Future Forward USA Action (Future Forward USA) is a left-of-center organization that creates, advertises, and submits petitions on a variety of issues, including the economy, health care, welfare spending, and election laws. ¹ The organization is associated with the Future Forward USA PAC. ² The organization has also made considerable contributions to political action committees (PACs) that support the election of Democratic Party politicians. ³

Background

Future Forward USA was created in 2018 and led by Chauncey Mclean. The organization is associated with the Future Forward USA PAC. ²

Finances

In 2018, Future Forward USA received $6,942,885 in contributions, ⁴ incurred $2,877,797 in expenses, ⁵ and possessed $4,030,742 in net assets. ⁶

In 2020, Future Forward USA Action received $150,902,844 in revenue, spent $149,377,966 in expenses, and had $6,864,441 in assets. ⁷

According to its 2021 990 form, Future Forward USA Action had a revenue of $13,185,535, expenses of $16,782,434, and assets of $3,267,542. ⁸

In 2022, Future Forward USA Action’s largest institutional donor was George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, which donated $15.2 million. Future Forward USA Action’s second-largest donor was BEMC 4 Association, which contributed $7.2 million. The Association is run by James McClave and Emily Berger, a husband and wife who work at Jane Street, an elite financial firm. Other large institutional donors included the League of Conservation Voters, the Fund for a Better Future, and the Hopewell Fund. ⁹

According to leaks to the New York Times, Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg each gave Future Forward USA Action $50 million during the 20204 election. ¹⁰

In 2023, Future Forward USA Action received $60,919,236 in revenue, spent $58,026,056 in expenses, and had $10,360,855 in assets. ¹¹

Election Spending

2024 Election

During the 2024 election, Future Forward USA Action donated $136,459,651 to its Future Forward USA PAC, ¹² which spent a total of $559.4 million, while it reported $517.4 million in independent expenditures compared to $376.9 million by Make America Great Again Inc. and $309 million by the Senate Majority PAC. ^{13 14 15}

According to a 2025 report by watchdog group Brennan Center for Justice, Future Forward USA Action reportedly spent $304 million during the 2024 election cycle. In November 2024, media outlet Sludge, reported that the organization had paid over $260 million to its super PAC arm FF PAC. Finally, the New York Times reported that it had raised over $950 million in total during the cycle while receiving funding from several left-of-center organizations including the LCV Victory Fund, Climate Power Action, and Sixteen Thirty Fund. ¹⁷ which in turn engaged in a more than $70 million “blitz” spending campaign in support of Joe Biden during the last five weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign. ¹⁸ Since the 2020 election, FF PAC has received roughly $77 million in donations from Future Forward USA Action. ¹⁹

According to tax forms, between July and November 2020 Future Forward USA Action received roughly $55.8 million in donations from the Impetus Fund, a left-of-center nonprofit managed by for-profit consulting firm Arabella Advisors. ²⁰ Schoffstal, Joe. “Biden’s primary 2024 outside PAC propelled by dark money group flooded with cash from mysterious entity.” Fox News, July 21, 2023. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bidens-primary-2024-outside-pac-propelled-by-dark-money-group-flooded-with-cash-from-mysterious-entity[/note] In addition, Future Forward USA Action has received donations from other Arabella-affiliated nonprofits in 2020: $15.2 million from Sixteen Thirty Fund, $6.7 million from the North Fund, and $1.8 million from the Hopewell Fund. ¹⁹

Biden Administration

In 2023 right-of-center group Americans for Public Trust (APT) released a report detailing how several nonprofit organizations managed by billionaire and foreign national Hansjorg Wyss had donated roughly $475 million to several left-leaning nonprofit organizations including left-of-center grantmaking organization Fund for a Better Future (FBF). Climate Power, which FBF is the parent company of, worked with Future Forward USA Action and strategy hub Way to Win to fund a $20 million ad campaign promoting health, economic, and environmental policies passed the Biden administration. The report though claims that media analysts deduced that the ads were, “influenced by Democratic research.” ^{21 22}

Petitions

Economy

Future Forward USA distributes petitions that support expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, a mechanism used to directly distribute taxpayer revenue to low-income families, ²³ and which during the COVID-19 pandemic and afterwards was used to directly redistribute income to families with children 17 and younger. ²⁴

Health Care

Future Forward USA distributes petitions that advocate for increased government control over healthcare. The organization has posted petitions that urge petitioners to demand that Congressional representatives support the Affordable Care Act, also referred to as Obamacare. ²⁵

Infrastructure Spending

Future Forward USA has posted a petition urging readers to call the United States Senate and leave a contact number. The petition instructs readers to urge their U.S. Senators to support investment infrastructure, claiming that increased infrastructure spending will support the middle class. ²⁶

Election Laws

Future Forward USA advocates stronger sanctions against alleged foreign interference in elections, claiming that “Russian meddling in our elections drowns out the voices of ordinary Americans.” Future Forward USA endorsed claims that Donald Trump colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election. ²⁷

Leadership

Chauncey McLean is the president of Future Forward USA. Prior to joining the organization, he was the director of media tracking for the Democratic National Committee from 2011 to 2012. ²⁸ McLean worked on the 2012 Obama Presidential Campaign, and was instrumental in developing data-mining and analytics as common practices in political campaigns. ²⁹ McLean is also the founder and head of development for Berkeley Yeast, ²⁸ a corporation that develops unique strains of yeast for beer and wine production. ³⁰

As of 2023, Katie Melin (also known as Kate Wilson-Melin) is the chief operating officer of Future Forward USA. From 2019 to 2021, Melin was the director of strategic initiatives for then-Nevada Lt. Governor Kate Marshall (D); from 2018 to 2019, she worked as the regional media director of Priorities USA; in 2016, Melin was a regional paid media director of former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign; and earlier Melin worked at the Center for American Progress, the Democratic National Committee, and the Nevada State Democratic Party. ^{11 31}

Gaurav Shirole is a co-founder and the treasurer of Future Forward PAC. From 2016 to 2022, Shirole worked as an executive at streaming firms and consulting companies. Earlier, Shirole worked as a senior analyst for President Barack Obama’s second presidential campaign. ^{11 32}

Jon Fromowitz is a co-founder and the treasurer of Future Forward USA. Fromowitz is a co-founder of Future Forward USA, Blue Sky Strategy, and PFB Media. Fromowitz has worked as an operations associate for direct mail for the Democratic Party during the 2007 New Jersey Senate election, as national director of remote calling for the 2008 Hillary Clinton for President campaign, as a strategist for President Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns, as the deputy director of paid media for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential election campaign, and as the chief speechwriter for then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) during his re-election campaign in 2017. ^{11 33 34}

1. “Issues” Future Forward USA Action. https://www.futureforwardusa.org/issues
2. Nick Corasaniti. “A Democratic Super PAC Surge Helps Biden Expand His Map.” New York Times. October 22, 2020. Accessed September 12, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/20/us/politics/future-forward-super-pac.html
3.  “Future Forward USA – Top Donors, 2020 Cycle.” Open Secrets. https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C00669259&cycle=2020
4. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Future Forward USA Action. Part I, line 8. 2018.
5. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Future Forward USA Action. Part I, line 19. 2018.
6.  Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Future Forward USA Action. Part I, line 22. 2018.
7. Return of Tax Exempt Organization. IRS Form 990. Future Forward USA Action. 2020. Part 1. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/824170762/download990pdf_07_2022_prefixes_82-94%2F824170762_202012_990O_2022071220210864
8. Return of Tax Exempt Organization. IRS Form 990. Future Forward USA Action. 2021. Part 1. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/824170762/202203279349300615/full
9. Tolan, Casey. “One of the top donors to a pro-Biden dark-money group is a non-profit run by an early AI investor.” CNN. March 10, 2024. Accessed February 14, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/10/politics/pro-biden-dark-money-group-invs/index.html.
10. Shaw, Donald. “A Dim Milestone for Dark Money in Politics.” Sludge. November 2, 2024. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://readsludge.com/2024/11/02/a-dim-milestone-for-dark-money-in-politics/.
11. “Forward Future Usa Action Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed February 14, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/824170762/202433209349325328/full.
12. “FUTURE FORWARD USA ACTION: Donor Detail.” Open Secrets. Accessed February 15, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/donor_detail/2024?name=FUTURE+FORWARD+USA+ACTION&super=N&type=O.
13. “PAC Profile: Future Forward USA.” Open Secrets. Accessed February 14, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/spending-section.
14. “Summary.” Open Secrets. Accessed February 14, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/summary.
15. Schleifer, Theodore; Goldmacher, Shane. “Inside the Secretive $700 Million Ad-Testing Factory for Kamala Harris.” New York Times. October 17, 2024. Accessed February 14, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/17/us/elections/future-forward-kamala-harris-ads.html.
17. Shaw, Donald. “Harris ‘Dark Money’ Group Spent Over $300 Million, New Report Reveals.” Sludge, May 7, 2025. https://readsludge.com/2025/05/07/harris-dark-money-group-spent-over-300-million-new-report-reveals/

    2020 Election

    In 2020, Future Forward USA Action made $61,002,270 in contributions to the Future Forward USA PAC (FF PAC), ¹⁶ “Future Forward USA – Top Donors, 2020 Cycle.” Open Secrets. https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/contrib.php?cmte=C00669259&cycle=2020

18. Kim, Soo Rin. “’Dark money,’ used by both parties, featured in $100 million pro-Biden ad blitz” October 28, 2020. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dark-money-parties-featured-100-million-pro-biden/story?id=73863672
19. Schoffstal, Joe. “Biden’s primary 2024 outside PAC propelled by dark money group flooded with cash from mysterious entity.” Fox News, July 21, 2023. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bidens-primary-2024-outside-pac-propelled-by-dark-money-group-flooded-with-cash-from-mysterious-entity
20. Return of Tax Exempt Organization. IRS Form 990. Impetus Fund. 2020. Schedule I, Part II. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/851701143/202211339349309306/full
21. “Report: Foreign Influence in U.S. Elections.” Americans for Public Trust, July 10, 2023. https://americansforpublictrust.org/document/report-foreign-influence-in-u-s-elections
22. Schoffstall, Joe and Thomas Catenacci. “Liberal Swiss billionaire’s extensive nonprofit cash targeted ahead of 2024 election: ‘Needs to be stopped.’” Fox News, July 20, 2023. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/liberal-swiss-billionaires-extensive-nonprofit-cash-targeted-2024-election-needs-stopped
23. “Issues – Economy” Future Forward USA Action. https://www.futureforwardusa.org/issues
24.  Reinecke, Carmen. “Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget plan includes major help for families with kids” CNCB. August 25, 2021. September 2, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/25/democrats-3point5-trillion-budget-plan-includes-major-help-for-families.html
25.  “Issues – Healthcare” Future Forward USA Action. https://www.futureforwardusa.org/issues
26.  “Issues – Supporting the Middle Class” Future Forward USA Action. https://www.futureforwardusa.org/issues
27.  “Issues – Protecting American Democracy” Future Forward USA Action. https://www.futureforwardusa.org/issues
28. Chauncey McLean” LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chauncey-mclean-753a8b74/
29. Rutenberg, Jim. “Data You Can Believe In” New York Times. June 20, 2013. Accessed June 5, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/magazine/the-obama-campaigns-digital-masterminds-cash-in.html
30. “About Us” Berkley Yeast. https://berkeleyyeast.com/about
31. “Kate Wilson-Melin.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 14, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-wilson-melin-7a56bba0/.
32. “Gaurav Shirole.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 14, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gshirole/.
33. “Jon Fromowitz.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 14, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-fromowitz-3922934/.
34. Fang, Lee. “Kamala Harris SuperPAC Spent Lavishly on Firms Owned by PAC Leadership.” Lee Fang. November 13, 2024. Accessed February 14, 2025. https://www.leefang.com/p/kamala-harris-superpac-spent-lavishly.