West Michigan Foundation Watch: The Cheri DeVos Foundation

“In any case, the hidden hand of of foundations can control the course of social change and deflect anger to targets other than elite power.”

– Joan Roelofs, Foundations and Public Policy

Cheri 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. So far I have done posts on the Dick and Betsy DeVos Foundation, the Doug and Maria DeVos Foundation and the Dan and Pamela DeVos Foundation, which are some of the largest in West Michigan. Today I want to focus on the Cheri DeVos Foundation.

Cheri DeVos is the founder and owner of the Baton Collective, which includes Michigan Sports Academies, Discover Ada, Ada Hotel, Ada Village, Otter and Foxtail Coffee. The Cheri DeVos Foundation gave $4,172,500 in 2024, while maintaining $82,141,217 in total assets in that foundation.

The Cheri DeVos Foundation made contributions to dozens of entities in 2024, 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 is a form of hush money. When we say hush money, we 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.

However, before I get to how they distributed their foundation funds for 2024, I think it is important that the Cheri DeVos Foundation paid two DeVos-owned entities to manage how their foundation money was used in 2024, along with another independent company. The Cheri DeVos Foundation paid RDV Corporation $174,338.00 and Ottawa Avenue Private Capital $92,154.00. The independent company was Northern Trust Securities Inc., which received $106,868.00.

Religious Groups

• Bethany Christian Services – $20,000
• Bridge Street Ministries – $22,5000
• Degage Ministries – $80,000
• Partners Worldwide – $30,000
• Roosevelt Park Ministries Inc. – $60,000
• Safe Haven Ministries – $75,000
• Young Life Central Grand Rapids – $40,000

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

Political Organizations

• Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation – $500,000

Education-centered groups

• Ada Christian School Society – $125,000
• Grand Rapids Christian Schools – $50,000
• Grand Rapids Public Schools Foundation – $225,000
• Potters House – $150,000
• Rehoboth Christian School association – $150,000

Most of the education groups that the Cheri DeVos Foundation contributes to are conservative Christian Schools. The Ada Christian School society is where several of the DeVos family members have sent their children. Betsy DeVos has had a special relationship with Potter’s House school, and the Rehoboth Christian School Association is one of those old school missions for Indigenous children. It is important to note that the DeVos family foundations have contributed millions to the Grand Rapids Public Schools Foundation over the last decade or so, with the goal to always influence GRPS practices and policies.

DeVos-owned, created or connected groups

• Chicago Cubs Charities – $10,000
• Corewell Health Foundation – $10,000
• Grand Action Foundation – $1,000,000
• Grand Rapids Initiative for Leaders – $60,000

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 $

• AYA Youth Collective – $40,000
• Baxter Community Center – $45,000
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids – $100,000
• Children’s Advocacy Center of Kent County – $30,000
• Community Food Clubs – $60,000
• Exalta Health – $110,000
• Family Promise of Grand Rapids – $45,000
• Grand Rapids Children’s Museum – $40,000
• Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women – $100,000
• Heart of West Michigan United Way – $75,000
• Housing Kent – $200,000
• ICCF Community Homes – $45,000
• Kent County Habitat for Humanity – $100,000
• Kids Food Basket – $75,000
• LINC UP Community Revitalization – $20,000
• Moms Blossom Inc. – $80,000
• Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services – $1,850,000

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 Cheri 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 Cheri 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.