Futures Without Violence is a nonprofit education and advocacy organization that focuses on anti-domestic violence advocacy as well as race and gender issues. The organization was founded in the 1980s by California-based activist Esta Soler, who has led the group continuously for over thirty years. The organization leads several programs aimed at reducing domestic violence, administers a domestic violence hotline, and promotes various left-leaning policy reforms around gender, healthcare, and international relations. The organization has offices in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Boston. ¹

The organization does not publicly disclose all of its funders but received a gift-matching endowment from the left-leaning grantmaker the Ford Foundation of over $7 million in 2018. ² Additionally, Futures Without Violence gained prominence in 2020 for being featured in Billionaire Mackenzie Scott’s “116 Organizations Driving Change.”  Scott, the billionaire ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, rose to prominence in 2020 by announcing that she would give away most of her vast fortune to left-leaning advocacy groups, many of which focused on race and gender issues. ³

Background

Futures Without Violence was founded by Esta Soler in 1980, when she received a federal government grant to start the Family Violence Prevention Fund. In the years since, Soler has grown the organization into becoming among the largest domestic violence advocacy organizations in the United States. The organization focuses much of its policy advocacy around the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, a law it claims to have been instrumental in passing. The organization also has supported subsequent expansions and renewals of the legislation in 2000, 2005, and 2013, and presently supports further renewal of the law. ⁴

Activity

Futures Without Violence manages several programs surrounding domestic violence prevention. Programs include providing health resources to a network of over 10,000 healthcare providers, outreach to men and boys designed to deter domestic abuse. The organization also promotes training for workplace sexual harassment that it related to the “#MeToo” movement. On the public policy side, the organization supports the Keep Girls in School Act of 2019 and renewal of the Violence Against Women Act. ⁵

People

The President and Founder of Futures Without Violence is Esta Soler, a left-leaning activist based in San Francisco who has led the group since its founding in the 1980s. Soler is active on several nonprofit boards and is active with many left-leaning organizations including sitting on the board of the Blue Shield of California Foundation and the Center for Family Policy and Practice, and working as a consultant to organizations and agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Soros Justice Fellowship Program, the Ford Foundation and Harvard University Innovations in American Government initiative, and the Aspen Institute. ⁶

Board members for Futures Without Violence include current or past employees of Public Agenda, AECOM, Dentons LLP, University of California-Berkley, Johns Hopkins University, and EMILY’s list. ⁷

1. “Policy Advocacy.” Futures Without Violence. Accessed December 9, 2020. https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/policy-advocacy/
2. “Financials.” Futures Without Violence. Accessed December 9, 2020. https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/about-us/our-mission/financials/
3. Scott, MacKenzie. “116 Organizations Driving Change.” Medium. July 28, 2020. Accessed December 3, 2020. https://medium.com/@mackenzie_scott/116-organizations-driving-change-67354c6d733d
4. “Esta Soler.” Skoll Foundation. Accessed December 9, 2020. https://skoll.org/contributor/esta-soler/
5. “2019 Impact Report.” Futures Without Violence. Accessed December 9, 2020. https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/wp-content/uploads/2019Impact.pdf
6. “Esta Soler.” Women’s Media Center. Accessed December 9, 2020. https://www.womensmediacenter.com/shesource/expert/esta-soler
7. “Board of Directors.” Futures Without Violence. Accessed December 9, 2020. https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/about-us/board-and-staff-2/board-directors/