West Michigan Foundation Watch: The Dan and Pamela DeVos Foundation

Philanthropy is just reputation laundering for the oligarchy. 

It is that time of the year again, when GRIID posts about the various West Michigan Foundations from families that make up the Grand Rapids Power Structure. I start with the DeVos family, which has 5 different foundations. 

The Dan and Pamela DeVos Foundation

GRIID has always begun our Foundation Watch work by looking at the foundations associated with the most powerful family in West Michigan, the DeVos family. Two weeks ago I looked at the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation, and last week I investigated the Doug and Maria DeVos Foundation. Dan DeVos is currently the CEO of Fox Motors, a co-owner of CWD Real Estate Investments and owns numerous professional sports teams. According to GuideStar, in 2023, the Dan and Pamela DeVos Foundation contributed $13,052,000.00 leaving them with $9,947,343.00 of funds left in their foundation account. 

The Dan and Pamela DeVos Foundation made contributions to dozens of entities in 2023, but there are some clear categories of groups they contributed to, such as the Religious Right, Think Tanks, Education-centered groups, and social service entities, to name a few. Below is a listing of each from these categories, with a dollar amount and a brief analysis. 

I also include groups that are DeVos owned or created, along with liberal non-profits. With the liberal non-profits, we believe that funding from foundations like the DeVos family foundations ARE a form of hush money. When I say hush money, I mean that these entities will not publicly challenge the system of Capitalism, the wealth gap, structural racism and other systems of oppression, which the DeVos family benefits from and perpetuates through their own political funding.

Religious Right

• Keystone Community Church – $75,000

These religious groups practice varying degrees of conservative politics, which fit into the ideological framework that the DeVos family is committed to.

Far Right Think Tanks and Pro-Capitalism groups

• Mackinac Center for Public Policy – $75,000

Think Tanks influence public policy in individual states, like the Mackinac Center for Public Policy does in Michigan. The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a right-wing pressure group based in Michigan. Founded in 1987, it is the largest state-level “think tank” in the nation. It was established by right-wing activists to promote “free market,” pro-business policies.

Education-centered groups

• Davenport University – $220,000
• Ferris State University – $50,000
• Grand Rapids Christian Schools – $600,000
• GVSU – $55,000
• Hope College – $25,000
• Northwood University – $4,085,000 (Dan DeVos is on the Board of Trustees)

Half of the Education groups that the Doug and Maria DeVos Foundation contribute to are conservative Christian Schools. GVSU and Northwood University received foundation money, since both of the schools departments and buildings named after the DeVos family, along with the fact that they have influenced business policies at those schools, along with social policies, like delaying GVSU from providing domestic partner benefits by more than a decade because of DeVos funding. In 1994, when faculty and staff at GVSU were meeting with then President Lubbers over the university’s willingness to offer domestic partner benefits, word got out that this was going to happen. At the time GVSU was raising money for a proposed health education building on Michigan St and Peter Cook and Rich DeVos had pledged millions. Once DeVos and Cook found out about the proposal by GVSU to offer domestic partner benefits, they threatened to withdraw their financial support if the university would support a domestic partner benefits policy. GVSU acquiesced to the wish of DeVos and Cook.

DeVos-owned, created or connected groups

• Chicago Cubs Charities – $10,000
• Corewell Health Foundation – $25,000
• Grand Rapids Art Museum – $130,000 (Pamela DeVos is an honorary Trustee)
• Grand Rapids Griffins Youth Foundation – $160,000 
• Grand Rapids Symphony Society – $650,000 (Pamela Roland is a Board member) 
• John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts – $200,000 (Pamela DeVos is a Trustee)
• West Michigan Aviation Academy Foundation – $15,000 
• Whitney Museum of American Art – $475,000 (Pamela DeVos is on the Board of Trustees)

Of course all these entities that were created by DeVos family members, also promote their ideological religious and capitalist values. On top of that, it also means that DeVos family members are funding their own entities and using their foundation to fund their own pet projects, and arts and culture institutions that cater primarily to members of the Capitalist Class.

Groups receiving Hush $ 

• Bethany Christian Services Inc. – $150,000
• Family Outreach Center – $80,000
• Hope Network – $105,000
• Safe Haven Ministries – $10,000
• YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids – $300,000

These groups all provide some sort of social service – people fleeing domestic violence, those who are housing insecure, people with disabilities, adoption and immigration. There are root causes to all of these issues, but these groups are not likely to address root causes and larger systems of oppression. When the DeVos family foundations make contributions, this will increase the likelihood that systems of oppression will not be addressed by these groups. 

Foundations rarely make contributions without strings attached. The Dan and Pamela DeVos Foundation has a long history of funding far right and religious right groups, which GRIID began documenting over a decade ago when I started this project. Lastly, it is worth noting that the Dan and Pamela DeVos Foundation, like all of the DeVos family foundations, compliments the campaign contributions they make to further impact public policy and promote their religious and capitalist ideologies.