Identity and mission
Teneo Network, Inc. is an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit association of conservative professionals, executives, public officials, political organizers and donors. Its stated aim is to recruit, connect and deploy conservative leaders across influential sectors of American life. Teneo describes itself as a national network bringing together leaders, ideas and resources to launch projects related to American political and cultural institutions. Its present website emphasizes constitutional limits, individual liberty, free enterprise, civic institutions, national defense and a Judeo-Christian moral tradition. These descriptions are the organization's stated positions. [1] [3]
The active nonprofit's federal employer identification number is 83-2151429. Public tax records describe it as a 501(c)(3) charity in Austin, Texas, with federal exemption effective July 2019; the current entity is associated with a 2018 formation year. This distinction matters because the Teneo network had an organizational history before the corporation bearing this EIN. [3] [4]
Origins and early organizational history
Investigative reporting by ProPublica and Documented traced the network to 2008. In an internally recorded presentation, entrepreneur Evan Baehr described conversations with venture capitalist Peter Thiel about creating professional conservative networks modeled in part on the Federalist Society. Baehr and Josh Hawley were among Teneo's early founders, and Hawley reportedly wrote founding principles and served on its board. This is Baehr's account of the original network's origins, not evidence that Thiel founded or financed the later corporation. [2] [7]
The earlier operation used a different nonprofit tax identity, EIN 80-0305723, which appears in historical Form 990 records. ProPublica reported that the group raised approximately $77,000 in its first year, and that its annual receipts stayed under $750,000 in each year from 2009 through 2017. The historical organization and the later EIN 83-2151429 should not be silently treated as the same legal corporation; their relationship is described here as institutional continuity reported in the investigation. [2] [6]
Expansion under Leonard Leo
ProPublica reported that Leonard Leo, a longtime leader of the Federalist Society and adviser on federal judicial selection, became Teneo chairman in late 2021. The organization's 2024 federal tax filing identifies him as chairman, unpaid in that officer listing. The transition linked Teneo's professional network-building project to a prominent organizer with experience recruiting legal professionals and supporting judicial nominations. [2] [4]
A recorded Leo presentation obtained by ProPublica described an ambition to extend conservatives' organizing from law into finance, technology, media, academia, sports and entertainment. Leo used the phrase “crush liberal dominance” in the presentation. Those remarks are reported primary-video statements about the network's objectives, not evidence that every participant endorsed every tactic or that the network secretly controlled those industries. [2]
In September 2024 Axios reported that Leo was reviewing funding priorities for conservative groups. Teneo was cited by a source familiar with the grantmaking network as an example of a group pursuing the more assertive approach Leo favored. The reported example does not establish any specific 85 Fund payment to Teneo. [8]
Membership and public affiliations
Teneo has not publicly released a complete membership roll. The 2023 ProPublica investigation, relying on internal recordings and documents, reported that participants had included Josh Hawley, J. D. Vance, Elise Stefanik and other elected officials or senior state government lawyers, alongside professionals outside government. Hawley was also identified as an early co-founder. These are time-specific reported associations, not verified present-day membership claims. [2]
The investigation described recruitment among entrepreneurs, corporate managers, media workers, lawyers and others. Teneo's own language emphasizes relationships, sector-specific talent and joint projects. A member's participation, a speaker's appearance and a legal officer's role are different relationship types; none alone establishes participation in another person's decisions. [1] [2]
2024 leadership and governance
The 2024 IRS filing identifies Amanda Covo as chief executive officer, Wesley Drees as vice president of operations, Joshua Holdenried as executive vice president, Vince Evans as director of advancement and Carlee Tousman as director of events. Listed directors included Leonard Leo (chairman), Hillary Waldron, Grant Starrett, Jonathan Bunch, John Coleman, Stephen Duvernay and Leelle Slifer. These positions are specific to the 2024 reporting year rather than a claim about subsequent staffing. [4]
In the filing's reportable compensation column, Covo received $305,852, Drees $201,767, Holdenried $195,001, Evans $170,001 and Tousman $132,441. The board entries shown for Leo and the other listed directors reported zero compensation in that column. The form separately reports that seven of seven voting board members were independent under the filing's definition. [4]
The earlier filings record Evan Baehr in an executive role before the Covo administration. Reported compensation and governance data should be associated with the fiscal year in which they were disclosed, not projected across the organization's whole history. [3] [4]
Revenue, spending and assets
Teneo's 2024 Form 990 reports total revenue of $9,241,942, expenses of $6,421,801 and year-end net assets of $8,952,597. Of revenue, $8,706,119 was contributions and grants, $403,280 program-service revenue and $132,543 investment income. Total assets were $9,223,742, against $271,145 liabilities. The reported annual surplus was $2,820,141. [3] [4]
The form describes approximately $5 million as program spending, about $1.1 million for management and general costs and $328,000 for fundraising. Revenue grew from approximately $2.1 million in 2019 to $9.24 million in 2024; such year-specific figures do not on their own identify who directed the network's agenda. [4]
DonorsTrust funding and traceable transactions
DonorsTrust's 2024 IRS Schedule I reports $4,433,000 in institutional grants to Teneo Network, identified by the recipient's EIN. This is a documented payment from DonorsTrust to Teneo, not proof of the original donor's identity, an earmarked political activity, or a matching dollar-for-dollar downstream expenditure. The fund sponsor handles donor-advised accounts under its own legal rules, and the public schedule does not disclose individual account instructions. [5]
The reporting of Teneo's grants, financial position and professional relationships can be compared with other organizations only by matching taxpayer identities, dates, transactions and actual governance records. A shared donor-advised fund sponsor does not prove a direct transfer between two different grantees. [3] [5]
Investigations, scrutiny and limits of the record
In March 2023 ProPublica and Documented published an investigation based on more than 50 hours of internal videos and hundreds of pages of documents. It described Teneo's private recruitment, policy and cultural ambitions and membership. The investigation is an identifiable account of materials reviewed by reporters; it is separate from any claim that particular members committed unlawful acts. [2]
Teneo's public website provides a much shorter account of its own programs. Neither the absence of a complete member list nor donors' legal privacy permits the identification of unnamed people, the invention of specific operations, or a claim that every Teneo-related person coordinated with every other person. The known officer, member, funding and historical-founder links are retained as individual dated factual records. [1] [2]
Chronology
- 2008: Earlier Teneo network launched by Evan Baehr, Josh Hawley and associates, according to 2023 investigative reporting. [2]
- 2018–2019: New Teneo Network, Inc. tax identity and federal exemption. [3]
- Late 2021: Leonard Leo reportedly assumes chairmanship. [2]
- March 2023: ProPublica/Documented publish the internal-record investigation. [2]
- 2024: Filed revenues $9.24 million; DonorsTrust reports a $4.433 million grant to this corporation; Leo identified as chairman. [4] [5]
- November 13, 2025: FY2024 Form 990 filed according to IRS record index. [3]
Documented connections
Each link represents a sourced organizational, personnel, grant or historical relationship; see dated links and underlying sources.
Follow documented connections into The Story
Read the historical chapters through records of connected people and institutions.
Sources
- Teneo, official mission, stated beliefs and network description
- ProPublica / Documented, investigation of Teneo's origins, internal presentations and membership, March 9, 2023
- ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Teneo Network Inc., EIN 83-2151429, filings 2019–2024
- IRS Form 990 FY2024, extracted organizational finances, directors and compensation
- DonorsTrust, 2024 IRS Form 990 Schedule I, Teneo Network grantee EIN 83-2151429
- Original Teneo, EIN 80-0305723, historical 2009 Form 990-EZ referenced in 2023 reporting
- Teneo community vision document reproduced from internal materials
- Axios, Leonard Leo's September 2024 funding strategy and reference to Teneo
Jonathan Bunch: CRC Advisors and Teneo
Teneo's 2024 IRS Form 990 lists Jonathan Bunch on its board. Bunch was independently identified as president of the for-profit firm CRC Advisors in its January 2020 launch announcement. This is a personnel overlap between distinct corporations; it is not a documented transfer between them.
Jonathan Bunch: Teneo board service and CRC presidency
Teneo Network's 2024 IRS Form 990 lists Jonathan Bunch as a director, while Leonard Leo is chairman. Bunch had been president of the legally separate CRC Advisors since 2020, according to contemporary company reports. These are dated individual leadership roles and do not themselves establish direct transfers between the companies.