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 Steve Ballmer

Steve Ballmer

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Multi-Issue Advocacy
Steve Ballmer is the former CEO of Microsoft and a major funder of left-of-center advocacy groups. From 2016-2021, Ballmer donated over $110 million to Los Angeles organizations alone.
View Neville Roy Singham

Neville Roy Singham

Board Member or Executive, Donor
Neville Roy Singham is an American businessman and self-described socialist. He is married to Jodie Evans, co-founder of CODEPINK, a left-wing advocacy group created to…
View Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Tech Policy
Peter Thiel is a technology investor and a mega-donor to Republican Party candidates. Thiel co-founded PayPal in 1998 and in 2004 was the first outside…
View Jodie Evans

Jodie Evans

Activist, Board Member or Executive, Criminal Justice Policy, Drug Policy, Environmental Policy, Foreign Policy, Healthcare Policy
Jodie Evans is the co-founder of the controversial far-left anti-war organization CODEPINK, a political activist, and an author. She has defended anti-U.S. insurgents during the…
View Mary McCord

Mary McCord

Board Member or Executive, Lawyer, Other, Elections Policy
Mary McCord is a left-of-center attorney, academic, and former Obama administration Department of Justice official who directs the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP)…
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 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 Brian Becker

Brian Becker

Board Member or Executive, Foreign Policy, Identity Politics (for race-based policy/activism)
Brian Becker is the national director of the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition, a radical-left, anti-war, antiracist group that organizes…
View Ken Griffin

Ken Griffin

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Criminal Justice Policy
Ken Griffin is the billionaire founder of Citadel and a right-of-center political donor. In the 2022 election cycle, Griffin donated $60 million to political candidates…
View Larry Fink

Larry Fink

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Environmental Policy, Identity Politics (for race-based policy/activism)
See Also: BlackRock, Inc. (For-Profit)
View Jared Isaacman

Jared Isaacman

Board Member or Executive, Donor
Jared Isaacman is the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as of December 2025. He is also an American billionaire, entrepreneur, philanthropist,…
View Leah Greenberg

Leah Greenberg

Board Member or Executive, Other, Economic Policy, Elections Policy
Leah Greenberg is the co-founder and co-executive director of the Indivisible Project, a left-of-center political nonprofit created in late 2016 as a response to the…
View Elon Musk

Elon Musk

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Other, Multi-Issue Advocacy, Tech Policy
Elon Musk is a South African-born American technology entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist best known for his role as a founder or co-founder of several high-profile…
View Chase Koch

Chase Koch

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Multi-Issue Advocacy
Chase Koch is the son of billionaire Charles Koch of Koch Industries. He is the president of Koch Disruptive Technologies and chairman of Stand Together…
View Lyna Lam

Lyna Lam

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Immigration Policy
Lyna Lam is a philanthropist based in San Francisco, California. She is the child of refugees from the Cambodian genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge…
View Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Multi-Issue Advocacy
Mark Zuckerberg is the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Facebook. Zuckerberg founded the company while at Harvard with classmates Andrew McCullum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and…
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 James Murdoch

James Murdoch

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Environmental Policy
James Murdoch is the former chairman of 21st Century Fox and the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Unlike his conservative father, James is a…
View Bill Gates

Bill Gates

Board Member or Executive, Other, Multi-Issue Advocacy
Bill Gates is the founder and former CEO of technology giant Microsoft. He is also the co-founder of the Gates Foundation along with his previous…
View Susan Mandel

Susan Mandel

Board Member or Executive, Donor, Environmental Policy, Multi-Issue Advocacy
Susan Mandel is a philanthropist and the wife of hedge fund billionaire Stephen Mandel. They are both co-trustees of the Zoom Foundation and are major…

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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…