Fund 25 is a private grantmaking foundation in Raleigh, North Carolina¹  founded in late 2014 with a $1 million contribution from two left-progressive medical researchers, Roxanne Saucier and her husband Nabarun Dasgupta. ²

Saucier’s work on drug overdoses has been supported by the Open Society Network created by left-progressive billionaire donor George Soros. ³

Grants

Fund 25 primarily grants money to left-progressive social causes.  In 2018 it gave $75,000 to Repairers of the Breach, a left-wing Christian-associated advocacy group defending LGBTQ, women, and refugee interests in North Carolina. ⁴ Other major grants went to Project South, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Alternate Roots, Harm Reduction Coalition, and the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. ⁵

People

Roxanne Saucier is president of Fund 25 and is married to the secretary, Nabarun Dasgupta. The address of the foundation is the same as Saucier’s home that she shares with Dasgupta and their son. ⁶ Saucier works as a researcher for Open Society Public Health Program. ⁷ Her writings on overdose have been published by George Soros’ Open Society Foundations. ⁸

Nabarun Dasgupta is the secretary of Fund 25. He is a professor and researcher of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  His research includes drug and opioid abuse. He co-founded Epidemico, a “health informatics” firm, and Project Lazarus, a non-profit preventing overdose in North Carolina. ⁹

Saucier and Dasgupta are the funders of Fund 25; in 2014, they made a joint $1 million contribution to establish the foundation. ¹⁰

1. Fund 25, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2018https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/472458563/201941279349100424/IRS990PF.
2. Fund 25, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2014, Schedule B https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/472458563/2015_05_PF%2F47-2458563_990PF_201412.
3. Saucier, Roxanne. “Stopping Overdose” Peer-Based Distribution of Naloxone.” Open Society Foundations, accessed August 7, 2020, https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/stopping-overdose.
4. “About Us.” Repairers of the Breach, accessed August 7, 2020, https://www.breachrepairers.org/mission.
5. Fund 25, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2018,  Part XV Line 3 https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/472458563/201941279349100424/IRS990PF.
6. Welton, J. Michael. “Fraternal Twins, a Shared Future, a Modern Heritage.” Walter Magazine, accessed August 6, 2020, https://www.waltermagazine.com/home/fraternal-twins-a-shared-future-a-modern-heritage/.
7. Saucier, Roxanne. “’I’m the Evidence’: Video Advocacy to Prevent Drug Overdose Deaths.” Open Society Foundations, accessed August 7, 2020, https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/i-m-evidence-video-advocacy-prevent-drug-overdose-deaths.
8. Saucier, Roxanne. “Stopping Overdose” Peer-Based Distribution of Naloxone.” Open Society Foundations, accessed August 7, 2020, https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/stopping-overdose.
9. “Nabarun Dasgupta, PhD, MPH.” Injury Prevention Research Center, Leadership and Faculty, accessed August 6, 2020, https://iprc.unc.edu/about-us/our-people/leadership-faculty/?person=401.
10. Fund 25, Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2014, Schedule B https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/472458563/2015_05_PF%2F47-2458563_990PF_201412.