The Obama Foundation’s latest tax filing shows 172 employees earning more than $100,000, roughly half its workforce, even as rank-and-file staff organize a union over rolled-back benefits.
Fox News reported that the foundation’s 2025 tax filing listed 342 employees, with 172 pulling down six-figure salaries as CEO Valerie Jarrett’s pay hit $771,000.
That share of high earners far outpaces other presidential nonprofits, even as visitor services staff, cleaners, museum workers, and program employees organize under Obama Workers United with AFSCME Council 31 and complain of heavier workloads and thinner benefits.
The numbers arrived as the foundation prepared to open the $1 billion Obama Presidential Center on Chicago’s South Side, a project that nearly tripled its original cost estimate and sits on publicly owned parkland in Jackson Park.
Valerie Jarrett, one of Barack Obama’s closest advisors and a former senior White House official, became foundation CEO in 2021 at roughly $581,000.
By 2022 her salary reached $740,000 and held there through 2024. It then climbed to nearly $755,000 in 2025, with the filing figure cited in the reporting at $771,000, about $15,500 above the prior year.
She is not alone at the top. Robbin Cohen, who previously led Pritzker Realty Group, took home about $666,000. Christina Tchen, former chief of staff to Michelle Obama, received roughly $431,000. Michael Strautmanis, a former Obama campaign and White House aide, collected about $404,000. Ammar Rizki, once Cook County’s chief financial officer, made approximately $400,000. Laura Lucas Magnuson, a former White House communications official, received about $396,000.
At least four of the nonprofit’s 10 highest-paid executives had prior ties to the Obama White House or campaign.
The Obama Foundation’s six-figure club stands out against peer institutions.
In their 2024 filings, the George W. Bush Presidential Center reported 37% of employees above $100,000. The Carter Center came in at 29%. The Clinton Foundation stood at 23%. The Reagan Foundation registered 13%. The George & Barbara Bush Foundation sat at 10%.
CEO pay tells a similar story. For fiscal years ending in 2025, the Reagan Foundation’s top executive made about $735,000 and the Carter Center’s $531,000. The George W. Bush Presidential Center listed $661,000. The George & Barbara Bush Foundation reported $426,600. The Clinton Foundation’s 2024 figure was $425,000.
Ohio State University accounting professor Brian Mittendorf, who specializes in nonprofit finances, told Fox News the Obama share of six-figure salaries is “clearly higher percentage than your average nonprofit.”
"But here we're dealing with a nonprofit that's probably very expertise heavy. It's very heavy on like the think tank side. And as you look at a think tank, it would look very differently than say a local food bank."
Mittendorf added that the pay levels reflect outside market opportunities for specialized staff and called Jarrett’s compensation “not an unusual amount” for a CEO at an organization of this size. He also noted a recurring public belief that nonprofit pay should stay more modest than private-sector rates.
"Like I said, it is atypical for a standard nonprofit, but probably not that unusual for a nonprofit of its type."
He further observed that the foundation’s net assets exceeded $1 billion.
The foundation’s own books show how fast the wage bill grew. Payroll and benefits hit $50.4 million in 2025, up from $18.5 million in 2018.
Revenue ran about $159 million last year, with nearly $151 million coming from contributions and grants. Reported endowment funds at the end of 2025 were approximately $14.2 million.
Foundation vice president of communications Emily Bittner defended the pay structure. She said the organization now employs more than 500 people worldwide, with roughly 300 based at the Center, a larger headcount than the 342 captured in the 2025 filing snapshot, which covered a year ending nearly six months before the June opening.
"The Foundation pays our employees rates that are competitive with the market."
Bittner said the board uses comparability data and a compensation consultant to review and approve pay for the CEO, officers, and key employees each year. The foundation has also pointed to higher executive pay at institutions such as the Getty Trust, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation, where recent filings showed top leaders earning roughly $2 million, $1.7 million, and $1.5 million respectively.
While senior ranks collected large checks, employees in visitor services, cleaning, museum and technology roles, and educational and global programs moved to unionize as Obama Workers United with AFSCME Council 31.
In a public letter, the workers described the gap between the mission rhetoric and daily conditions.
"Amidst increasing workloads we have seen our benefits rolled back and support from leadership to be minimal."
They urged leadership to respect organizing rights and to refrain from anti-union lawyers, messaging, or meetings.
The foundation answered with a statement of support for labor rights in principle.
"We are deeply committed to the fundamental right of workers to organize and make their voices heard. As members of our staff explore union representation, we approach this process with immense gratitude for their contributions, deep respect for unions, and a sincere commitment to working collaboratively with our partners in labor."
The filing does not resolve what specific benefits were cut, when the changes hit, or where the union drive stands in any formal election process.
The pay debate lands against a larger backdrop. The Obama Presidential Center’s price tag reached $1 billion, nearly triple the original estimate, on a 19.3-acre campus of publicly owned parkland in Jackson Park. An opening and dedication ceremony was set for June 18, 2026.
The foundation says construction was privately funded and that operating costs are covered by revenues and private donations. It also acknowledges that public funds supported surrounding infrastructure improvements.
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Bob Grogan framed the project as a political vehicle dressed up as charity.
"The Obama Center is another far-left political operation that acts as a non-profit while using taxpayer dollars to make Barack Obama's inner circle rich."
Jarrett oversaw the final years of construction and appeared at the dedication events. The foundation remains a private nonprofit tied to the former president’s name and network, with a workforce that spans the Center and posts worldwide.
The tax filing freezes one year of that operation in place: hundreds of staff, a swollen payroll, a CEO near the top of the presidential-foundation pay range, and a rank-and-file cohort loud enough about workloads and benefits to seek a union.
When the people who empty the trash and greet the visitors have to organize for basic support, the six-figure culture at the top stops looking like market necessity and starts looking like the point.
