Leslie Hanauer is an American liberal political activist and philanthropist known for her association with her husband Nick Hanauer and as the codirector of their foundation, the Nick and Leslie Hanauer Foundation.

Background

Leslie Hanauer is the wife of Nicholas “Nick” Hanauer, a liberal donor, venture capital investor, and political commentator known for supporting left-wing economic policies like substantial increases to the federal minimum wage and gun control measures. ¹

Nick and Leslie Hanauer Foundation

The Nick and Leslie Hanauer Foundation was established by Hanauer and her husband in July 2008, in Seattle, Washington. ² Based on its public filings, the foundation’s only activity seems to be providing funding for Seattle-area charitable and educational organizations, and left-wing public policy groups. As of the tax year 2017, aside from Hanauer and her husband who are both listed as directors, the foundation’s public 990 filing lists no employees or board members. ³

Since its founding in 2008, the foundation has consistently made contributions to local Seattle-area charitable and educational institutions like the Seattle Foundation, Seattle Academy, and Woodland Park Zoological Society, as well as progressive public policy and political organizing groups. Grant recipients over the last decade including the Democratic establishment-aligned think tank Center for American Progress; George Soros’s left-wing economic think tank, the Institute for New Economic Thinking; the left-of-center economic policy group Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; left-wing media critic Media Matters for America; the national labor unions’ aligned think tank, Economic Policy Institute; the Center for Progressive Leadership; Earthjustice; the liberal political journal Democracy; and the Washington Progress Fund. ⁴

Other Activities

Hanauer as well as her husband are signatories to “the giving pledge,” a pledge promoted by an eponymous organization, which asks that signatories devote a majority of their wealth to “philanthropy or charitable causes either during their lifetime or in their will.” ^{5 6}

1. Brunner, Jim. “Seattle 1-percenter a leader in push for $15 minimum wage.” Seattle Times. February 15, 2014. Accessed July 19, 2019. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-1-percenter-a-leader-in-push-for-15-minimum-wage/
2. “Nick and Leslie Hanauer Foundation.” BIG online (America). Accessed July 19, 2019. http://www.bigdatabase.com/Big-DB/USFoundation-profiles/NICK%20AND%20LESLIE%20HANAUER%20FOUNDATION-261593306.HTML
3. The Nick and Leslie Hanauer Foundation, Form 990-PF, 2017, Part VII, Section A https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/261593306/201843189349103294/IRS990PF
4. “Nick and Leslie Hanauer Foundation.” BIG online (America). Accessed July 19, 2019. http://www.bigdatabase.com/Big-DB/USFoundation-profiles/NICK%20AND%20LESLIE%20HANAUER%20FOUNDATION-261593306.HTML
5. “Nick and Leslie Hanauer.” The Giving Pledge. Accessed July 19, 2019. https://givingpledge.org/Pledger.aspx?id=335
6. “About.” The Giving Pledge. Accessed July 19, 2019. https://givingpledge.org/About.aspx