Asia Society

Since 2014, Asia Society has received grants of $938,700 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York; ⁴ $500,000 from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; $335,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation; ⁵ $150,000 from the Hopewell Fund, which is managed by Arabella Advisors; ⁶ $150,000 from the Ford Foundation; ⁷ and $114,875 from the left-of-center Energy Foundation. ⁸ ASPI also receives support from foreign governments, Facebook, left-wing billionaire financier George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, and others. ⁹

Asia Society is “committed” to the critical race theory-influenced principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in “all of its work and across its workplace.” ¹⁰ Asia Society’s Center for Global Education receives support from Chinese government-backed Confucius Institute Headquarters ⁹ and supports the critical race theory-influenced concept of “global social justice education.” ¹¹

History and Leadership

The Asia Society was founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller III to advance meaningful understanding between the United States and Asia. ¹² In 2006, Asia Society founded the Center on U.S.-China Relations as a policy institute to focus on bilateral relations between the United States and China. ¹³

Asia Society has offices in Hong Kong, ¹⁴ New York, ¹⁵ and Texas ¹⁶ and a global network with locations in Australia, France, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Switzerland, Northern California, Southern California, and Washington, D.C. ¹⁰

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is the President and CEO of Asia Society and the president of Asia Society Policy Institute. ¹⁷

Former Obama administration deputy U.S. trade representative Wendy Cutler is the managing director of Asia Society’s Washington, D.C., office. ^{17 18 19}

Activities and Funding

Asia Society is an international nonprofit organization that operates as a think tank with a focus left-of-center topics such as sustainability policy ¹ and climate policy in U.S.-Asia relations. ^{2 3} Asia Society also hosts two policy institutes, the Asia Society Policy Institute and the Center on U.S.-China Relations. ^{20 21 22}

Asia Society is “committed” to the critical race theory-influenced principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in “all of its work and across its workplace.” ¹⁰

Following the violent protests associated with the Black Lives Matter movement in the summer of 2020, Asia Society said it would “begin uncomfortable dialogues about race and privilege” ²³ and said it was looking at the NAACP, left-of-center Color of Change, and the ACLU as resources on these issues. ²⁴

In September 2020, Asia Society hosted an event titled “Standing Against Racism During COVID, Part II” which included an appearance from controversial 1619 Project founder Nikole Hannah-Jones. ²⁵ Asia Society has also hosted events with left-wing billionaire and political donor George Soros ^{26 27 28} and co-hosted events with Soros’s Open Society Institute. ²⁹

Asia Society’s Center for Global Education receives support from the Chinese government-backed ³⁰ Confucius Institute Headquarters ⁹ and supports the critical race theory-influenced concept of “global social justice education” in order to “ally with students to challenge systems of injustice and create hope” in career and technical education. ^{11 31} The center’s director supports the far-left Black Lives Matter movement. ³²

The organization has said that Mandarin-language immersion students are “uniquely prepared” to address critical race theory-influenced issues including diversity, social justice, and racial justice. ³³ In 2020, Asia Society made 77 grants to different educational institutions for instruction in Chinese languages. ³⁴

Funding

In 2020, Asia Society reported revenue of $31,036,163 and expenses of $31,588,582. ³⁵ In 2020, Asia Society reported $21,918,173 on program expenses including $5,710,047 on art and cultural programs; $7,449,333 on the Asia Society Policy Institute; $4,126,266 on education and leadership activities; and $1,378,130 on U.S. Centers and Asian Activities. ³⁶

In 2019, Asia Society reported revenue of $35,257,295 and expenses of $32,724,478. ³⁵

In 2021, Asia Society received a $100,000 grant from the Thoma Foundation. ³⁷ In 2020, Asia Society received $50,000 from Stanford University ³⁸ and $10,000 the left-of-center San Francisco Foundation. ^{39 40}

Asia Society received $144,558 from the left-of-center Ford Foundation; ⁴¹ $30,000 from Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund; ⁴² and $20,000 from Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund in 2019. ⁴³

In 2018, Asia Society received a $150,000 grant from the left-of-center Hopewell Fund, which is administered by Arabella Advisors; ⁴⁴ $150,000 grant from the Ford Foundation; ⁷ and $105,000 from Boston Foundation. ⁴⁵

Asia Society received $83,192 from the Jewish Communal Fund; ⁴⁶ $55,000 from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; ⁴⁷ and $100,000 from the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation in 2017. That same year the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation also gave $200,000 to Asia Society Global New York and $1,000,000 to Asia Society Texas Center. ⁴⁸ Asia Society also received  $300,000 from the left-of-center Charles Stewart Mott Foundation ⁴⁹ and $500,000 from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2016. ⁵⁰

In 2015, Asia Society received $335,000 from the Rockefeller Foundation; ⁵  $200,000 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York; ⁵¹ and $114,875 from the left-of-center Energy Foundation. ⁸ In 2014, Asia Society received $938,700 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York; ⁴ $200,000 from the Robert and Kate Niehaus Foundation; ⁵² and $100,000 from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. ⁵³ Asia Society also received a $750,000 grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in 2007. ⁵⁴

The Asia Society Policy Institute receives support from the Australian government, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Dalio Philanthropies, Facebook, Ford Foundation, General Atlantic Foundation, Korea Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Japanese Government, George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, Pfizer, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Sage Foundation, and others. ^{55 56}

Asia Society’s Center for Global Education is supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Confucius Institute Headquarters, Ford Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Goldman Sachs Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fo]undation, Medtronic Foundation, critical race theory-aligned Nellie Mae Education Foundation, and others. ⁵⁷