Mission, Financial Transparency and Governance

Genetic Literacy Project Mission Statement

The Genetic Literacy Project is a nonpartisan media-based outreach and educational nonprofit charity committed to aiding the public, journalists, and policymakers in improving the lives of our global community. The GLP promotes science literacy by challenging misinformation on a range of issues: agricultural sustainability, food security and climate change, synthetic biology, biomedicine, public health, vaccine resistance and artificial intelligence. The GLP analyzes, rather than just reports, giving deeper meaning and context. We encourage transparent, ethical, science-based regulations of sciences that are revolutionizing medicine, advancing sustainable farming, and reducing the spread of disease-carrying plant, insect, and rodent pests. The GLP partners across partisan divides, and stands by two principles: ‘Science Not Ideology’ and ‘Fact Based Science to Serve the Public Interest.’

Genetic Literacy Project Donation Policy: The GLP does not accept donations from political parties, elected officials, candidates seeking public office, advocacy groups or other sources with a conflict of interest as determined by the GLP. With unsettled financial markets, the GLP Board decided to consider donations from corporations but only if the donor agrees that the contributions would be ‘walled off’ and not tied to deliverables. All donations of $1,000 or more are displayed and the GLP’s annual federal 990s are also posted.

GLP History and Governance

The Genetic Literacy Project is part of the Science Literacy Project (SLP), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The SLP family of sites also includes the Epigenetics Literacy Project; and the Genetic Expert News Service (GENeS), which was run with no editorial oversight from the GLP from 2012-14; both are now on hiatus.

The SLP operating as the GLP was conceived in 2010-2011 by Jon Entine in the wake of his writing of 5 books on genetics, chemicals and risk, and hundreds of articles on sustainability and genetics. It was independently launched in December 2011 with donations from The Templeton Foundation and the Searle Freedom Trust. To be eligible for donations from independent nonprofit foundations, the GLP affiliated with the Statistical Assessment Service (STATS), a 501(c)(3) housed at George Mason University. GLP was founded as an independently operated division. STATS provided accounting services and administrative support from the GLP’s inception until 2014. Entine served as a senior fellow at STATS (unpaid) to which he contributed occasional articles. In 2014, STATS folded, ceased its affiliation with GMU and was absorbed by the nonprofit 501(c)(3) Science About Science US.

In 2015, the Sense About Science board (of which Jon Entine was temporarily a member during its transition) decided that the Genetic Literacy Project should inherit STAT’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal status;, Sense About Science sought its own formal nonprofit status and registered as its own 501(c)(3) with no affiliation of any kind with the GLP. That same year, the GLP formally registered as an independent 501(c)(3) under the name Science Literacy Project (GLP then had two sister educational outreach websites, the Epigenetics Literacy Project and GENeS). The GLP has had no relationship with STATS or Sense About Science since 2015.

The GLP takes its tagline—Science Not Ideology—seriously. The GLP stands for transparency and challenges bias. The GLP is funded by grants from independent foundations and charities. In 2020, the Board agreed to allow the SLP/GLP to accept donations from corporations and associations to support ongoing operations but not for specific projects. As is the case with all donations to the GLP, any grant must be disclosed on that fiscal year’s 990. The GLP has no formal or informal affiliation with and receives no funding from any institution, foundation, corporations or private individuals except those listed in our 990 government filings (other than donations under $500 from private individuals). The GLP has no affiliation with any corporation, and never has. For a response to false accusations that the GLP was ‘created’ or initially funded by corporations, read: Is the Genetic Literacy Project a corporate ‘front’?

Executive director Jon Entine was a senior fellow (unpaid) at the Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy at the University of California-Davis’ World Food Institute from 2014-2016 and was previously a senior fellow (unpaid) at George Mason University’s Center for Health and Risk Communication from 2011-2104. Neither Entine nor the SLP/GLP engages in lobbying.

GLP Boards

The SLP/GLP was guided in its launch in 2011 by an editorial advisory board.

The GLP’s current board and advisors are in its own section.

GLP Transparency

GLP 2021 Annual Report

GLP 2020-2021 Annual Report

The GLP is committed to full transparency.
Download and review our 2021 Annual Report.


GLP 2020 Annual Report

GLP 2019-2020 Annual Report

The GLP is committed to full transparency.
Download and review our 2020 Annual Report.


GLP 2019 Annual Report

GLP 2018-2019 Annual Report

The GLP is committed to full transparency.
Download and review our 2019 Annual Report.


2018 GLP Annual Report

GLP 2017-2018 Annual Report

The GLP is committed to full transparency.
Download and review our 2018 Annual Report.


Science Literacy Project / Genetic Literacy Project Bylaws: View Bylaws

Genetic Literacy Project Conflict of Interest Policy: View Policy

GLP Document Retention and Destruction Policy: View Policy

GLP Whistleblower Policy: View Policy

2023 Donations to the Science Literacy Project dba Genetic Literacy Project

  • Winkler Family Foundation: $75,000
  • Bayer: $50,000
  • v-Fluence: $25,000
  • Kayser Family Foundation Fund of the DuPage Foundation: $15,000
  • Thomas Campbell Jackson: $10,000
  • Gerry Ohrstrom—Donors Trust: $7,000
  • The Modzelewski Charitable Fund: $5,000
  • Peter Treadway: $5,000
  • Adrian Dubock: $1,500
  • Richard Robert: $1,000
  • Nina Fedoroff: $1,000
  • Robert Lee Thompson: $1,000
  • Individual donations under $1,000: $8,235

The SLP/GLP files an annual 990. Our 990 filings are available here:

To Donate to the GLP:

Science Literacy Project/Genetic Literacy Project
ATTN: GLP Chief Financial Officer
909 Dayton St.
Cincinnati, OH 4521

[email protected]

(410) 941-9374

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