A foundation built in the image of the children it serves.
Founded by the mother of an autistic son, The Kes Foundation exists because every child — especially those the system overlooks — deserves a chance to thrive.
Why we exist
We were founded by the mother of an autistic son to help families afford the tools, coaching, and supports the market keeps out of reach. We are grounded in the American classrooms, clinics, and kitchen tables where families do the hardest work.
We come alongside autistic children, children with disabilities, and under-resourced youth who are too often handed plans they didn't help write, in rooms where no one looks like them.
Our work is small on purpose. We measure success in the quieter wins: an IEP meeting where a parent isn't outnumbered, a teacher who learns a child's cues, a sibling who finally stops translating. Not in slides at a gala.
How we got here
Kes is born.
A son arrives. A family steps into a new chapter, and into questions no one had handed them yet.
A diagnosis at age two.
Kes is identified as autistic. His mother starts a notebook — IEP language, evaluators, waitlists — cataloguing every door that closes and the rare few that quietly open.
A table, and a few other families.
Informal gatherings begin. Parents trading the unwritten knowledge no one hands you. The work has a shape long before it has a name.
The Kes Foundation, formally.
501(c)(3) application filed with the IRS. First grant submitted. The private notebook becomes a shared mission: build what should have already been there.
Officially 501(c)(3).
The IRS determination letter arrives. The Kes Foundation is a recognized tax-exempt public charity, with every donation deductible from day one.
Building carefully.
The first family-navigator cohort is in motion. Every new program is co-designed with the families who will use it. No exceptions, no shortcuts.
Five commitments, written down and kept.
The child is the expert.
Every plan starts with what the child can already do, not a checklist of what they can't.
Families lead.
Parents and caregivers shape every program. We don't do "for." We do "with."
Tools are means, not ends.
Tools, therapy, and curricula are only as useful as the people around them. We build the room too.
Culture is care.
Black, brown, immigrant, and disabled children deserve programs that don't ask them to leave parts of themselves at the door.
Small. Slow. Sustainable.
We grow at the speed of trust. Every dollar lands. Every promise is kept.
How to support our work
The Kes Foundation is funded through individual donors, foundation grants, and community partnerships. Every dollar goes directly to families and the tools that change a school year.
You can support us by donating, spreading the word, or connecting a family who needs our programs.
The Kes Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity. EIN 42-3119652.