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Person

Laura Arnold

Nationality:

American
Occupation:

Left-of-center philanthropist

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Laura Arnold, born Laura Munoz, is an American philanthropist and activist. Together with her husband, the retired hedge fund manager John D. Arnold, she is the co-founder of the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and the grantmaking organization Arnold Ventures. She is also a founding partner of the REFORM Alliance, which opposes incarcerating criminals and raises funds to cover fines, fees, and restitution payments. Throughout her philanthropy career, Laura Arnold has primarily focused on promoting left-of-center criminal justice, health care, and education policies. Previously, she held an executive position with a Texas oil corporation and worked as a corporate attorney, having attended Harvard University and Yale Law School. 1 2

Arnold supported the Biden administration’s move to partially cancel student debt via executive action in August 2022, which the Supreme Court ruled to be unconstitutional in June 2023. 3 4 She has also claimed that sentencing criminals to probation is a “trap” and that supervision violations should not be treated as additional criminal offenses. 5 In addition, Arnold has pushed for private grantmaking institutions to fund research aimed at supporting policies which would restrict Second Amendment rights. 6

Early Career

Laura Arnold attended Harvard University and Yale Law School. She went on to work on mergers and acquisitions for a law firm in New York City, then later accepted an executive position with an oil exploration company in Houston, Texas. There, she met her husband John Arnold, who had started out as a stock trader for the now-defunct energy and commodities corporation Enron and then founded a hedge fund. 7 8 Part of the initial capital for the fund came from the $8 million bonus he received shortly before Enron fell apart. While he was never accused of wrongdoing in the investigation which followed the corporation’s widely publicized collapse, an October 2011 article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy noted that he has declined to discuss his personal wealth. 9

Philanthropic Activity

The Arnolds founded their family grantmaking organization in 2008. Two years later, they joined other billionaires in signing the “Giving Pledge,” a commitment to give away the vast majority of their wealth during their lifetimes. Initially, Laura Arnold ran the Laura and John Arnold Foundation; her husband joined her in 2012 after shutting down his hedge fund. 10

Arnold Foundation

The Laura and John Arnold Foundation contributes to a wide variety of left-of-center causes. These include pro-abortion initiatives such as the Abortion Care Network, a legal and public activist group, and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the largest abortion provider in the United States. It has also issued grants to right-of-center groups such as the American Enterprise Institute and the libertarian Reason Foundation to support research on the Arnolds’ preferred policy issues, such as education spending and leniency in criminal justice. 11

Despite its largely left-leaning focus, the foundation has received criticism from further-left observers for funding research on government worker pension reform and for working with municipal law enforcement. The latter prompted a negative response from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of the leading left-wing legal activist groups in the United States and a past recipient of Arnold Foundation grants. 12

In 2018, Texas Monthly profiled the Arnolds’ efforts to fund data development through the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. The feature highlighted how the data is used to advocate for the Arnolds’ preferred policy changes related to issues such as pension reform, charter school support, and gun violence. 13

Arnold Ventures LLC

In January 2019, the Arnolds announced that they would be launching a limited-liability company called Arnold Ventures. The new organization would be intended to replace the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, as well as an affiliated donor-advised fund and lobbying group. Arnold Ventures would be structured as a for-profit limited liability company, meaning that it would be exempt from filing publicly disclosed tax returns to the IRS and face fewer limits on political activity, allowing greater flexibility in spending along with greater secrecy for donors. A 2019 Chronicle of Philanthropy article indicated that the Arnold Foundation’s president, Kelli Rhee, would assume a role within the firm and would focus on “criminal justice, health, public education, and public finance.” 14

Like its predecessor, the organization has primarily provided funding to major left-of-center institutions such as the New Venture Fund, which has received more than $13 million from them. It also gives to right-leaning initiatives such as George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. 15 16

In 2022, Laura Arnold gave a wide-ranging, one-hour presentation on Arnold Ventures’ efforts to influence infrastructure project development and implementation. During the presentation, she noted that the for-profit supports at least one media outlet and backs ranked-choice voting. 17

Political Views

Gun Control

In June 2018, Laura Arnold wrote an op-ed for the Houston Chronicle in which she called on private philanthropic organizations to increase their funding for research into gun violence. Arnold argued that this was necessary due to limits which Congress places on the use of taxpayer funds to investigate firearm ownership, placing the blame on pro-Second Amendment legislators and advocates for allegedly having “throttled” this type of research. 18

Student Loans

In August 2022, Arnold wrote an op-ed for CNBC in which she endorsed the executive action which President Joe Biden had taken to unilaterally cancel a portion of federal student debt. Arnold argued that students incurring large amounts of debt is the fault of the education system, and claimed that the Biden administration and Congress needed to take even further action by creating additional incentives for completing degree programs. 19 In June 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that President Biden had exceeded the authority of the executive branch by having the Department of Education, a federal agency, significantly modify a regulation without clear authorization from Congress. 20

Philanthropic Policy

The Arnolds have been leading advocates of changes to donor-advised fund laws. In 2019, John Arnold told CNBC that funds should be required to donate more money earlier to have a larger impact; in 2022, the Arnolds were reported to be visiting the U.S. Capitol to support legislation that would implement several changes to fund laws. 21 22

Criminal Justice

Arnold is a founding partner of the REFORM Alliance, an activist group which works towards softening probation and parole laws, primarily at the state level. Arnold is joined by fellow left-of-center philanthropist Priscilla Chan, the wife of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the co-founder of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, as well as Van Jones, a former Obama administration staffer and CNN political commentator. The alliance partners not only with left-leaning advocacy groups and political figures but also with right-leaning or libertarian organizations that also oppose aspects of the criminal justice system, such as Americans for Prosperity and the American Conservative Union. 23

In August 2019, Arnold co-wrote an op-ed for USA Today in which she argued that the practice of sentencing criminals to probation needed to be significantly dialed back. She cited the example of rapper Robert “Meek Mill” Williams, who was convicted on gun and drug charges in 2008 and arrested several times since then for violating his release terms and participating in a fight at an airport, to demonstrate the alleged injustice of probation. Arnold argued that courts needed to assign fewer supervised releases, reduce their lengths, end or limit consequences for violating probation terms, minimize release conditions, and eliminate financial penalties. She also claimed that an increase in the number of criminals on probation leads to more convictions and incarceration. 24

References

  1. “Laura Arnold ’00.” Yale Law School. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://law.yale.edu/studying-law-yale/alumni-student-profiles/laura-arnold-00
  2. Ben Steverman. “Two Texas Billionaires Think They Can Fix Philanthropy.” Bloomberg. December 12, 2019. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-12/billionaires-john-and-laura-arnold-s-data-driven-philanthropy
  3. Laura Arnold. “Biden cancels $10,000 in student debt. Now the real work begins to fix the ‘dysfunctional’ higher education system.” CNBC. August 24, 2022. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/24/op-ed-biden-cancels-10000-in-student-debt-now-the-real-work-begins.html
  4. Nina Totenberg, Meghanlata Gupta. “Supreme Court kills Biden’s student debt plan in a setback for millions of borrowers.” NPR. June 30, 2023. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/06/30/1182216970/supreme-court-student-loan-forgiveness-decision-biden
  5. Laura Arnold et al. “Meek Mill’s legal battles show unjust probation system must change.” USA Today. August 1, 2019. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/08/01/meek-mills-probation-battles-shows-our-unjust-criminal-justice-system-column/1878717001/
  6. Laura Arnold. “Want to fund gun research? Ask for private donations.” Houston Chronicle. June 18, 2018. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Want-to-fund-gun-research-Ask-for-private-12999228.php
  7. “Laura Arnold ’00.” Yale Law School. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://law.yale.edu/studying-law-yale/alumni-student-profiles/laura-arnold-00
  8. Ben Steverman. “Two Texas Billionaires Think They Can Fix Philanthropy.” Bloomberg. December 12, 2019. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-12/billionaires-john-and-laura-arnold-s-data-driven-philanthropy
  9.  Caroline Preston. “A Thirtysomething Billionaire Couple Take on Tough Issues Via Giving.” The Chronicle of Philanthropy. October 16, 2011. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/a-thirtysomething-billionaire-couple-take-on-tough-issues-via-giving/
  10. Ben Steverman. “Two Texas Billionaires Think They Can Fix Philanthropy.” Bloomberg. December 12, 2019. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-12/billionaires-john-and-laura-arnold-s-data-driven-philanthropy
  11.  David Callahan. “When Philanthropy Is Not Enough: A Top Donor Couple Takes a Broader Approach to Impact.” Inside Philanthropy. July 18, 2019. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2019/1/28/when-philanthropy-is-not-enough-a-top-billionaire-donor-couple-take-a-broader-approach-to-impact
  12. Doug Donovan. “Billionaire donors Laura and John Arnold support far more in Maryland than police surveillance.” The Baltimore Sun. August 26, 2016. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20190228100020/https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-arnolds-20160826-story.html
  13. Mimi Swartz, “The power issue: John and Laura Arnold are guiding philanthropy into the age of big data,” Texas Monthly. December 2018. Accessed July 4, 2023. https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/power-issue-john-laura-arnold-guiding-philanthropy-age-big-data/
  14. Ben Gose. “John and Laura Arnold Join Other Billionaires in Move Away From Traditional Philanthropy.” The Chronicle of Philanthropy. January 28, 2019. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/JohnLaura-Arnold-Join/245557
  15. Stuart Buck. “How Philanthropy Could Embrace More High-Risk, High-Reward Projects.” Inside Philanthropy. September 9, 2020. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2020/9/9/how-philanthropy-could-embrace-more-high-risk-high-reward-projects
  16. “Grants.” Arnold Ventures. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.arnoldventures.org/grants-search
  17. Arnold Ventures Communications, “Laura Arnold: Nation’s infrastructure system is the next big area of exploration for Arnold Ventures,” Arnold Ventures. September 29, 2022. Accessed July 4, 2023. https://www.arnoldventures.org/stories/laura-arnold-nations-infrastructure-system-is-the-next-big-area-of-exploration-for-arnold-ventures
  18. Laura Arnold. “Want to fund gun research? Ask for private donations.” Houston Chronicle. June 18, 2018. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/outlook/article/Want-to-fund-gun-research-Ask-for-private-12999228.php
  19. Laura Arnold. “Biden cancels $10,000 in student debt. Now the real work begins to fix the ‘dysfunctional’ higher education system.” CNBC. August 24, 2022. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/24/op-ed-biden-cancels-10000-in-student-debt-now-the-real-work-begins.html
  20. Nina Totenberg, Meghanlata Gupta. “Supreme Court kills Biden’s student debt plan in a setback for millions of borrowers.” NPR. June 30, 2023. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/06/30/1182216970/supreme-court-student-loan-forgiveness-decision-biden
  21. Robert Frank, “Billionaire philanthropist John Arnold says donor-advised funds are ‘wealth-warehousing vehicles,’ CNBC. August 11, 2019. Accessed July 4, 2023. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/11/billionaire-john-arnold-says-reform-of-donor-advised-funds-needed.html#:~:text=Billionaire%20philanthropist%20John%20Arnold%20said,and%20flexibility%20in%20timing%20donations.
  22. Abram Brown, “A billionaire couple goes for broke: How John and Laura Arnold plan to give it all away,” The Information. December 2, 2022. Accessed July 4, 2023. https://www.theinformation.com/articles/a-billionaire-couple-goes-for-broke-how-john-and-laura-arnold-plan-to-give-it-all-away
  23. [1]“Laura Arnold ’00.” Yale Law School. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://law.yale.edu/studying-law-yale/alumni-student-profiles/laura-arnold-00
  24. Laura Arnold et al. “Meek Mill’s legal battles show unjust probation system must change.” USA Today. August 1, 2019. Accessed July 2, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/08/01/meek-mills-probation-battles-shows-our-unjust-criminal-justice-system-column/1878717001/
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