Person

Gaurav Shirole

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Gaurav Shirole is co-founder and executive director of Future Forward Political Action Committee (FF PAC) and Future Forward USA Action (FF USA). FF PAC was designated by President Joe Biden as the primary Democratic Party PAC. Previously, Shirole led President Barack Obama’s digital advertising during his 2012 presidential campaign. FF PAC and FF USA raised and spent $950 million in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign. 1 2 3

Education and Early Career

Gaurav Shirole is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and was senior analyst for Obama for America where he led the $120 million digital advertising spending for then-President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Shirole co-founded and was vice president of product and client services at the Analytics Media Group, acquired in 2016 by Dolan Family Ventures and relaunched as “605.” Clients included Walmart, Uber, NBC, the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCC). In 2020, he became senior director of ad measurement at ROKU. Shirole’s LinkedIn profile lists his current role as co-founder and executive director of “Progressive Nonprofit” which is unnamed and his role as co-founder of GCJ Research and PFB Media are not listed. 1 2

Activities

Shirole is co-founder along with Chauncey McLean and Jon Fromowitz of Future Forward Political Action Committee (FF PAC); Future Forward USA Action (FF USA), a nonprofit; PFB Media; and GCJ Research that focuses on digital advertising for political campaigns.

Shirole is listed as treasurer of FF USA with a salary of $219,091 on its 2022 tax return. 4 5

FF PAC was granted $61,002,270 from FF USA in 2020 and funded a $70 million “blitz” campaign in support of Joe Biden during the last five weeks of the campaign. 6

FF PAC was named by President Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s primary super PAC in July of 2023 and received $136 million in one transaction from FF USA. 5

FF USA raised over $950 million to support then-Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign. 3

FF USA received 2024 donations of $100 million from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, $50 million from Bill Gates, $60 million from George Soros’ Fund for Policy Reform, $38 million from Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, and significant amounts from Fred Eychaner and James and Marilyn Simons. In 2022, it received $7.2 million from James McClave and Emily Berger of Jane Street Trading, $15.2 million from George Soros’ Open Society Policy Center, $2.5 million from League of Conservation Voters, $2.5 million from left-of-center Fund for a Better Future, and $1.55 million from Arabella Advisors managed Hopewell Fund. 7 8 9

GCJ Research

GCJ Research, co-founded by Shirole, conducts opinion surveys in Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Georgia, and others on interests, habits, media and politics and was paid $7.3 million by Future Forward PAC for media consulting and services. 8 10

PFB Media

Shirole co-founded PFB Media along with Chauncey McLean and Jon Fromowitz. The firm was reportedly paid by Future Forward PAC for advertising services benefiting the Kamala Harris campaign for president. 8

Controversies

Future Forward PAC, Future Forward USA, Shirole, and his co-founders have been criticized for their use of “dark money” for accepting large sums of money from billionaires, self-dealing for their payments to GCJ Research and PFB Media, as well as their failure to deliver success for former Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. 11 12 3 13

References

  1. “Gaurov Shirole”. LinkedIn. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gshirole/details/experience/.
  2. Speaker details: 2018 NYCTV 40 under 40. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://www.nyctvweek.com/40under40/speaker/31936/gaurav-shirole.
  3. Schleifer, Theodore. “Harris’s Main Allied Group Raised over $900 Million to Aid Her Bid.” The New York Times, November 15, 2024. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/15/us/politics/harris-future-forward.html.
  4. “Future Forward USA Action”. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. Form 990, 2022. Part VII, line 3.
  5. Goldmacher, Shane, and Reid J. Epstein. “Biden Switches up His Big-Money Operation Ahead of 2024.” The New York Times, July 14, 2023. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/14/us/politics/biden-future-forward-super-pac.html#.
  6. “Future Forward USA Pac Donors.” OpenSecrets. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/future-forward-usa/C00669259/donors/2020.
  7. “Future Forward USA Pac Donors.” OpenSecrets. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/future-forward-usa/C00669259/donors/2024?start=100&page_length=25.
  8. Tolan, Casey. “One of the Top Donors to a Pro-Biden Dark-Money Group Is a Nonprofit Run by a Little-Known AI Investor | CNN Politics.” CNN, March 10, 2024. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/10/politics/pro-biden-dark-money-group-invs/index.html
  9. “The 10 Biggest Billionaire Donors to Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, and Others This Election.” Quartz, November 4, 2024. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://qz.com/top-billionaire-2024-election-donors-trump-harris-1851688403/slides/12.
  10. Schmad, Robert, and Gabe Kaminsky. “Harris Group Paid Firms Owned by Leaders – Washington Examiner.” Washington Examiner – Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, December 27, 2024. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/investigations/3271137/kamala-harris-future-forward-money-firms-owned-founders/.
  11. Lee Fang. “Kamala Harris SuperPAC Spent Lavishly on Firms Owned by PAC Leadership.” Kamala Harris SuperPAC Spent Lavishly on Firms Owned by PAC Leadership, November 13, 2024. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://www.leefang.com/p/kamala-harris-superpac-spent-lavishly.
  12. Future forward USA PAC (FF PAC) – bias and credibility – media bias/fact check. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/future-forward-usa-pac-ff-pac-bias/.
  13. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Harris Group Paid Companies Owned by Founders – Washington Examiner.” Washington Examiner – Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, November 26, 2024. Accessed January 2, 2025. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/presidential/3240767/harris-future-forward-paid-companies-linked-founders/.
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