Open Philanthropy

Background

Open Philanthropy was initially founded in 2016 as Open Philanthropy Project by Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz. Nick Beckstead and Andrew Snyder-Beattie, two former Open Philanthropy Program Officers, had previously interacted in several group communications that included Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of defunct cryptocurrency exchange company FTX. Both were amongst several Open Philanthropy employees that had contributed to the campaign for Carrick Flynn, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democrat nomination to represent Oregon’s 6th Congressional District during the 2022 midterm elections. In 2021 Beckstead left Open Philanthropy to serve as CEO of FTX’s philanthropic organization the FTX Foundation. ^{4 5}

As of February 2025, its website shows its name is Open Philanthropy. “Home.” Open Philanthropy, Accessed February 3, 2025. https://www.openphilanthropy.org/[/note]

In 2025, Open Philanthropy launched the Abundance and Growth Fund (AGF), a three-year, $120 million initiative to support policies and organizations aimed at accelerating economic growth, scientific and technological innovation, and lowering the cost of living. The fund, supported by contributions from Good Ventures, Stripe cofounder Patrick Collison, and other donors, builds on Open Philanthropy’s earlier grantmaking in housing and innovation policy, including support for the “Yes in My Backyard” or “YIMBY” movement and reforms to building codes. Representative grantees include Convergent Research and the Center for Scientific Integrity. While the initiative has been welcomed by advocates of faster progress, it has also drawn criticism from some progressive groups concerned about deregulation and environmental impacts. ⁶

Leadership

Cari Tuna is the co-founder and board chair for Open Philanthropies as of February 2025. She and her husband Dustin Moskovitz also co-founded Good Ventures, and prior to Open Philanthropies she was a reporter for the The Wall Street Journal. ⁷

In March 2025, it was announced that Sharon Yang and Karthik Ganapathy would be joining the organization as senior communications officers, while Michael Brownlie would be joining to work as the director of government relations for the group. Prior to joining Open Philanthropy, Yang was the national spokesperson for former Vice President Kamala Harris‘ 2024 Presidential campaign, Ganapathy was the co-founder of left-of-center group Left Flank Strategies, and Brownlie was the previous chief of staff for former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ). ⁸

Funding

According to its 2023 990 form, Open Philanthropy reported a revenue of $3,108,446, expenses at $4,947,218, and total assets of $26,628,515. ⁹

The Argument

As of August 2025, Open Philanthropy was listed as one of the investors into The Argument, a left-of-center publication started by former Atlantic writer Jerusalem Demsas with staff from media sites Vox and Semafor to write on “what liberalism is for, rather than just what it’s against.” ¹⁰ The new publication raised $4 million “at a $20 million valuation,” while in a statement Demsas argued “To move out of this post-liberal, populist moment towards a better future…will require our government, culture, politics, and people to recommit ourselves to liberal values.” ¹⁰ Others listed as investors include Arnold Ventures, Susan Mandel, Gaurav Kapadia, Rachel Pritzker, Simone Coxe, John Wolthuis, Patrick Collison and Emergent Ventures. ¹⁰