Nonprofit · EIN 81-4526660
THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE
Tax-exempt · BERKELEY, CA 94704
Financials
| Year ended | Form | Revenue | Expenses | Net income | Total assets | Liabilities | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, 2025 | 990 | $5,069,912 | $5,783,654 | -$713,742 | $5,985,021 | $1,586,069 | $4,398,952 |
| December 31, 2024 | 990 | $7,537,340 | $5,536,433 | $2,000,907 | $6,490,079 | $1,377,385 | $5,112,694 |
Financial details: 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025
Revenue
- Contributions, gifts and grants
- $4,610,976
- Program service revenue
- $244,090
- Investment income
- $188,047
- Net rental income
- $26,799
- Other revenue
- $26,799
Expenses
- Grants and similar amounts paid
- $0
- Compensation of officers, directors and key employees
- $1,450,465
- Other salaries and wages
- $1,765,878
- Salaries, compensation and benefits (total)
- $3,713,092
- Professional fundraising fees
- $0
- Legal fees
- $124,522
- Accounting fees
- $85,734
- Occupancy
- $356,891
- Depreciation
- $53,993
- Program services (functional)
- $4,819,068
- Management and general (functional)
- $738,626
- Fundraising (functional)
- $225,960
Balance sheet and other
- Total assets, start of year
- $6,490,079
- Total assets, end of year
- $5,985,021
- Total liabilities, end of year
- $1,586,069
- Net assets, end of year
- $4,398,952
- Land, buildings and equipment
- $104,375
- Publicly traded securities
- $3,089,940
- Net assets without donor restrictions
- $3,406,305
- Net assets with donor restrictions
- $992,647
- Gross receipts
- $5,069,912
- Employees
- 27
- Volunteers
- 9
- Year formed
- 2016
- State of legal domicile
- CA
From the e-filed returns the IRS publishes as XML (latest three processing years; amended returns replace the original). PDF copies at the IRS.
Officers, directors and key employees
As listed on the 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025, highest compensation first.
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation | Other / benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronald Nordhaus | Executive Dir. Officer | 40 | $320,000 | $50,737 |
| David Hong | Washington Dir. | 40 | $213,675 | $24,295 |
| Alex Trembath | Deputy Dir. | 40 | $211,150 | $18,519 |
| Adam Stein | Dir. Nuclear Energy Innovation | 40 | $169,950 | $43,760 |
| Seaver Wang | Dir. of Climate & Energy | 40 | $190,550 | $15,125 |
| Daniel Blaustein-Rejto | Dir. Food & Agriculture | 40 | $171,466 | $21,236 |
| Emily Bass | Dir. Fed Policy | 40 | $157,646 | $12,177 |
| Ephstathia Bonadies | Dir. Events & Special Projects | 40 | $154,525 | $13,654 |
| Ann Wang | Dir. of Ops Officer | 40 | $124,424 | $34,043 |
| Alexander Smith | Editorial Dir. | 40 | $133,250 | $13,690 |
| William Tillson | Sr. Nuc Ener Analy | 40 | $104,481 | $21,907 |
| Peter Seel | Radl Health Analys | 40 | $103,090 | $14,449 |
| Emma Kovak | Sr. Food/Ag Analys | 40 | $105,825 | $4,458 |
| Tisha Schuller | Board Chair Trustee or director, Officer | 2 | $0 | $0 |
| Thomas Riley | Sec./Treasury Trustee or director, Officer | 2 | $0 | $0 |
7 more people on this return
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Winkler | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Rachel Pritzker | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Ross Koningstein | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Ray Rothrock | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Jennifer Hernandez | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Chris Foreman | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
| Bill Budinger | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 |
990 for the year ended December 31, 2024: 21 people
| Name | Title | Hours / week | Compensation | Other / benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ronald Nordhaus | Executive Dir. Officer | 40 | $260,777 | $44,729 |
| David Hong | Washington Dir. | 40 | $204,369 | $20,336 |
| Adam Stein | Dir Nuclear Energy Innovation | 40 | $158,328 | $43,165 |
| Alex Trembath | Deputy Director | 40 | $191,402 | $8,107 |
| Seaver Wang | Co-Dir Climate & Energy | 40 | $184,332 | $12,318 |
| Vijaya Ramachandran | Dir Energy for Dev | 40 | $168,212 | $21,605 |
| Daniel Blaustein-Reijto | Dir Food & Agriculture | 40 | $162,318 | $17,089 |
| Patrick Brown | Co-Dir Climate & Energy | 40 | $152,894 | $26,289 |
| Ann Wang | Dir. of Operations | 40 | $128,619 | $29,623 |
| Ephstathia Bonadies | Dir Events & Proj | 40 | $135,101 | $20,155 |
| Alexander Smith | Editorial Dir. | 40 | $124,608 | $12,806 |
| Rachel Pritzker | Board Chair Trustee or director, Officer | 2 | $0 | $0 |
| Thomas Riley | Sec./Treasury Trustee or director, Officer | 2 | $0 | $0 |
| Matthew Winkler | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Tisha Schuller | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Ross Koningstein | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Ray Rothrock | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Jennifer Hernandez | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Chris Foreman | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Bill Budinger | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Varun Sivaram | Board Member Trustee or director | 1 | $0 | $0 |
Address and contacts
- Address (IRS master file)
- 2054 UNIVERSITY AVE STE 500, BERKELEY, CA 94704-1059
- In care of
- % MR TED NORDHAUS
- Principal officer (990 for 2025)
- Ronald Nordhaus, 2054 University Ave Ste 500, Berkeley, CA 94704
- Signed the 990
- Thomas Riley, Sec/Treasury
- Phone
- (832) 594-0184
- Return prepared by
- Crosby & Kaneda CPAs LLP
Mission
The Breakthrough Institute is a research center that identifies and promotes technological solutions to environmental and human development challenges.
Program accomplishments
- Research Programs: Breakthrough's Research Programs consist of our Climate and Energyprogram, which focuses on policies and technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissionsand increase social resilience to a changing climate; our Nuclear Energy Innovation program, which oversees all engagement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and publishes cutting-edge analysis on nuclear technology; our Food and Agriculture program, which advances an innovation-and-productivity framework for enabling abundant andlow-impact food production; our Energy and Development program, which focuses onenergy and infrastructural equity and resilience in emerging economies; and our Environmental Regulatory Reform program, which develops and promotes credible and politically durable policy reforms that support the timely, lawful, and equitable deployment of critical infrastructure.Expenses $3,369,938 · revenue $75,000
- Events: Network building is one of the principal ways that Breakthrough makes change in the world, and one way we execute on this is through our events. For over a decade, Breakthrough hosted two popular annual events the Breakthrough Dialogue in California and Ecomodernism in Virginia which convened and advanced ecomodernism, pro-nuclear, and other pragmatic environmental ideas and policy agendas. For the last three years, Breakthrough has been one of the leading organizers of the annual Abundance conference in Washington, DC. We also host numerous workshops, focused policy briefings, and other high-level meetings.Expenses $1,055,846 · revenue $162,920
- Communications: Our communications program consists of regular publication of research, policy analysis, and argumentative essays on our website, and multiple weekly publications on our flagship Sub-stack, The Ecomodernist. We promote our research, writing, and staff on social media, and augment our institutional publications through speaking engagements at conferences and public events; as well as through essays and analysis for external outlets, including academic, peer-reviewed journals and high-leverage publications such as the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.Expenses $393,284 · revenue $6,170
What it must file and when
IRS records say it files Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N. Its accounting year ends in December, so each return is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after that.
| Tax year | Year ended | Due | IRS public records |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | December 31, 2025 | May 15, 2026 | 990 on file |
| 2024 | December 31, 2024 | May 15, 2025 | 990 on file |
| 2023 | December 31, 2023 | May 15, 2024 | 990 on file |
IRS record
- EIN
- 81-4526660
- Tax-exempt status
- 501(c)(3): Charitable, religious, educational or scientific organization
- Foundation status
- Publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(A)(vi))
- Donations deductible (Pub 78)
- Public charity, 50% deduction limit
- Exempt since
- 2017
- Accounting year ends
- December
- Files
- Form 990 or 990-EZ
- Category (NTEE)
- Environment (C19)
- Assets (IRS master file)
- $5,985,021
- Income (IRS master file)
- $5,069,912
Filing history
| Form | Year ended | Revenue | Expenses | Assets | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 990 | December 2025 | – | – | – | IRS |
| 990 | December 2024 | – | – | – | IRS |
| 990 | December 2023 | $4,438,319 | $6,558,097 | $4,738,080 | IRS |
| 990 | December 2022 | $6,739,502 | $5,383,594 | $7,080,633 | IRS |
| 990 | December 2021 | – | – | – | IRS |
| 990 | December 2020 | – | – | – | IRS |
| 990 | December 2018 | – | – | – | IRS |
| 990 | December 2017 | – | – | – | IRS |
990-N: the IRS publishes only the latest e-Postcard per organization; earlier years appear here as 990.tax collects the monthly files. 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, 990-T: every e-filed return in the IRS e-file index since 2019; XML for the latest three processing years, amounts from the IRS Statistics of Income extracts before that. PDF copies and determination letters at the IRS.
Questions about THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE
- What is the EIN of THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE?
- The employer identification number (EIN) of THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE is 81-4526660.
- Is THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE tax-exempt?
- Yes. The IRS lists it as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) since 2017.
- Are donations to THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE tax-deductible?
- Yes. It is listed in IRS Publication 78 (Public charity, 50% deduction limit).
- Which annual return does THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE file?
- Form 990 or 990-EZ. Based on its last return; a smaller organization may file the 990-N.
- When is the next return of THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE due?
- The return for tax year 2026 (the year ending December 31, 2026) is due May 17, 2027. Form 8868 extends it by six months; the 990-N cannot be extended.
- When did THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE last file with the IRS?
- The latest return in the IRS public files is the 990 for the year ended December 2025.
- Who is the principal officer of THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE?
- The 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025 names Ronald Nordhaus.
- Who are the officers and directors of THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE?
- The 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025 lists 22 people; 13 received compensation from the organization, the highest $320,000 (Ronald Nordhaus, Executive Dir.).
- How much revenue does THE BREAKTHROUGH INSTITUTE have?
- On its 990 for the year ended December 31, 2025 it reported revenue of $5,069,912, expenses of $5,783,654 and total assets of $5,985,021 at year end.
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