The Dwoskin Family Foundation is the personal private foundation of Democratic Party donors Albert Dwoskin and his wife, Claire. In addition to funding left-of-center organizations, the Dwoskin Family Foundation is a prominent financer of anti-vaccine groups, including the National Vaccine Information Center, which CNN calls “the loudest voice” in the anti-vaccine movement. ¹ It also supports an anti-vaccine research nonprofit founded by Claire Dwoskin known as The Children’s Medical Safety Research Institute, which funds research into vaccines, autism, and other controversial public health issues such as the safety of “aluminum-tainted everyday products.” ²

The Dwoskin Family Foundation was established in 2001 and reported just under $5 million in assets in 2017. ³

Albert and Claire Dwoskin

The Dwoskin Family Foundation is funded entirely by Albert and Claire Dwoskin of McLean, Virginia, with typical annual contributions from the couple of around $1.5 million.

The Dwoskins are contributors to numerous Democratic political causes and campaigns, including those related to former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who have each personally attended fundraisers at the Dwoskin’s home in Virginia. ^{4 5}

Albert Dwoskin attained wealth through real estate development. He continues to serve as President and CEO of A.J. Dwoskin & Associates, Inc., which develops retail centers and residential rental properties in the Washington, D.C. suburbs of Northern Virginia. ⁶

He is the chairman of Catalist, a for-profit corporation originally funded by George Soros that specializes in microtargeting for Democratic political campaigns. ⁷ He is also chairman emeritus of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a left-wing advocacy and agitation group. ⁸

Claire Dwoskin formerly served as a finance vice-chair for the Democratic National Committee, and has been active in Democratic political efforts. She has been a prominent activist in the anti-vaccine movement over the past decade.⁹ She once referred to vaccines as “a holocaust of poison on our children’s brains and immune systems.”¹⁰

Anti-Vaccine Research and Advocacy

The Dwoskin Family Foundation is a prominent contributor to anti-vaccine groups and causes. It has donated more than $260,000 to the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), for which Claire Dwoskin serves as a board director. Specifically, it has funded NVIC campaigns about the supposed dangers of vaccination, and sponsored the 2009 NVIC “Show us the Science and Give us the Choice” conference on vaccines.¹¹

The Foundation provided seed funding and guidance for the 2011 documentary The Greater Good,¹² which the New York Times called an “emotionally manipulative, heavily partial look at the purported link between autism and childhood immunization.” ¹³

Claire Dwoskin also founded and co-chaired the Vaccine Safety Conference in Jamaica, a controversial gathering of vaccine skeptics. ¹⁴

Political and Religious Grantmaking

The Dwoskin Family Foundation is a contributor to the Institute for New Economic Thinking,¹⁵ a liberal economic think tank founded by George Soros to promote left-wing economic theories. ¹⁶ The Foundation also funds Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which does left-leaning legal advocacy work, and Media Matters for America, critic of conservative media, two organizations associated with controversial Clinton family-associated Democratic operative David Brock. ¹⁷

The Dwoskin Family Foundation has also provided regular support to Aish Seminars of Rockville, Maryland, a series of seminars on parenting and marriage in Judaism. ¹⁸

1. “The Money Behind The Vaccine Skeptics.” CNN Money. Accessed March 10, 2019, https://money.cnn.com/video/news/2015/02/05/the-money-behind-the-vaccine-medical-myth.cnnmoney/
2. “Home – Our Story”. Accessed March 10, 2019, https://www.cmsri.org/
3. “Profile for Dwoskin Family Foundation.” CharityNavigator.org. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.profile&ein=542060115
4. Kucinich, J. “These Anti-Vaxxers Are Funding ‘Ready for Hillary’” The Daily Beast. February 4, 2015. Accessed March 10, 2019, https://www.thedailybeast.com/these-anti-vaxxers-are-funding-ready-for-hillary
5. Center for Responsive Politics. “Search Results for Albert Dwoskin.” Center for Responsive Politics. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://www.opensecrets.org/
6. Governing Board – Albert Dwoskin Biography. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://www.cmsri.org/about/governing-board/
7. Knight, R. “Catalist, The Left’s Secret Electoral Weapon, Outguns GOP.” Washington Times. September 19, 2014. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/19/knight-the-lefts-mighty-catalist/
8. Our Board. CREW. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://www.citizensforethics.org/who-we-are/our-team/crew-board/
9. Governing Board – Claire Dwoskin Biography. CMSRI. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://www.cmsri.org/about/governing-board/
10. Stossel, J. “Holocaust of Poison”? FOX Business. October 30, 2010. Accessed March 10, 2019, https://web.archive.org/web/20110606043826/http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog/2010/10/30/holocaust-of-poison
11. Governing Board – Claire Dwoskin Biography. CMSRI. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://www.cmsri.org/about/governing-board/
12. “Profile for Dwoskin Family Foundation.” CrunchBase.com. Accessed March 10, 2019, https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/dwoskin-family-foundation#section-related-hubs
13. Catsoulis, J. “’The Greater Good’ – Review.” New York Times. November 17, 2011. Accessed March 10, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/movies/the-greater-good-review.html
14. “The 2011 ‘Vaccine Safety Conference’ in Jamaica.” Left Brain Right Brain. October 6, 2011. Accessed March 10, 2019. https://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2011/10/06/the-2011-vaccine-safety-conference-in-jamaica/
15. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). Dwoskin Family Foundation (2067). Pg. 14.
16. “Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) Announces Major Fund-Raising Initiatives.” Institute for New Economic Thinking. April 13, 2012. Accessed June 27, 2017. https://www.ineteconomics.org/about/news/2012/institute-for-new-economic-thinking-inet-announces-major-fund-raising-initiatives.
17. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). Dwoskin Family Foundation (2017). Pg. 15.
18. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF). Dwoskin Family Foundation (2017). Pg. 22.