The center is a public–private partnership with approximately one-third of the center's operating funds coming annually from an appropriation of the U.S. government, and the center is housed in a wing of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, a federal office building where the center enjoys a 30-year rent-free lease. The remainder of the center's funding comes from foundations, grants and contracts, corporations, individuals, endowment income, and subscriptions.[5][6] Because of its historic reliance on congressional appropriations, the center posts on its website a Plan for Federal Funding Hiatus.[5]
Administration
The board of trustees, currently chaired by Bill Haslam, is appointed to six-year terms by the U.S. president.[7]
On January 28, 2021, Mark Andrew Green was announced as the Wilson Center's new president, director, and CEO, and he began his term on March 15, 2021.[9]