The Obama Foundation finds itself confronting questions about income inequality within its own ranks as new financial disclosures reveal a stark wage disparity among its employees.
According to the nonprofit’s 2025 tax filing, 172 of the foundation’s 342 employees earned six-figure salaries, representing roughly half of its workforce. At the top of this compensation structure stands CEO Valerie Jarrett, who received $771,000 in total pay, an increase of approximately $15,500 from the previous year.
The salary revelations emerge at a particularly sensitive moment for the organization. The Obama Presidential Center in Chicago has reached a construction cost of $1 billion, nearly triple its original estimate. The 19.3-acre campus, situated on publicly-owned parkland in Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side, officially opened in June 2026 after years of delays.
Meanwhile, dozens of lower-paid foundation employees have begun organizing for union representation, highlighting the growing divide between the organization’s leadership and its rank-and-file workers.
Jarrett, who served as one of President Barack Obama’s closest advisors and held senior positions in his White House, has led the foundation since 2021. She represents one of at least four among the nonprofit’s ten highest-paid executives with previous ties to either the Obama White House or his presidential campaigns.
Emily Bittner, the foundation’s vice president of communications, defended the compensation structure. “The foundation pays our employees rates that are competitive with the market,” she stated. “We have more than 500 employees worldwide, roughly 300 of whom are based at the center.”
That current workforce figure of more than 500 employees represents substantial growth from the 342 reported in the tax filing, which covers the period ending nearly six months before the Presidential Center’s opening. The foundation declined to provide an updated payroll breakdown reflecting the expanded workforce.
The financial picture shows dramatic growth in recent years. The Obama Foundation’s annual payroll and benefits expenses reached $50.4 million in 2025, a steep climb from $18.5 million in 2018. Total revenue for the organization approximated $159 million last year, with nearly $151 million derived from contributions and grants.
This spending surge accompanied the foundation’s expansion of leadership and civic programs both domestically and internationally, while simultaneously completing the Presidential Center’s construction.
Brian Mittendorf, an accounting professor at Ohio State University who specializes in nonprofit finances, characterized the proportion of six-figure earners as unusual for the sector. “That’s clearly a higher percentage than your average nonprofit,” Mittendorf observed. However, he noted that the organization’s reliance on specialized staff provides some context for the elevated compensation levels.
The convergence of these issues presents a delicate moment for an organization bearing the name of a former president whose political identity centered significantly on addressing economic inequality. As the foundation moves forward with operating its billion-dollar center and expanded global programs, it must now navigate questions about whether its own internal compensation practices align with the values it promotes publicly.
The foundation’s leadership has not announced any plans to address the pay disparity or respond to the unionization efforts among its lower-paid employees.
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