Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy

Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy primarily supports left-of-center political causes based in California including higher taxes, expanded housing construction, and leniency in criminal justice. In the 2020 elections, it is supporting the partial repeal of California Proposition 13, the state’s property tax cap. Mark Zuckerberg’s immigration-expansion group, FWD.us, is by far the largest recipient of grants from Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy.

Grants

Since 2018, the Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy has given 20 grants totaling $45,346,420 to numerous left-of-center PACs and political advocacy groups primarily based in California. ¹

Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy has given many grants to California-based low-income housing advocates. It has given $300,000 to Affordable Housing Now, a PAC which supported Proposition 1, a ballot measure that issued $4 billion in bonds for state funding for housing projects. The Advocacy gave $200,000 to the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) Action, $100,000 to California YIMBY, and $50,000 to the Non-profit Housing Association of Northern California. In 2018, Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy gave $100,000 to Yes on Measure V, which supported Measure V, a measure which would have created a $450 million state fund to construct low-income housing in San Jose. ¹

Throughout 2018-2020, Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy gave $1,490,000 to Schools and Community First, an organization which advocates for the passage of the 2020 California Schools and Local Communities Funding Act, which would partially repeal Proposition 13, the state’s long-standing cap on property taxes. If passed, the bill will increase state funding to community colleges, health clinics and other local services by $12 billion annually by raising business property taxes. ¹²

From 2018-2019, Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy gave $510,000 to the Million Voter Project Action Fund,¹ a coalition of seven nonprofits which support broadly left-of-center political goals in California, including increased education and health care spending. ³

Also from 2018-2019, Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy gave $38,601,811 to FWD.us, a left-of-center advocacy group founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2014 that supports liberalized immigration, criminal justice reform, and higher education spending. This does not include the $24 million given to the FWD.us Education Fund by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. ³ During Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy’s first year, its only grant was $3.7 million, given to FWD.us. ⁴

In 2018, Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy gave $3 million to the Ohio State and Healthy Communities Campaign, which supported the passage of State Issue 1,¹ a bundle of liberalizing criminal justice policies including reduced prison time for prisoners who complete rehabilitation programs, a reduction in sentencing on drug crimes, and an increase in drug treatment options for convicted criminals. State Issue 1 was also supported by George Soros’s Open Society Policy Center, but was ultimately defeated at the ballot. ⁵

From 2019 to 2021, Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy will be giving $759,713 to Forward Justice, a group which promotes “Clean Slate” policies in North Carolina to limit the persistence of criminal records. ⁵

Leadership

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan

Mark Zuckerberg is the co-founder, CEO, and largest shareholder of Facebook. As of September 2020, he was the third-richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $98 billion. ⁶ Priscilla Chan is a licensed pediatrician and former teacher. The two met while attending Harvard University and married in 2012. ⁷

Though Zuckerberg has never openly identified with a political party, he primarily supports Democratic candidates, having given money to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), Senator Charles Schumer, Congressional candidate Sean Eldridge (D-NY), the San Francisco Democratic Central Committee, and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ),⁸ for whom Zuckerberg also hosted a fundraising dinner in 2013. ⁹ Priscilla Chan has also donated to Booker, Schumer, and Eldridge. ¹⁰

Starting in 2017, there were rumors of Zuckerberg running for president as a Democratic candidate,¹¹ but he ultimately did not run in the 2020 elections. ¹² However, Zuckerberg did privately advise former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) during his 2020 Democratic presidential candidacy. ¹³

Zuckerberg has also donated to Republican politicians, including Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), former Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), and former Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). ⁸ Zuckerberg also hosted a fundraiser dinner for then-Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) in 2013. ¹⁴

David Plouffe

In 2017, Democratic political consultant David Plouffe was hired as the president of the Chan Zuckerberg Advocacy and the president of policy and advocacy of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Plouffe worked on numerous Democratic campaigns in his early career before joining political consulting firm AKPD Messenger and Media in 2001. In 2007, the firm ran Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and is largely credited for his victory. Afterward, Plouffe served as a senior advisor in President Obama’s administration. ¹⁵