Economic Security Project (ESP)

ESP was previously created in 2016 as a project of the Hopewell Fund, a funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofit operated by philanthropic consulting firm Arabella Advisors. In September 2021, ESP gained tax-exempt status and as of August 2025, the group is an independent nonprofit organization. ^{2 3}

In 2019, ESP announced the “Anti-Monopoly Fund,” a project that ran through March 2021 to advocate for increased corporate regulations by the federal government. The project was funded by the Omidyar Network of eBay billionaire Pierre Omidyar, George Soros‘s Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the Knight Foundation. ⁴

Advocacy

Basic Income

The Economic Security Project (ESP) has previously advocated for a federal universal basic income (UBI) program in which every working adult with an income under $50,000 per year would receive $500 per month, paid for by increased taxes. ⁵ ESP stated that UBI programs should be implemented “in combination with robust social safety net programs.” ^{6 7 8}

EITC Expansion

The ESP supports an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) which they call the “Cost-of-Living Refund,” based in part on the work of former Clinton administration Labor Secretary Robert Reich. ⁹ An associated advocacy organization, Economic Security Project Action, operates lobbying and organizing campaigns on behalf of these policies. ¹⁰

Demonstration Projects

Previously funded the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED), a UBI project that is giving $500 every month to 130 residents of Stockton, California for 18 months. The project’s website claims the “root cause of poverty” is the “lack of cash.” ¹¹

In Magnolia, Mississippi, the ESP-funded Magnolia Mothers Trust project is giving 15 families with young children $1,000 each month for a year. ¹²

Anti-Monopoly Fund

In October 2019, the ESP announced its “Anti-Monopoly Fund” to support economic research and advocacy campaigns to promote increased corporate regulations by the federal government. Donors to the $10 million dollar fund included the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the Knight Foundation, George Soros‘s Open Society Foundations, and the Omidyar Network. The project ran until March 2021. ¹³

Funding

In addition to its co-founders, as of 2019, organizations that were announced to have supported the Economic Security Project (ESP) or were identified as donors in media coverage include the Omidyar Network, the Google Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the Future Justice Fund, the Rockefeller Foundation , the Joyce Foundation, and the Goldhirsh Foundation. ¹⁴

Financials

According to its 2023 990 form, the Economic Security Project (ESP) reported a revenue of $11,162,541, expenses of $11,196,473, and total assets of $8,031,317. ¹⁵

Leadership

Natalie Foster is the co-founder and president of the Economic Security Project (ESP). Prior to ESP, Foster was the co-founder and CEO of left-of-center advocacy group Rebuild the Dream and served as the digital director of Organizing for America, an initiative of the Democratic National Committee. She also worked as the founder of the Sierra Club‘s digital department and the deputy organizing director for MoveOn.org. As of 2025 she is a board member for the California Budget and Policy Center, the Change.org Foundation and Liberation in a Generation. ¹⁶

Chris Hughes is the co-founder and Board Chair for the ESP. Hughes is a co-founder of Facebook, and was the director of digital organizing for then-Sen. Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Campaign. As of 2025, Hughes is the board chair for the Foundation for Community Psychoanalysis and sits on the boards of the New York Public Library and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. ¹⁷ Hugues was previously the owner and publisher for the New Republic magazine. ¹⁸

Dorian Warren is the co-founder of the ESP.  Warren was the former vice president of Community Change and previously taught labor studies at the University of Chicago and Columbia University. As of 2025, he sits on the boards for Working Partnerships USA, the Leadership Conference Education Fund, the National Employment Law Project, and The Nation magazine. ¹⁹