People Profiles

Learn how specific individuals are influencing public policy. Each profile below is carefully curated by an InfluenceWatch contributor, and includes funding data where appropriate.

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View Brian Acton

Brian Acton

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Abortion Policy, Tech Policy
Brian Acton is a billionaire technology entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of mobile messenger app WhatsApp.
View Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders

Activist, Politician, Abortion Policy, Economic Policy, Elections Policy, Firearms Policy, Healthcare Policy, Labor Policy
Bernard "Bernie" Sanders is a Vermont politician, serving as the state's senior United States Senator. Sanders ran for the Democratic Party nomination for President of…
View Alicia Garza

Alicia Garza

Activist, Abortion Policy, Identity Politics (for race-based policy/activism)
Alicia Garza is a California-based activist and a co-founder of the #BlackLivesMatter online movement and the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation.
View Barbara Hostetter

Barbara Hostetter

Donor, Abortion Policy, Multi-Issue Advocacy
Barbara Hostetter is a Boston, Massachusetts-based philanthropist. She is the wife of billionaire cable television entrepreneur Amos Hostetter.
View Deborah Simon

Deborah Simon

Donor, Abortion Policy
Deborah "Debbie" Simon is the daughter of billionaire shopping mall magnate Melvin Simon. She is a philanthropist and left-of-center political donor. She is a major…
View Naomi Aberly

Naomi Aberly

Activist, Board Member or Executive, Abortion Policy
Naomi Aberly is a left-of-center activist best known for chairing the board of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). She is an activist donor for…
View Kathleen McGrath

Kathleen McGrath

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Abortion Policy, Criminal Justice Policy, Elections Policy, Firearms Policy, Identity Politics (for race-based policy/activism)
Kathleen “Katie” McGrath is the spouse of Hollywood producer J.J. Abrams and director of the Kathleen McGrath and J.J. Abrams Family Foundation, the couple’s left-of-center…
View Jennifer Ann Allan Soros

Jennifer Ann Allan Soros

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Abortion Policy, Multi-Issue Advocacy
Jennifer Ann Allan Soros is the wife of Jonathan Soros, the third child of liberal finance billionaire George Soros and his first wife, Annaliese Witschak….
View Christopher Hohn

Christopher Hohn

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Abortion Policy, Environmental Policy
Christopher Hohn is an English hedge-fund manager and billionaire environmentalist who had an estimated net worth of $9.2 billion as of 2025.
View Quinn Delaney

Quinn Delaney

Donor, Abortion Policy, Criminal Justice Policy, Identity Politics (for race-based policy/activism)
Quinn Delaney is a philanthropist, fundraiser, and major donor to left-of-center causes and Democratic politicians. In 2000, Delaney and her husband, real estate mogul Wayne…
View James Simons

James Simons

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Abortion Policy, Education Policy, Healthcare Policy
James Simons is a billionaire retired manager of the hedge fund Renaissance Technologies and mathematician. Forbes lists Simons the second-highest-earning hedge fund manager in 2018….
View Susan A. Buffett

Susan A. Buffett

Board Member or Executive, Abortion Policy, Criminal Justice Policy, Economic Policy, Education Policy, Healthcare Policy
Susan A. Buffett, known as "Susie," is the eldest daughter of billionaire investor Warren Buffett and a major force in left-of-center philanthropy. As chair of…
View Allen Greenberg

Allen Greenberg

Board Member or Executive, Abortion Policy, Multi-Issue Advocacy
Allen Greenberg is the executive director and president of the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, a charitable foundation established and funded by billionaire investor Warren Buffett. Greenberg…
View George Krupp

George Krupp

Donor, Abortion Policy, Environmental Policy, Identity Politics (for race-based policy/activism), LGBT Policy
George Krupp is a businessman and major Democratic donor who made his fortune through The Berkshire Group, a real estate investment company. Krupp and his…
View Andrea E. Soros

Andrea E. Soros

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Abortion Policy, Multi-Issue Advocacy
Andrea E. Soros is the daughter of billionaire philanthropist George Soros. She sits on the global board of her father’s Open Society Foundations and the…
View Michael Moritz

Michael Moritz

Board Member or Executive, Other, Abortion Policy, Education Policy, Elections Policy, Environmental Policy, Housing Policy, Identity Politics (for race-based policy/activism), Immigration Policy
Michael Moritz is a Welsh-born American billionaire investor best known for his work with Sequoia Capital. As of March 2024, Moritz had an estimated net…
View Xavier Becerra

Xavier Becerra

Lawyer, Politician, Abortion Policy, Healthcare Policy, Immigration Policy
Xavier Becerra is a Democratic politician, former Congressman, and former attorney general of California, who previously served as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human…
View Jane Fonda

Jane Fonda

Activist, Other, Abortion Policy, Environmental Policy, Foreign Policy
Jane Fonda is an Academy Award-winning actress and a longtime left-wing political activist. The daughter of actor Henry Fonda, Jane Fonda won two Oscars for…
View Gwendolyn Sontheim Meyer

Gwendolyn Sontheim Meyer

Donor, Abortion Policy, Economic Policy, Environmental Policy
Gwendolyn Sontheim Meyer is a billionaire philanthropist who has contributed over $12 million to Democratic-leaning campaigns and organizations including the 2024 presidential campaign of Vice…
View Roger Milliken, Jr.

Roger Milliken, Jr.

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Abortion Policy, Environmental Policy
Roger Milliken, Jr. is an environmentalist and major left-of-center donor based in Maine. He is the husband of Margot Milliken and the son of late…

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Madison Teachers, Inc. (MTI)

Madison Teachers, Inc. (MTI) is a labor union representing teachers and other educational employees of the Madison Metropolitan School District in Madison, Wisconsin. Its teachers’…

Democracy Matters Foundation (formerly Franklin Education Forum)

The Democracy Matters Foundation is an activist organization that makes grants in support of left-of-center communications and advocacy campaigns. It was known since its 2013…

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The D.N. Batten Foundation contributes millions to a broad array of organizations including left-of-center environmentalist groups focusing on climate change, and other environmentalist priorities. The…