New Pluralists is a project of several large and cross-partisan philanthropic organizations including the Einhorn Collaborative, the Stand Together Trust, the Fetzer Institute, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, with the goal of reducing social tension and division. It is fiscally sponsored by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, but is governed by representatives of the various donor organizations. In early 2022, it announced its first major grant initiative, seeking to distribute $10 million to local organizations working to reduce social divisions. ^{1 2 3}

Founding and History

New Pluralism originated out of an exploratory meeting held in February 2020 between several large philanthropic organizations including the Einhorn Collaborative, the Charles Koch Institute, the Fetzer Institute, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, with the aim of exploring ways to reduce social divisions. The organization officially launched in May 2021 and issued its first call for grant proposals in 2022. ⁴

Policies and Project

As of July 2022, New Pluralism had one active request for proposals, called “Healing Starts Here: Local Solutions to America’s Divisions.” The program seeks to distribute $10 million in grants ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 to organizations that will work on the local level to end social divisions and promote local understanding and unity. The group is specifically looking to build and equip local community leaders to defuse local tensions and to create opportunities for community members to share experiences that promote understanding across differences. ⁵

Contributors

New Pluralism is funded and governed by “governing partners” that have committed to contribute at least $1 million a year for 2-3 years. Currently, these include representatives from Acton Family Giving, Stand Together Trust (formerly known as the Charles Koch Institute), the Einhorn Collaborative, the Hewlett Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, the Klarman Family Foundation, the Lubetzky Family Foundation, and the Fetzer Institute. ⁶

Another notable donor is Mackenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who has contributed $4 million to the project. Scott is not a governing partner, a group that is capped at 12, as of June 2022. ⁷

Leadership

Uma Viswanathan is the executive director of New Pluralists. She has a long track record of working in the non-profit space, notably working as a program officer at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation from 2015 to 2018, and as a senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation from 2018 to 2021. ⁸ Viswnathan noted that during her work with left-of-center funding organizations and nonprofits she was often around people who shared her beliefs, who nonetheless engaged in posturing and tribal behavior that dehumanized political opponents. She questioned how a better world could be built if the effort to do so was rooted in disdain. ⁹

In 2016, Viswanathan contributed $500 to Hillary for America. ¹⁰

Finances

New Pluralists is sponsored by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and therefore does not file its own 990 tax forms. However, the organization has stated that it seeks to distribute $10 million in grants in its current request for proposal initiative, which concludes in August 2022. ¹¹

1. “Healing Starts Here.” New Pluralists. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://newpluralists.org/healing-starts-here/.
2. Rojc, Philip. “This Funder Collaborative Is All About Fostering Pluralism. Can It Succeed?” Inside Philanthropy, June 15, 2022. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2022/6/15/this-funder-collaborative-is-all-about-fostering-pluralism-can-it-succeed.
3. “Funders.” New Pluralists. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://newpluralists.org/funders/.
4.  Rojc, Philip. “This Funder Collaborative Is All About Fostering Pluralism. Can It Succeed?” Inside Philanthropy, June 15, 2022. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2022/6/15/this-funder-collaborative-is-all-about-fostering-pluralism-can-it-succeed.
5.  “Healing Starts Here.” New Pluralists. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://newpluralists.org/healing-starts-here/.
6.  “Funders.” New Pluralists. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://newpluralists.org/funders/.
7. Rojc, Philip. “This Funder Collaborative Is All About Fostering Pluralism. Can It Succeed?” Inside Philanthropy, June 15, 2022. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2022/6/15/this-funder-collaborative-is-all-about-fostering-pluralism-can-it-succeed.
8. “Uma Viswanathan.” LinkedIn.com. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/uma-viswanathan-666b871a/details/experience/.
9. “Meet New Pluralists Executive Director Uma Viswanathan.” New Pluralists. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://newpluralists.org/uma-viswanathan-introduction-2/.
10. “Browse Individual Contributions: Uma Viswanathan.” FEC.gov. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=Uma+Viswanathan+&min_date=01%2F01%2F2000&max_date=12%2F31%2F2022.
11. “Healing Starts Here.” New Pluralists. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://newpluralists.org/healing-starts-here/.