated distribution vehicle controlled by Michael Moritz, who serves as Secretary/Treasurer while his son Jake serves as President and works for an election technology company.
Bio
The Kelson Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation based in San Francisco, California. It was established in 2017 and granted tax-exempt status by the IRS in July 2017. The foundation is classified as a 501(c)(3) private foundation (NTEE code T20: Private Grantmaking Foundations). Its EIN is 81-3588323. The foundation’s address is 1660 Bush St, Suite 300, San Francisco — shared with the other Moritz family foundations. [1] [2]
The foundation is led by Jake Moritz, who serves as President. Jake is described by Inside Philanthropy as “a designer, researcher, maker and problem solver” who works for VotingWorks, an open-source election technology nonprofit that builds voting systems and auditing tools. He holds a master’s degree in industrial design, and his grantmaking reflects this background with support for organizations like the American Precision Museum Association, Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, IDEO.org, Girls Garage, and the Museum of Craft and Design. [1]
Michael Moritz (Jake’s father) serves as Secretary/Treasurer — the financial control position. The foundation operates with a two-person board: Jake as President, Michael controlling the money. No compensation is paid to either officer. [3]
As of 2024, Kelson Foundation reported assets of approximately $149-150 million and awarded 65 grants totaling $8.2 million. In 2023, it awarded 96 grants totaling $8.7 million. Grant areas include education, arts and culture, community development, civic engagement, environment, health and wellbeing, human rights, mental health, and youth development. [4] [5]
Grantmaking Profile
Kelson’s grantmaking stays primarily in the California Bay Area but extends to New York, DC, and select national organizations. Notable grantee categories include: [1]
Education: Black Youth Project 100 Education Fund, University Settlement Society of New York, Reading Partners, 826 Valencia, UCSF, Armand Hammer United World College, Fund for Public Education in Wyoming
Civic/Election-Adjacent: State Voices, NEO Philanthropy, Movement Strategy Center, Make the Road New York, Highlander Research & Education Center
Community Development: Youth Employment Partnership, Mission Asset Fund, Canal Alliance, Bay Area Community Services, Soma West Community Benefit District, North Valley Community Foundation, Texas Organizing Project Education Fund
Arts/Design: American Precision Museum Association, Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, IDEO.org, Girls Garage, Museum of Craft and Design, New World Symphony, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Museum of the African Diaspora, Minnesota Street Project Foundation, Youth Radio, Nomadic Press, NPR
Bicycle Advocacy: Marin County Bicycle Coalition, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (Jake advocates for legalizing e-bikes in NYC on his personal website)
The VotingWorks Connection — A YC Graduate in Election Infrastructure
Jake Moritz works for VotingWorks, a nonprofit election technology company. What makes this significant is not VotingWorks itself — which by all accounts builds legitimate open-source voting systems — but its position within the network and the parallel AI-in-elections pipeline that OpenResearch is building.
VotingWorks Is a Y Combinator Graduate
VotingWorks graduated from Y Combinator’s Winter 2019 batch — the startup accelerator that Sam Altman ran as president from 2014-2019 and where Michael Moritz’s Sequoia Capital was the most active co-investor. [6] [7]
VotingWorks’ individual donors include Paul Graham — YC’s co-founder. Other donors: Chris Sacca (early Twitter/Uber investor), Matt Cutts (former Google engineer), Brian Acton (WhatsApp co-founder). Foundation funders include Schmidt Futures (Eric Schmidt, former Google/Alphabet chairman), Democracy Fund, and New Venture Fund. Government funders include CISA and NSF. [8]
VotingWorks was co-founded in December 2018 by Ben Adida (PhD in computer science, cryptography) and Matt Pasternack. Adida previously worked at Clever — another YC-backed education technology company. [6] [7]
Rural Mississippi — The Test Population
VotingWorks’ first real-world test was in Choctaw County, Mississippi — “a rural jurisdiction just shy of 10,000 residents” whose voting machines were “ancient” with no paper audit trail. [7]
This is the same state, same demographic profile, and same approach as OpenResearch’s RISE rural study, which operates in Warren County, Mississippi, Mercer County, West Virginia, and Beaufort County, North Carolina — three of the poorest rural areas in America. Test new systems on small, rural, politically weak populations who have the fewest alternatives. [9]
VotingWorks’ audit software (Arlo) is now used in 10 states including Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada — several critical swing states. [8]
The AI-in-Elections Pipeline
OpenResearch published research (Semafor, August 2025) finding that AI chatbots get better survey data than human interviewers — “people may be more willing to engage with questions if the system seems responsive to their answers.” [9]
OpenResearch’s “Whose AI?” project studies “how AI is experienced in everyday life” through community research. The endpoint: building the evidence base for deploying AI in underserved communities. [9]
The Dean Phillips presidential campaign (2024) used an AI chatbot for political outreach, created by Matt Krisiloff — Altman’s former chief of staff. [10]
The pipeline:
- Y Combinator accelerated VotingWorks (election technology). Paul Graham (YC co-founder) personally donates. Jake Moritz works there. Tests in rural Mississippi. Audit software in swing states (GA, MI, PA, NV).
- Y Combinator funded OpenResearch (Altman’s nonprofit). AI chatbot survey research proves bots are “better than human interviewers.” “Whose AI?” project deploys AI in underserved communities. RISE study in rural MS, WV, NC — same demographics as VotingWorks test.
- Sam Altman — former YC president (2014-2019). OpenAI CEO (builds the AI chatbots). Worldcoin (digital identity verification / “proof of personhood”). Former chief of staff created political AI chatbot (Phillips campaign).
- Michael Moritz (Sequoia, Formation Bio board) — Secretary/Treasurer of Kelson (Jake’s foundation) and Loud Hound (William’s). San Francisco Standard (news, covers elections). Blueprint SF / TogetherSF ($5M+ in SF election spending).
The self-referential loop: OpenAI builds AI chatbots. OpenResearch (Altman’s nonprofit) proves AI chatbots are superior polling tools. This justifies deploying AI in elections. VotingWorks (YC graduate, Paul Graham donor, Jake Moritz employee) builds the election infrastructure. Jake’s foundation (controlled by Michael Moritz, Formation Bio board director) funds election-adjacent organizations. Michael’s media outlet (SF Standard) covers elections. Michael’s PAC (Blueprint SF) spends millions on elections.
No single step is improper. VotingWorks builds legitimate systems. OpenResearch conducts legitimate research. Kelson funds legitimate organizations. The concern is that one family network touches election technology, election media, election spending, election research, and election AI — and the AI company at the center (OpenAI) is run by the person who funds the research proving AI should be used in elections.
Formation Bio Holdings
Kelson Foundation held Formation Bio stock under changing names:
| Year | Name on Filing | Fair Market Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | TRIALSPARK | $249,999 | Same amount as Loud Hound ($249,999) |
| 2022 | TRIALSPARK | $174,999 | Same amount as Loud Hound ($174,999) |
| 2023 | FORMATION BIO | Listed | Name updated to match rebrand |
| 2024 | FORMATION BIO | Listed | Name updated |
The holdings are small relative to Crankstart’s $72.9M position, but the identical dollar amounts with Loud Hound in 2021 and 2022 ($249,999 and $174,999 respectively) confirm coordinated distribution from the father. [3]
Mirror Coordination with Loud Hound
The financial synchronization between Kelson and Loud Hound extends beyond Formation Bio stock to the foundations’ overall revenues:
| Year | Kelson (Jake) | Loud Hound (William) | Difference | % Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $38,630,708 | $38,630,222 | $486 | 0.001% |
| 2022 | $6,565,332 | $6,148,067 | $417K | 6.4% |
| 2023 | $1,798,886 | $2,769,303 | $970K | 35% (diverging) |
| 2024 | $8,090,595 | $8,057,536 | $33K | 0.4% |
The 2021 and 2024 figures are within rounding error of identical. The 2022-2023 period shows temporary divergence before reconvergence. Michael Moritz, as Secretary/Treasurer of both foundations, controls the financial inputs that produce these outputs. [3]
Both foundations were created in July 2017 — the same month, same city, same two-person board structure, same filing patterns. They function as a single vehicle split across two tax entities.
The Searchability Problem (Kelson-Specific)
Kelson’s use of “TRIALSPARK” (2021-22) and “FORMATION BIO” (2023-24) means:
- An IRS search for “TRIALSPARK” finds Kelson’s 2021-22 holdings but NOT Crankstart’s (which uses “LABNOOK AKA TRIALSPARK”)
- An IRS search for “FORMATION BIO” finds Kelson’s 2023-24 holdings but NOT Crankstart’s (aggregated in 2024)
- An IRS search for “LABNOOK” finds Crankstart’s original entry but NOT Kelson’s
- An IRS search for “KELSON” finds the foundation but you’d need to know to look for it — there’s no public indication linking “Kelson Foundation” to “Moritz family” to “Formation Bio” without cross-referencing multiple databases
The name changes function as a fragmentation mechanism across IRS searchable databases. Each renaming event creates a new search silo that doesn’t connect to the previous one. [3]
Key People
| Person | Role | Network Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Moritz | President | Michael Moritz’s son. Industrial designer. Works for VotingWorks (election technology). Advocates e-bike legalization. Master’s in industrial design. |
| Michael Moritz | Secretary/Treasurer | Controls finances. Also Secretary/Treasurer of Loud Hound. CEO of Crankstart. Board director of Formation Bio. Sequoia Heritage president ($15-16B AUM). |
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Jul 2017 | Kelson Foundation established. Tax-exempt status granted. Same month as Loud Hound. |
| Sep 2017 | Formation Bio (then TrialSpark) seed round — Sequoia (Alfred Lin) and Thrive. Same month as foundation creation. |
| 2021 | Revenue: $38,630,708. Formation Bio stock listed as “TRIALSPARK” ($249,999). Mirror amount with Loud Hound. |
| 2022 | Revenue: $6,565,332. Formation Bio stock listed as “TRIALSPARK” ($174,999). Mirror amount with Loud Hound. |
| Dec 2023 | TrialSpark rebrands as Formation Bio |
| 2023 | Revenue: $1,798,886. Formation Bio stock listed as “FORMATION BIO.” 96 grants, $8.7M distributed. |
| 2024 | Revenue: $8,090,595. 65 grants, $8.2M distributed. Assets: ~$150M. |
Nodes and Open Questions
- VotingWorks: Jake works for an election technology company while his father owns a news outlet (SF Standard) and funds a political PAC (TogetherSF/Blueprint SF). What is Jake’s specific role at VotingWorks? Does VotingWorks receive grants from any Moritz family foundation?
- July 2017 timing: Both Kelson and Loud Hound were created the same month as the TrialSpark seed round (September 2017 — two months later). Was the creation of the sons’ foundations coordinated with the TrialSpark investment? Did the seed round generate the stock that was distributed to the sons’ foundations?
- $0 compensation: Neither Jake nor Michael takes compensation from Kelson. The foundation’s entire value proposition for Jake is the ability to direct $8M+ annually in grants. For Michael, it’s an additional tax-exempt vehicle for holding investment positions (including Formation Bio stock) alongside Crankstart.
- State Voices and NEO Philanthropy: These are national civic engagement organizations involved in voter registration and election advocacy. What is the relationship between these Kelson grantees and VotingWorks (Jake’s employer)? Do they use VotingWorks technology?
- 1660 Bush St Suite 300: Is this the shared address for all three Moritz foundations? What else operates from this address?
- The $150M in assets: Where did Jake Moritz’s $150M in foundation assets come from? At age ~30s with a design background, the assets are clearly Moritz family wealth distributed through the son’s foundation. The foundation is a vehicle for the father’s capital, directed by the son’s preferences.
- Grant overlap with Crankstart: How many Kelson grantees also receive Crankstart funding? If significant overlap exists, the two foundations are not just financially coordinated but programmatically coordinated — the father and son funding the same organizations through separate tax entities.
Sources
[1] [Archive] (https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/find-a-grant/grants-k/kelson-foundation)
[2] [Archive] (https://eintaxid.com/company/813588323-kelson-foundation/)
[3] Prior investigation sessions — Kelson/Loud Hound/Crankstart 990-PF comparative analysis
[4] [Archive] (https://www.instrumentl.com/990-report/kelson-foundation)
[5] [Archive] (https://grantfrog.com/funders/kelson-foundation-813588323/)
[6] [Archive] (https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/03/07/1089524/open-source-voting-machines-us-elections/)
[7] [Archive] (https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/02/votingworks/)
[8] [Archive] (https://www.voting.works/about)
[9] Prior investigation sessions — OpenResearch “Whose AI?” project, Semafor AI chatbot survey, RISE rural study
[10] Prior investigation sessions — Dean Phillips AI chatbot, Matt Krisiloff (Altman’s former chief of staff)