The Romita Shetty and Nasser Ahmad Foundation concentrates its funding on a small set of recipients, with a strong emphasis on higher education and institutional research support alongside targeted charitable health and community rehabilitation causes. The foundation gives large, repeat grants to a flagship educational institution (MIT) while also making one-off gifts to international cancer relief and second‑chance/community support organizations. This mix suggests donors prioritize impactful institutional partnerships plus select humanitarian and social‑service interventions.
Concentrated giving: a majority of dollars directed to one primary institutional grantee through multiple grants, supplemented by occasional mid‑sized discretionary gifts to charitable and health-related causes; favors repeat support for core partners rather than broad distribution.
A recurring commitment to MIT stands out in the Romita Shetty and Nasser Ahmad Foundation Inc’s recent giving, with grants of $100,000 in 2024, $78,000 in 2025, and $50,000 in 2023 to the Cambridge institution. That multi-year pattern is paired with a narrower set of additional grantees, which points to a foundation that appears to favor sustained institutional relationships rather than broad, diffuse funding. Alongside higher education support, the foundation has also funded charitable health and social-service organizations, including the Imran Khan Cancer Appeal and Second Chance, showing an interest in both academic and humanitarian work. Other recent gifts extend to organizations connected to student support, literacy, women’s services, legal advocacy, and arts programming, but the overall grant list remains compact relative to annual grantmaking. The result is a profile centered on targeted, repeat support for a few organizations, especially in education, with selective grants that reach into medical relief and community services. Because the largest gifts recur across years, the foundation’s pattern is less about one-off awards and more about maintaining ongoing relationships with specific institutions.
Higher education is a core theme. The foundation gave $78,000 in 2025 and $100,000 in 2024 to MIT, and also made a $30,000 grant in 2025 to Columbia SIPA and a $27,500 grant in 2023 to Columbia University. Within student-focused work, it awarded $25,000 in 2024 and $15,000 in 2025 to Student Leadership Network, supporting education-related programming through a separate grantee. International and medical philanthropy also appears in the record: it gave $50,000 in 2023, $25,000 in 2024, and $25,000 in 2025 to Imran Khan Cancer Appeal. Community and social-support causes show up through $25,000 to Sakhi for South Asian Women in 2025 and $18,000 in 2023, as well as $35,000 to Second Chance in 2023.
Typical grants cluster tightly around $10,000 to $23,250, with p25 at $10,000, median at $10,000, and p75 at $23,250. The recent record shows repeat funding to several organizations across multiple years, especially MIT, Columbia SIPA, Imran Khan Cancer Appeal, International Rescue Committee, Developments in Literacy, and Student Leadership Network. That points to an ongoing relationship model rather than isolated gifts. The foundation is a regular funder, not a DAF and not a program-related-investment vehicle. No application process is indicated in the data.
$380K
$8.1M
$344K
$455K
Most grants fall between $10K and $23K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$23K
Sign up for a free Kindora account to access AI-generated insights into this funder's giving patterns, decision-makers, and fit signals.
Get Started FreeFree Kindora accounts unlock side-by-side comparisons with foundations that share this funder's focus areas and giving profile.
Get Started FreeSign up free to see how well your nonprofit fits this funder, get an AI-generated pitch, and unlock similar foundations.
Notable grantees: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Imran Khan Cancer Appeal, Second Chance
Grant recipients are overwhelmingly U.S.-based, with 100% of recent grants going to U.S. organizations. New York is the top giving state by grant count, and 53% of grants go to recipients in the HQ state. Recent awards also land in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, California, New Jersey, and Montana. City-level concentration includes New York, NY; Cambridge, MA; Farmington, CT; Irvine, CA; and Baltimore, MD.
Recent grants lean toward higher education and institutional research support, with repeated awards to MIT and Columbia-affiliated programs. The record also includes charitable support for cancer relief, women’s services, literacy, legal advocacy, arts, and community rehabilitation organizations.
The middle of the distribution is $10,000. Both p25 and median are $10,000, while p75 is $23,250, so most grants are in the five-figure range, with a smaller number of larger institutional awards.
Yes. MIT appears in 2023, 2024, and 2025; Columbia SIPA appears in 2024 and 2025; Imran Khan Cancer Appeal appears in 2023, 2024, and 2025; and both International Rescue Committee and Developments in Literacy show multiple years of support.
The foundation gives most often in New York, and 53% of grants go to recipients in the HQ state. Recent recipient locations also include Cambridge, Farmington, Irvine, Baltimore, Boston, Princeton, Brooklyn, and Bozeman.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MIT | Cambridge, MA | $78,000 | 2025 | Educational |
| Developments in Literacy | Irvine, CA | $32,000 | 2025 | Educational |
| Columbia SIPA | New York, NY | $30,000 | 2025 | Educational |
| Sakhi for South Asian Women | New York, NY | $25,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Iqra Fund | Bozeman, MT | $25,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Imran Khan Cancer Appeal | Farmington, CT | $25,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Student Leadership Network | New York, NY | $15,000 | 2025 | Educational |
| Asian Cinevision Inc | New York, NY | $13,500 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Auliya Council | Mahopac, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Bridgehampton Child Care | Bridgehanpton, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Doctors Without Borders | Hagerstown, MD | $10,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| National Lawyers Guild | Boston, MA | $10,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| International Rescue Committee | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Al Shifa Foundation | Princeton, NJ | $10,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| South Asian Youth Action | Elmhurst, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Myriad USA | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Bridge Golf Foundation | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Human Rights Watch | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Friends of Smith Inc | Northampton, MA | $5,000 | 2025 | Educational |
| Pratham USA | Houston, TX | $5,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| I Care Fund America | Boston, MA | $5,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Khan Acadamy | Mountain View, CA | $5,000 | 2025 | Educational |
| Teach for All Pakistan | New York, NY | $4,000 | 2025 | Educational |
| Asia Society | New York, NY | $2,500 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Samburu Project | Los Angeles, CA | $2,100 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Desai Foundation | Woburn, MA | $2,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Moms First | New York, NY | $2,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Social Good Fund | Richmond, CA | $1,500 | 2025 | Charitable |
| NaliniKIDS | New York, NY | $1,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| Squash Busters | Roxbury Crossing, MA | $1,000 | 2025 | Charitable |
| MIT | Cambridge, MA | $100,000 | 2024 | Educational |
| Columbia SIPA | New York, NY | $30,000 | 2024 | Educational |
| Imran Khan Cancer Appeal | Farmington, CT | $25,000 | 2024 | Charitable |
| Student Leadership Network | New York, NY | $25,000 | 2024 | Educational |
| Doctors Without Borders | Hagerstown, MD | $25,000 | 2024 | Charitable |
| Developments in Literacy | Irvine, CA | $17,500 | 2024 | Educational |
| International Rescue Committee | New York, NY | $15,000 | 2024 | Charitable |
| KBFUS | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2024 | Charitable |
| I-Care Mashal Books | Boston, MA | $10,000 | 2024 | Educational |
| Human Rights Watch | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2024 | Charitable |
| Iqra Fund | Bozeman, MT | $10,000 | 2024 | Charitable |
| Human Rights Watch | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2024 | Charitable |
| South Asian Youth Action | Elmhurst, NY | $10,000 | 2024 | Charitable |
| Bridge Golf Foundation | New York, NY | $8,000 | 2024 | Charitable |
| Khan Acadamy | Mountain View, CA | $5,000 | 2024 | Educational |
| Sakhi for South Asian Women | New York, NY | $3,000 | 2024 | Charitable |
| Friends of Bogardus Plaza | New York, NY | $2,000 | 2024 | Charitable |
| Hyderabad Foundation | Ashburn, VA | $1,600 | 2024 | Charitable |
| MIT | Cambridge, MA | $50,000 | 2023 | Educational |
| Imran Khan Cancer Appeal | Farmington, CT | $50,000 | 2023 | Charitable |
Columbia SIPA
$30,000Educational
Iqra Fund
$25,000Charitable
Charitable
Asian Cinevision Inc
$13,500Charitable
Auliya Council
$10,000Charitable
Bridgehampton Child Care
$10,000Charitable
National Lawyers Guild
$10,000Charitable
Al Shifa Foundation
$10,000Charitable
Human Rights Watch
$10,000Charitable
Friends of Smith Inc
$5,000Educational
Teach for All Pakistan
$4,000Educational
Samburu Project
$2,100Charitable
Desai Foundation
$2,000Charitable
Moms First
$2,000Charitable
NaliniKIDS
$1,000Charitable
Columbia SIPA
$30,000Educational
I-Care Mashal Books
$10,000Educational
Human Rights Watch
$10,000Charitable
Iqra Fund
$10,000Charitable
Human Rights Watch
$10,000Charitable
Friends of Bogardus Plaza
$2,000Charitable
Hyderabad Foundation
$1,600Charitable