Connect U.S. Fund was a policy advocacy and grantmaking organization funded by several large left-of-center foundations, including William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Open Society Institute, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Ford Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies, Ploughshares Fund, and Carnegie Corporation of New York. It promoted and facilitated collaboration among think tanks, advocacy organizations, foundations, and policy makers to address left-of-center global issues including nuclear proliferation, climate change, and human rights. It was created in 2004 and disbanded in 2013. ¹

Background

Connect U.S. Fund was created in 2004 by left-of-center foundations William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,  Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Open Society Institute, and Rockefeller Brothers Fund to promote U.S. engagement on global issues and foreign policy advocacy. Ford Foundation joined in 2005, Atlantic Philanthropies joined in 2008, Ploughshares Fund joined in 2009, and Carnegie Corporation of New York joined in 2010. The organization was fiscally sponsored by the Tides Center. ²

Connect U.S. Fund was a small team focused on several left-of-center issues including nuclear proliferation, climate change, and human rights. The organization’s two programs were policy advocacy and grantmaking in these specific issue areas. ³

Activities

Connect U.S. Fund advocated for left-of-center policies by organizing meetings to address issues; facilitating working groups that included think tank experts, advocacy organizations, and foundations; hosting gatherings to facilitate networking and engage policymakers; publishing a website and newsletter to highlight issues; and bringing issues to the attention of the media. These activities were meant to initiate and facilitate collaborative efforts that connected policymakers and advocates with common goals. Connect U.S. Fund also provided grants that correlated with the issues and strategies defined in the working groups. ^{4 5}

Leadership

Nancy Soderberg was president of Connect U.S. Fund. Soderberg held positions as deputy national security advisor and as a U.S. Ambassador during the Clinton administration from 1993 to 2001. She then became a vice president at International Crisis Group before becoming president of Connect US Fund from 2009 until it disbanded in 2013. ⁶ Soderberg ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat in 2018. ⁷ As of September 2023, Soderberg was leading an international consulting firm, Soderberg Global Solutions. ⁸

Alexandra Toma became executive director of Connect U.S. Fund in 2010. Previously Toma was an advisor to U.S. Rep Stephen Lynch (D-MA), a director at anti-nuclear-proliferation organization Ploughshares Fund, and a policy team member for the Obama administration. After Connect US Fund disbanded in 2013, Toma founded anti-nuclear Fissile Materials Working Group and was a fellow at left-leaning think tank Truman National Security Project (TNSP). ⁹

As of September 2023, Toma is the executive director of Peace and Security Funders Group (PSFG), a left-of-center donor collaborative that is a project of advocacy organization Fund for Constitutional Government. She is on the board of left-of-center grantmaking Compton Foundation and an advisor to the Colombe Peace Foundation. ¹⁰

Eric Schwartz was the organization’s first executive director from 2006 to 2009. ¹¹  Previously Schwartz held positions as a congressional staff consultant, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, senior positions at the United Nations, and a senior fellow with think tank Council on Foreign Relations. ¹² When Schwartz left Connect U.S., he joined the Obama administration as Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration. ¹³ He was president of left-of-center refugee advocacy group Refugees International for five years. As of September 2023, he is a professor at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. ¹⁴

1. “History.” The Connect U.S. Fund – About Us. Accessed September 9, 2023, from internet archives. https://web.archive.org/web/20120310114632/http://www.connectusfund.org/about/history
2. “History.” The Connect U.S. Fund – About Us. Accessed September 9, 2023, from internet archives. https://web.archive.org/web/20120310114632/http://www.connectusfund.org/about/history
3. “About Us.” The Connect U.S. Fund. Accessed September 9, 2023 from internet archives. https://web.archive.org/web/20120419022503/http://connectusfund.org/about
4. “Strategies and Activities.” The Connect U.S. Fund – About Us. Accessed September 9, 2023 from internet archives. https://web.archive.org/web/20120325072342/http://www.connectusfund.org/about/strategies
5. LinkedIn – Connect U.S. Fund. Accessed September 9, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/company/connect-u.s.-fund/about/
6. LinkedIn – Ambassador Nancy Soderberg. Accessed September 9, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysoderberg/details/experience/
7. “Nancy Soderberg.” Ballotpedia. Accessed September 9, 2023. https://ballotpedia.org/Nancy_Soderberg
8. LinkedIn – Ambassador Nancy Soderberg. Accessed September 9, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancysoderberg/
9. LinkedIn – Alexandra Toma. Accessed September 9, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-toma-7aa6593/details/experience/
10. “Alexandra I. Toma.” PSFG Peace & Security Funders Group – Who We Are – About Us. Accessed September 9, 2023. https://www.peaceandsecurity.org/alex-toma
11. “History.” The Connect U.S. Fund – About Us. Accessed September 9, 2023, from internet archives. https://web.archive.org/web/20120310114632/http://www.connectusfund.org/about/history
12. LinkedIn – Eric Schwarz. Accessed September 9, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericpaulschwartz/details/experience/
13. “History.” The Connect U.S. Fund – About Us. Accessed September 9, 2023, from internet archives. https://web.archive.org/web/20120310114632/http://www.connectusfund.org/about/history
14. LinkedIn – Eric Schwartz. Accessed September 9, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericpaulschwartz/details/experience/