Overview
- Open Society Foundations committed $300 million to a new U.S. initiative that will expand grantmaking across national, state, and local organizations focused on economic security and rights.
- One core pillar, titled 'Defending Civil Liberties and Standing for the Rule of Law,' will fund efforts to defend civil society, back strategic litigation against government overreach, and expose corruption.
- The foundation plans to deploy the money through direct grants, strategic litigation support, and capacity-building rather than by running service programs itself.
- Leaders say the initiative links liberty to livelihood and aims to help communities secure stable incomes, stronger labor protections, and fairer access to public benefits.
- The commitment builds on Open Society’s existing U.S. work in democracy reform, drug policy, migration, impact investing, and strategic litigation and is meant to deepen those efforts over the coming years.