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 Ted Turner

Ted Turner

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Energy Policy, Environmental Policy
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III was a billionaire media proprietor, conservationist, and philanthropist best known as the founder of CNN, the first 24-hour cable news…
View C. Frederick Taylor

C. Frederick Taylor

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Energy Policy, Environmental Policy
C. Frederick Taylor (Fred Taylor) is a reclusive California billionaire and one of three founders of the TGS Management hedge fund. In July 2023 the…
View Stephen Heintz

Stephen Heintz

Board Member or Executive, Economic Policy, Elections Policy, Energy Policy, Environmental Policy
Stephen Heintz is the long-time president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) as well as the co-founder and ex-president of Demos. Heintz played key roles…
View Dale Vince

Dale Vince

Activist, Donor, Energy Policy, Environmental Policy
Dale Vince is an environmental activist and energy industrialist who is the owner of Ecotricity and the chairman of the English soccer team Forest Green…
View Farhad Ebrahimi

Farhad Ebrahimi

Activist, Board Member or Executive, Donor, Economic Policy, Energy Policy, Environmental Policy
Farhad Ebrahimi is a left-wing political activist, supporter of the radical Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, advocacy donor, and founder of the Chorus Foundation. He is…
View Lucy Ana Walton

Lucy Ana Walton

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Energy Policy, Healthcare Policy
Lucy Ana Walton is a psychologist, businesswoman, and philanthropist based in Denver, Colorado. She is the wife of Ben Walton, a grandson of Walmart founder…
View Adam J. Lewis

Adam J. Lewis

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Energy Policy, Environmental Policy
Adam J. Lewis is the son of the late billionaire Peter B. Lewis, the former chairman of Progressive Insurance and an early partner in the…
View Al Gore

Al Gore

Politician, Energy Policy, Environmental Policy
Albert Arnold “Al” Gore Jr. is a Democratic Party politician and environmentalist activist. He has served as a U.S. Representative, United States Senator from Tennessee,…
View George Kaiser

George Kaiser

Donor, Economic Policy, Energy Policy
George B. Kaiser, billionaire oilman and philanthropist from Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the owner, president, and CEO of the GBK Corporation, a holding company in the…
View Michael P. Polsky

Michael P. Polsky

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Energy Policy, Environmental Policy, Identity Politics (for race-based policy/activism)
Michael P. Polsky is the CEO and founder of Invenergy, which claims it is the “largest privately held global developer, owner and operator of renewable…
View John D. Arnold

John D. Arnold

Donor, Criminal Justice Policy, Economic Policy, Education Policy, Energy Policy, Healthcare Policy
John D. Arnold is an American philanthropist and businessman. Arnold and his wife, Laura Munoz, together run the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, a major private…
View Jake Sullivan

Jake Sullivan

Other, Economic Policy, Energy Policy, Foreign Policy
Jacob Jeremiah “Jake” Sullivan was the former National Security Advisor for the Biden Administration. Sullivan held several positions in the Obama Administration, initially as deputy…
View Amelia Warren Tyagi

Amelia Warren Tyagi

Board Member or Executive, Economic Policy, Elections Policy, Energy Policy, Environmental Policy
Amelia Warren Tyagi is an American businesswoman, left-of-center political activist, consultant, and author. Tyagi is the daughter of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and has…
View Stacy H. Schusterman

Stacy H. Schusterman

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Abortion Policy, Criminal Justice Policy, Energy Policy
Stacy H. Schusterman is a left-of-center philanthropist and energy and real estate executive who is the chair of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation,…
View Liz Cheney

Liz Cheney

Politician, Economic Policy, Elections Policy, Energy Policy, Foreign Policy
Liz Cheney is a U.S politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 through 2023 representing Wyoming’s single congressional district. The daughter…
View Ben Rhodes

Ben Rhodes

Other, Energy Policy, Foreign Policy
Ben Rhodes is a left-of-center political commentator, author, and podcast host who worked for the Obama 2008 presidential campaign and as the Deputy National Security…
View John Podesta

John Podesta

Other, Energy Policy, Foreign Policy
John Podesta is a Democratic political operative who has served as White House Chief of Staff in the Clinton administration, Counselor to the President in…
View Maya Harris

Maya Harris

Other, Criminal Justice Policy, Energy Policy, Healthcare Policy, Identity Politics (for race-based policy/activism), Immigration Policy
Maya Harris is a professional left-of-center policy advocate and advisor. She has served in a leadership role for numerous left-wing organizations. Among those organizations are…
View Ana Maria Archila

Ana Maria Archila

Activist, Economic Policy, Energy Policy, Immigration Policy
Ana Maria Archila is a left-of-center activist and organizer who was formerly a co-executive director of the left-of-center Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and the Center for Popular…
View William Budinger

William Budinger

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Education Policy, Energy Policy, Environmental Policy, LGBT Policy
William Budinger is a businessman, inventor, and center-left political activist. He sits on the board of Third Way, the Breakthrough Institute, and the Aspen Institute,…

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National Students for Justice in Palestine

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Sunita Leeds

Sunita Leeds (sometimes referred to as Sunita Gupta Leeds) is a philanthropist based in Washington, D.C. who has been involved with numerous left-of-center advocacy groups,…

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…

D.N. Batten Foundation

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…