When people participate in Apache projects, it is emphasized that they do so as individuals. Affiliations are downplayed. If a contributor takes a new job at a different company, their participation within the project is completely unaffected.

Furthermore, as a 501(c)(3), the ASF is limited in what it can do with do with donations and very, very rarely accepts targeted donations aimed at a specific project -- it's just not worth the hassle or risk. So while outside entities might contribute by sponsoring people to work on the project, no project at the ASF has someone "behind" it in the sense of direct funding.

This is all part of maintaining project independence.

Hope this helps to explain why it is not always easy to discover "who is behind" an Apache project. :)

More info: https://www.apache.org/foundation/how-it-works.html#hats