What major grants or large donations has Patrisse Cullors acknowledged receiving and how were funds used?
Executive summary
Patrisse Cullors has repeatedly denied personal enrichment from Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation donations and BLM has stated she was paid $120,000 total for duties such as spokesperson and political education — with no compensation after 2019 — while tax filings and reporting show the foundation received roughly $90 million in 2020 and spent tens of millions on grants, investments, real estate, and contractors [1] [2]. Public documents and reporting also show specific large payments from the foundation to vendors and individuals connected to Cullors (or to family and partners), even as Cullors and allied leaders say much of the money was intended to be re-granted and to build a permanent endowment for the movement [1] [3] [4].
1. The payment Cullors and BLM acknowledge she personally received
Cullors and the Black Lives Matter Global Network have stated that she personally received $120,000 in total compensation since the organization’s 2013 founding for work such as consulting, spokesperson duties and political education, and that she did not receive compensation after 2019 — a direct acknowledgment offered in public responses to scrutiny [1].
2. Major inflows to the foundation and the organization‑level uses reported
Reporting and the organization’s tax filings show the foundation received about $90 million in donations in 2020 and by mid-2021 held roughly $42 million in net assets after spending more than $37 million on grants, consultants, real estate and operations; roughly $26 million was used on grants to organizations, local chapters and families and the foundation invested about $32 million in stocks intended as an endowment to sustain future work [2] [3] [4].
3. Large vendor and family‑connected payments revealed in filings
The IRS filings detailed that the foundation paid Cullors’s brother’s company, Cullors Protection LLC, about $840,000 for security services and paid Trap Heals LLC — a company tied to Damon Turner, the father of Cullors’s child — nearly $969,000 for live‑event, design and media production; those vendor payments drew attention because of the personal connections [3] [5] [6].
4. Real estate, a “campus,” and contested narratives about use of funds
New York Magazine and other outlets reported on a roughly $6 million Southern California property purchased as a “Campus” for the movement, and reporting and NPR noted that the house’s upkeep and security were handled via a mix of BLMGNF and affiliated entities — reporting that Cullors and BLM leaders have disputed or contextualized, saying the space was intended for collective movement work and content creation rather than personal use [7] [8] [9].
5. Reimbursements, travel and governance criticisms
Tax documents show Cullors reimbursed the foundation $73,523 for a charter flight used for foundation‑related travel, and filings indicate governance arrangements during the covered fiscal year where Cullors was the only voting board member — factors reporters and critics flagged as governance weaknesses while board members and supporters argued the foundation’s spending included legitimate grants and investments to sustain grassroots work [10] [2] [4].
6. Competing frames, disclosures and probes
The revelations were amplified across partisan and tabloid outlets, with right‑wing media highlighting family payments and real‑estate stories while supporters and some BLM leaders emphasized that tens of millions were granted to chapters, organizations and families and invested for long‑term work; state attorneys general inquiries and widespread reporting followed, but public sources here document both the specific payments and Cullors’ stated explanation about re‑granting and capacity building rather than clear evidence of personal enrichment beyond the $120,000 she and BLM have acknowledged [1] [11] [12] [10].
Limitations in the record
Public reporting and the released tax filings show the foundation’s receipts and several large vendor payments and investments, and Cullors’ own public statements about her compensation and the foundation’s intent; these sources do not establish additional undisclosed personal receipts beyond the $120,000 Cullors and BLM have cited, and the materials leave unresolved questions about internal decision‑making and donor communications that remain the subject of reporting and official inquiries [1] [2] [3].