Panorama Global is a left-of-center pass-through funder that bundles grants to a range of nonprofits involved in LGBT-interest causes, left-leaning Latino voter engagement, education, and other advocacy causes as well as human welfare issues like mental health.
Panorama Global has close ties to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Founder and CEO Gabriele Fitzgerald worked at the Gates Foundation for nine years, and the Gates Foundation has given more than $12 million to Panorama Global, including some of its earliest funding. Panorama Global is a member of the umbrella organization Panorama Group, along with Panorama Action and Panorama Strategy.
Leadership
Panorama Global was founded in 2016 by Gabrielle Fitzgerald, a veteran of grantmaking non-profit leadership and Democratic politics. Fitzgerald began her career volunteering for the presidential campaign of Bill Clinton (D). After his election, she was a researcher on the Clinton-Gore transition team, and then a lead researcher for the Clinton White House. In 1993, she joined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a briefing coordinator. In 1994, Fitzgerald served as a speechwriter for President Clinton. In the late 1990s, Fitzgerald worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), then briefly for the U.S. Committee for Refugees, 1 and then she served as a senior advisor to USAID from 1999-2004. 2
In 2004, Fitzgerald joined the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a senior program officer. She stayed with the organization for over nine years, ending her time in 2014 as director of global program advocacy. She then worked as director of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation’s efforts to fight the Ebola pandemic. After founding Panorama Global in 2016, Fitzgerald also co-founded the Pandemic Action Network in 2020. 3
Riley Glandon, Panorama Global’s senior program officer, also formerly worked for the Gates Foundation. 4 Board member Mairo Mandara formerly acted as a “country representative” for the Gates Foundation. 5
Former Washington state Rep. Kristine Reeves (D), a board member, is an Open Society Foundations fellow. She unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Congress in 2019, and later served as an advisor to the presidential campaign of former Vice President Joe Biden. 6
Abbie Hodgson, the director of Panorama Global’s Ascend Fund, which finances female political candidates, formerly worked for the Pew Charitable Trusts and for former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D). 7
Support for Female Politicians
Panorama Global’s Ascend Fund finances allegedly non-partisan organizations that help female candidates get elected. The fund will spend $8 million over the next three years, with grant recipients including Running Start, Vote Run Lead, New American Leaders, and GALvanize. 8
Grants
In 2020, Panorama Global gave $218,006 to the Hopewell Fund, a left-of-center fiscal sponsorship nonprofit managed by Arabella Advisors; $50,000 to the LGTBQ Victory Institute, a PAC which supports LGTBQ candidates; $50,000 to the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda; and $50,000 to the Tides Foundation, a major left-wing pass-through funder. 9
In 2019, Panorama Global gave $635,000 to the Hopewell Fund, and $200,000 to the Groundswell Fund, a pass-through nonprofit for abortion rights advocates. 10
Funding
Since October 2015, Panorama Global has received 12 grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation totaling $12,021,943. The grant purposes include “global development,” “global health,” and “gender equality.” 11 Panorama Global founder and CEO Gabrielle Fitzgerald held high-level positions at the Foundation for over nine years prior to starting Panorama. 12
References
- “Gabrielle Fitzgerald.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 13, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellefitzgerald/.
- “Gabrielle Fitzgerald.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 13, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellefitzgerald/.
- “Gabrielle Fitzgerald.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 13, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellefitzgerald/.
- Riley Glandon.” Panorama Global. Accessed April 14, 2022. https://www.panoramaglobal.org/team-member/glandon.
- “Dr. Mairo Mandara.” Panorama Global. Accessed April 14, 2022. https://www.panoramaglobal.org/team-member/mandara.
- “Kristine Reeves.” Panorama Global. Accessed April 14, 2022. https://www.panoramaglobal.org/team-member/kristine-reeves.
- “Abbie Hodgson.” Panorama Global. Accessed April 14, 2022. https://www.panoramaglobal.org/team-member/hodgson.
- “Accelerating Gender Equality.” Panorama Global. Accessed April 14, 2022. https://www.panoramaglobal.org/case-study/accelerating-gender-equality-in-u-s-elected-office.
- Panorama Global. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/814204119/download990pdf_09_2021_prefixes_64-81%2F814204119_202012_990_2021090318819859.
- Panorama Global. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/814204119/download990pdf_09_2021_prefixes_64-81%2F814204119_202012_990_2021090318819859.
- “Committed Grants Database: Panorama Global.” Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Accessed April 14, 2022. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants?q=Panorama%20Global#committed_grants.
- “Gabrielle Fitzgerald.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 13, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriellefitzgerald/.