Wellville is a health-focused nonprofit project that operates in California, Connecticut, Oregon, Michigan, and South Carolina. ¹ It is a fiscally sponsored project of the New Venture Fund, a left-of-center grantmaking group and the largest of the nonprofits created and managed by Arabella Advisors. ^{2 3}

Background

Wellville is a fiscally sponsored project of the New Venture Fund, a left-of-center grantmaking group and the largest of the five nonprofits created and managed by Arabella Advisors. ^{2 3}  

Wellville is a 10-year project that was set to end in 2024. ⁴ The group operates in Clatsop County, Oregon; Lake County, California; Muskegon, Michigan; North Hartford, Connecticut; and Spartanburg, South Carolina, which are collectively referred to as the “Wellville 5.” The group tracks statistics on these communities such as poverty rates, education levels, health rankings, and teenage births. ⁵

People

The group was founded by Esther Dyson, a tech industry investor and the founding chair of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Dyson also served as director of the Sunlight Foundation and as a trustee of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. ⁶

Rick Brush works as chief executive officer of Wellville. ⁷

Marya Stark serves as an advisor to Clatsop County, Oregon. Stark also served as the founding executive director of the left-of-center candidate training group, Emerge America. ⁷

Funding

Between 2014 and 2016, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation gave $200,892 to Wellville through the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation. ^{8 9}

1. “About Wellville – Supporting W5 Communities.” Wellville. Accessed July 11, 2024. https://wellville.net/about/.
2. “Privacy Policy.” Wellville. Accessed July 11, 2024. https://wellville.net/privacy-policy/.
3. Ludwig, Hayden. “We Broke New Ground on Arabella’s ‘Dark Money’ in 2022.” Capital Research Center, December 22, 2022. https://capitalresearch.org/article/we-broke-new-ground-on-arabellas-dark-money-in-2022/.
4. Kawasaki , Guy. “Esther Dyson: What’s after Success.” Guy Kawasaki, July 6, 2022. https://guykawasaki.com/esther-dyson-whats-after-success/.
5. “Wellville 5 Communities.” Wellville. Accessed July 11, 2024. https://wellville.net/wellville-5-communities/.
6. “Esther Dyson Experience .” LinkedIn. Accessed July 11, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/estherdyson.
7. “Wellville National Team – Improve Equitable Wellbeing.” Wellville. Accessed July 11, 2024. https://wellville.net/about/team/.
8. “Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2014 Form 990PF – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed July 11, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/226029397/201513079349100316/IRS990PF.
9. “Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2016 Form 990PF – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed July 11, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/226029397/201733139349101558/IRS990PF.