Bill Vandenberg is a program director for the Open Society Foundations (OSF), a left-of-center private grantmaking organization that forms the core of George Soros’s Soros Network of advocacy philanthropy institutions. He helps oversee OSF’s grantmaking among state-level organizations. ¹

Prior to working for OSF, Vandenberg worked on numerous left-of-center political organizations, serving in various leadership positions. He associates his advocacy, including as a representative of OSF, with identity politics by advocating for redistributionist policy and other forms of implementing critical race theory-inspired equity standards. ²

Background

Bill Vandenberg is a director of special initiatives and partnerships for the Open Society Foundations. He is also on the boards of the Funders’ Committee on Civic Participation, Latino Civic Engagement Fund, and Youth Engagement Fund. ³

After graduating from Boston College, Vandenberg moved to Colorado where he worked in the private sector while taking on activist positions with several left-progressive organizations. ⁴

Vandenberg worked for organizations that advocated to raise the minimum wage, for affirmative action, and to increase government spending for social programs. He also worked for campaigns that supported Democratic candidates. ⁵

Open Society Foundations

As director of Special Initiatives and Partnerships for the Open Society Foundations, Bill Vandenberg leads programs that advocate for progressive-left policy. He helps oversee OSF’s spending for state-level issues and has described their work as advocating for policy in opposition of the interests of wealthy individuals. ⁶ Critics of the OSF have described it as a way for liberal billionaire George Soros to funnel left-of-center causes in support of his own political ideology. ⁷

OSF is a “network of more than 20 national and regional foundations around the world” that promote left-of-center policies and claim to make their own decisions on how they make grants. ⁸ It is officially named Open Society Institute and donates about a billion dollars a year to left-wing causes. It was created and is funded by George Soros with the purpose of opposing capitalism and supporting redistributionist policy. ⁹

In a press release for OSF, Vandenberg advocated for identity politics-based policy that would require government intervention including social programs to prevent lost jobs and wages due to technological innovation. ¹⁰

In 2018, Vandenberg supported a $300,000 grant from OSF to progressive-left organizations that advocated in support of a ballot initiative in Missouri that would limit political contributions, place restrictions on lobbying, and change redistricting laws to appoint a “nonpartisan expert” to draw the state’s legislative district boundaries. The initiative was generally criticized by Republicans as being a way for the political left to draw the boundaries in their favor. ¹¹ The measure passed but was partially superseded by a 2020 ballot measure. ¹²

1. Whyte, Liz Essley. “How Billionaires from Other States Are Shaping This Year’s Ballot Measures.” Center for Public Integrity. Accessed October 25, 2021. https://publicintegrity.org/politics/state-politics/how-billionaires-from-other-states-are-shaping-this-years-ballot-measures/.
2. ^[1] Vandenberg, Bill. “Is This the End of Jobs as We Know Them?” Open Society Foundations. Accessed October 25, 2021. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/end-jobs-we-know-them.
3. Vandenburg, Bill. “Bill Vandenberg.” Social Transformation Project. Accessed October 25, 2021. http://stproject.org/lio_directory/bill-vandenberg/.
4. Vandenberg, Bill. “Bill Vandenberg’s Articles on the Forge.” The Forge, June 16, 2021. https://forgeorganizing.org/author/bill-vandenberg.
5. Vandenburg, Bill. “Bill Vandenberg.” Social Transformation Project. Accessed October 25, 2021. http://stproject.org/lio_directory/bill-vandenberg/.
6. Whyte, Liz Essley. “How Billionaires from Other States Are Shaping This Year’s Ballot Measures.” Center for Public Integrity. Accessed October 25, 2021. https://publicintegrity.org/politics/state-politics/how-billionaires-from-other-states-are-shaping-this-years-ballot-measures/.
7. Ludwig, Hayden. “Local Philanthropy Isn’t Local for ‘Citizens of the World’.” The American Conservative, August 17, 2021. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/local-philanthropy-isnt-local-for-citizens-of-the-world/.
8. Chandler, Ann P. “Open Society Foundations.” Huffington Post. November 25, 2014. Accessed October 25, 2021. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ann-paisley-chandler/open-society-foundations_b_5877710.html
9. Soros, George. “The Capitalist Threat.” The Atlantic. February 1997. Accessed October 25, 2021. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/02/the-capitalist-threat/376773/
10. Vandenberg, Bill. “Is This the End of Jobs as We Know Them?” Open Society Foundations. Accessed October 25, 2021. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/end-jobs-we-know-them.
11. McDermott, Kevin. “Progressive Mega-Donor George Soros Bigfoots into Missouri Ballot Fight over Redistricting, Ethics.” STLtoday.com, July 11, 2018. https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/progressive-mega-donor-george-soros-bigfoots-into-missouri-ballot-fight-over-redistricting-ethics/article_e40db1e8-ca97-5b41-bee2-1a82bb1aa03c.html.
12. “Missouri Amendment 3, Redistricting Process and Criteria, Lobbying, and Campaign Finance Amendment (2020).” Ballotpedia. Accessed November 1, 2021. https://ballotpedia.org/Missouri_Amendment_3,_Redistricting_Process_and_Criteria,_Lobbying,_and_Campaign_Finance_Amendment_(2020).