Our Ohio Renewal was a nonprofit founded by U.S. Senator and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance (R-OH) before the beginning of his electoral career. Vance is the author of Hillbilly Elegy, served as U.S. Senator from Ohio, and was elected Vice President in the 2024 presidential election on the Republican ticket. 1
The group gained scrutiny for working with psychiatrist Sally Satel, who had previously written articles citing research paid for by Purdue Pharma, the firm that manufactured OxyContin. 2 Our Ohio Renewal shut down in 2021 shortly before Vance ran for U.S. Senate in Ohio. 3 4
Background
Our Ohio Renewal was a nonprofit founded by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance before he began his electoral career. Vance said the organization would fight Ohio’s toughest problems: opioids, joblessness, and broken families. 1 Vance left his venture capital job in Silicon Valley in 2016 to start the organization. 2
Beyond the opioid crisis, the organization also aimed to tackle other social problems that Vance wrote about in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy. 1 In June 2017, the organization’s website said it would “pursue government policies and private partnerships that make it easier for disadvantaged children to achieve their dreams.” 5
Vance began building the organization in November 2016, one day after the election that year. 3 When Vance returned to Ohio to start the organization, he said that it irked him when people asked if he was running for office. 1
In a December 2016 interview with National Public Radio (NPR), Vance announced a “listening tour” in launching the organization. He said, “The success of the book has given me the flexibility, but also I think the platform to talk about some of the issues that are most important to me. And so, what I’m going to do is start a small nonprofit that’s going to focus on a couple of issues that are a special concern to me and I think will be pretty familiar to those who’ve read the book.” 6
In the early stages of Our Ohio Renewal, Vance said in an interview with the Philanthropy Roundtable: “On the opioid-abuse front, we’re identifying the things that have been tried, from prevention programs to physician training to treatment options, and trying to understand how well they are working.” He also said the group would work on workforce development, noting, “Creative destruction opens opportunities for people to do new things, to contribute to the economy in new ways, and to have new jobs that are just as important and just as dignified as the jobs that people had years ago.” 7
At various points, Vance has also described the goal of Our Ohio Renewal being “to bring interesting new businesses to the so-called Rust Belt,” “to fill some of the (area’s) treatment gaps in mental health,” and “to combat Ohio’s opioid epidemic.” 3
The organization also said it wanted to “work with local agencies and institutions to identify and scale workable solutions to the problems of family breakdown” and “lead on solutions to opioid abuse so we can take our communities back.” 8
According to media accounts, the organization did not achieve most of its goals. Our Ohio Renewal announced it launched a survey to explore the needs of Ohio residents. However, the organization did not reveal the survey results, according to Inside Philanthropy. 2
Our Ohio Renewal shut down in 2021, closing its website that August. 3 4
Financials
Our Ohio Renewal raised $220,000 in 2017. 2
The organization spent more on “management services” than on programmatic work according to Business Insider. 4
During the following years of operation, the organization raised less than $50,000 annually, not enough to require disclosing financial activity to the Internal Revenue Service, according to Business Insider. 4
Personnel
Founder J.D. Vance, since November 2024 the Vice President-elect of the United States, was listed as the honorary chairman of Our Ohio Renewal. 3
The executive director for the organization, Jai Chabria, later became Vance’s political director during his campaign for the U.S. Senate. 4
Controversy
Our Ohio Renewal worked with Sally Satel, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Satel had previously written articles that disputed claims that prescription painkillers and doctors were to blame for the opioid crisis. This sparked controversy as some of her articles had cited studies and doctors that were funded by Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of the opioid painkiller OxyContin, which has been heavily abused. 2 Purdue Pharma was also reportedly a regular donor to AEI. 3
In 2022, J.D. Vance’s opponent in the Ohio U.S. Senate election, then-U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), made Our Ohio Renewal a campaign issue in TV ads. 3 Ryan’s two ads attacking Vance’s role in the group aired in Ohio’s six major TV markets. 9
References
- Farenthold, David A. “J.D. Vance’s First Attempt to Renew Ohio Crumbled Quickly.” New York Times. October 8, 2022. Accessed August 7, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/08/us/politics/jd-vance-ohio-senate-nonprofit.html
- Matthiesseen, Connie. “J.D. Vance Has Set His Sights on Philanthropy Before. What Should the Sector Expect?” Inside Philanthropy. July 18, 2024. Accessed August 7, 2024. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2024/7/18/what-should-philanthropy-expect-from-jd-vance
- Smyth, Julie Carr. “Vance’s anti-drug charity enlisted doctor echoing Big Pharma.” Associated Press. August 18, 2022. Accessed August 7, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-entertainment-health-175153d8a80d93b2c9c6654a6a730de9
- Wren, Adam and Morris, Meghan. “We Found Tax Records Showing ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Author JD Vance’s Anti-Opioid Nonprofit Faltered.” Business Insider. August 31, 2021. Accessed August 7, 2024.
- “Our Ohio Renewal.” Ballotpedia. Accessed August 7, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Our_Ohio_Renewal
- Chang, Alisa. “’Hillbilly Elegy’ Author J.D. Vance Plans Ohio Return To Hear State’s Challenges.” National Public Radio. December 25, 2016. Accessed August 7, 2024. https://www.npr.org/2016/12/25/506898862/-hillbilly-elegy-author-j-d-vance-plans-ohio-return-to-hear-state-s-challenges
- Press Release. “Our Ohio Renewal Tackles Significant Problems in Ohio.” University of Wisconsin-Madison. August 21, 2017. Accessed August 7, 2024. https://gobigread.wisc.edu/2017/08/our-ohio-renewal-tackles-significant-problems-in-ohio
- Foley, Ryan. “JD Vance: 5 things to know about Trump’s VP pick.” Christian Post. July 17, 2024. Accessed August 7, 2024. https://www.christianpost.com/news/jd-vance-5-things-to-know-about-trumps-vp-pick.html?page=5
- Gomez, Henry J. “Ryan’s new ads continue effort to link Vance to Ohio’s opioid crisis.” NBC News. September 7, 2022. Accessed August 7, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/ryans-new-ads-continue-effort-link-vance-ohios-opioid-crisis-rcna46637