About Us
A-Mark Foundation is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in 1997. Initially, A-Mark Foundation made grants to various organizations, including ProCon.org, a website used by an estimated 20 million people annually. ProCon.org was acquired by Britannica.com in August 2020. The Foundation also published unbiased research on a variety of topics, which can now be accessed in our Previous Content section.
Rob Eshman served as CEO from June 2022 to June 2024 to develop the Foundation’s operational strategy. During this time, the Foundation gave grants to nonprofit newsrooms such as The 19th, The Trace, and The War Horse to fund independent, investigative journalism. Under Rob’s leadership and in collaboration with the Los Angeles Press Club, the Foundation launched the first A-Mark Prize for Reporting on Misinformation and Disinformation in 2023.
Building on our success in funding a journalism prize for the L.A. Press Club, the A-Mark Foundation adopted a new mission statement in May 2024: Making focused grants to organizations that offer awards to promote and encourage journalism and investigative reporting. In 2025, A-Mark will focus on two major initiatives. The first is the expansion of the A-Mark Prizes for Investigative Reporting, which will launch in over 20 states. The second is a pilot program offering scholarships to journalism students.
Our board
Steve Markoff is an American entrepreneur, film producer, author, and educator. He is the founder of the A-Mark Financial Corporation, a financial services firm based in Santa Monica, California that originally traded in rare coins and precious metals. He founded A-Mark Foundation in 1997 to provide nonpartisan information about a wide range of social and political topics. In 2004, the foundation funded the creation of ProCon.org, a pioneering internet site that presented all sides of controversial issues. Steve grew the site to tens of thousands of monthly page views before donating it to brittanica.com in 2020.
Justin Jampol is the founder and current executive director of The Wende Museum of the Cold War, an art museum, historical archive, and educational institution in Culver City, California. A Los Angeles native, he attended graduate school at Oxford University where he received a Master of Philosophy in Russian and East European Studies, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Modern History. In addition to his leadership role at The Wende Museum, Jampol is adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University and a frequent commentator on art as well as East European and Russian design.
Robert J. Frcek, CPA, CGMA, is the Chief Financial Officer of A-Mark Financial Corporation, was previously an Audit Manager with Miller Kaplan Arase, and is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Benefit Plan Audit Services (BPA). Robert has more than 45 years’ experience in finance, auditing, and systems, specializing in audits covering benefit plan operations and administration, was the Chief Audit Executive with several large, nationally recognized Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) for more than 15 years, and also has experience in the banking and manufacturing industries.
Mike Gatto served four terms in the California Legislature, representing Los Angeles, Glendale, and Burbank. He was known for common-sense legislation and bipartisanship. Gatto authored and passed the first California Rainy Day Fund and a 2019 statewide ballot initiative to comprehensively address the state’s homelessness crisis. Gatto currently serves on the Board of Investments for LACERA, is a frequent guest analyst on television news programs, is a member of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus, and serves as Captain in the California Guard.
Jeannie Gorman was a federal prosecutor enforcing labor and employment laws to secure wage dignity and safety protections for the American workforce for over 25 years. She attended Los Angeles City College, San Francisco State University, and Willamette University College of Law. Jeannie: mentored first generation high school students into college; coordinated street law to the homeless in the 1990s; was a legal observer during large and small demonstrations, and; currently serves on two committees for the Western District of Washington’s Federal Bar Association.
Senior Advisor
Rosalind Remer is Senior Vice Provost at Drexel University in Philadelphia and Chair of the Lenfest Institute for Journalism, the non-profit owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer. She serves on the advisory board of the Luskin Center for History and Policy at UCLA, as vice chair of the American Antiquarian Society’s Council, and as a member of the Independence Historical Trust board of directors. Dr. Remer earned her B.A. in American history at UC Berkeley, and her M.A. and Ph.D. from UCLA. Her book, Printers and Men of Capital, examines the early American printing and publishing trades.