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Person

Louise Gund

Nationality:

American
Occupation(s):

Environmental Activist

Political Donor

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Louise Gund is a theater producer based in Berkeley, California, and one of the heirs to the Gund family fortune. 1 In 2015, the Gund family was recognized by Forbes as the 80th richest family in America; the year before they were recognized as the 71st with a combined family fortune of $3.5 billion. 2 Louise is also an environmental activist and has donated to several Democratic Party political campaigns and aligned organizations. 3 4

Family

Louise Gund’s father, George Gund II, amassed his family’s wealth in the early 20th century, first by selling the family brewery, then by purchasing Sanka, a decaf coffee manufacturer, which he later sold to the Kellogg Corporation for $10 million. 5 Gund used the proceeds of this sale to invest during the Great Depression and in realty across the United States, garnering more than $600 million by his death in 1966. 6 Much of the family fortune was put into the George Gund Foundation where grants have been awarded for the arts, economic development, education, environmentalism, and human services. 7

Louise Gund has five siblings, all of whom are active in the arts, finance, and philanthropy. 1

Career

Louise’s personal career has been in the theater and production, where she has worked as a photographer, 4 musician, 4 and producer. 8 She obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, New York and later a Masters degree in Holistic Psychology. 9

She conducts most of her work in Berkeley, California, where she resides and is both a member of and a board member of the Berkeley Community Chorus. 4 She has also sat on the boards of the San Francisco Opera and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  11 She is an honorary life trustee of the environmentalist litigation group EarthJustice, 12 and a major donor to left-of-center climate activism groups. 13

Louise Gund has previously supported the Greenpeace Fund, the nonprofit arm of left-of-center environmentalist group Greenpeace, through the Goatie Foundation, whose only listed contributors are Gund and the Women’s Project Foundation. 14 15 In 2016, the Greenpeace Fund was held liable for defamation of the energy firm, Energy Transfer, for supporting violent protests “against the energy firm’s Dakota Access pipeline.” 13 The Goatie Foundation continued to support the Greenpeace Fund even after these findings, donating $7 million to the group from 2015 through 2023. 13

In the early 2000s, the Women’s Project Foundation, the other contributor to the Goatie Foundation, listed Gund as its only donor and trustee. 13 Since the early 2000s, the Women’s Project Foundation has listed Key Private Bank as its only trustee. 16 From 2013 to 2016, the Goatie Foundation received the majority of the Women’s Project Foundation’s grants, and, starting in 2017, became its sole grantee. From 2013 to 2022, the Goatie Foundation received over $71.7 million from the Women’s Project Foundation. 16

Campaign Donations

Louise Gund has given over $2 million to Democratic Party candidates and committees since 2000, with a large portion going towards United States Representative and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. 17 Pelosi and Gund have attended the same events in California. 18

Gund has supported multiple Democratic candidates including former Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), former Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA). 19 Gund also supported the Democratic PAC ActBlue from 2014 to 2018. 20 21 19 In 2020, Gund paid out $8,400 in support of President Joe Biden’s campaign. 22

Since 2002, the Louise Gund Foundation has also given approximately $9.2 million to primarily Democratic Party-aligned groups, committees, PACs, and candidates. 23 24

Gund is reportedly a member of the Democracy Alliance donor organization. 25

References

  1. Williams, Tate. “The Under-the-Radar Green Giving of One Gund Heir.” Inside Philanthropy. April 1, 2014. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2014/4/1/the-under-the-radar-green-giving-of-one-gund-heir.html.
  2. “Gund Family.” Forbes Media. September 27, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/profile/gund/.
  3. ”Louise Gund Political Campaign Contributions.” Campaign Money. September 27, 2017. https://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/louise-gund.asp?cycle=16.
  4. “Louise Gund.” Oregon Shakespeare Festival. September 27, 2017. https://www.osfashland.org/en/artist-biographies/board-member/louise-gund.aspx.
  5. Davis, Jonathan T. “Forbes Richest People: The Forbes Annual Profile of the World’s Wealthiest Men and Women.”  New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997.
  6. “About the Foundation: Mission and History.” The George Gund Foundation.  September 27, 2017. https://gundfoundation.org/about-the-foundation/mission/.
  7. “Grants Awarded.” The George Gund Foundation. September 27, 2017. http://gundfoundation.org/grants-awarded/arts/february/.
  8. “Louise L. Gund.” Playbill. September 27, 2017. http://www.playbill.com/person/louise-gund-vault-0000124897.
  9. “Louise Gund.” Realtionship Science. September 27, 2017. https://relationshipscience.com/louise-gund-p25822481.
  11. “Louise Gund.” Relationship Science. September 27, 2017. https://relationshipscience.com/louise-gund-p25822481.[/note]

    Activism

    Louise Gund identifies herself as an environmental activist, and works closely with environmental organizations. 10 “Louise Gund.” Oregon Shakespeare Festival. September 27, 2017. https://www.osfashland.org/en/artist-biographies/board-member/louise-gund.aspx.

  12. “Honorary Life Trustees.” Earthjustice. March 20, 2017. Accessed October 13, 2017. https://earthjustice.org/about/honorary-life-trustees.
  13. Braun, Ken. “Bailing out Greenpeace: Lefty Donors Who Could Pay up for Dakota Access Damages.” Capital Research Center, April 8, 2025. https://capitalresearch.org/article/bailing-out-greenpeace-lefty-donors-who-could-pay-up-for-dakota-access-damages/.
  14. https://capitalresearch.org/article/bailing-out-greenpeace-lefty-donors-who-could-pay-up-for-dakota-access-damages/.
  15. “Goatee Foundation T a TR, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/347158309/202420579349100627/full.
  16. “Women’s Project Foundation – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/133417304.
  17. “Louise Gund Political Contributions.” CampaignMoney.com. September 27, 2017. https://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/louise-gund.asp?cycle=16.
  18. Bigelow, Catherine. “Opera, Odes to Getty.” San Francisco Chronicle. October 1, 2017. Read at: https://www.pressreader.com/usa/san-francisco-chronicle-late-edition/20171001/283334702487426.
  19. “Louise Gund Political Campaign Contributions2018 Election Cycle.” Campaign Money. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/louise-gund.asp?cycle=18.
  20. “Louise Gund Political Campaign Contributions 2014 Election Cycle.” Campaign Money. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/louise-gund.asp?cycle=14.
  21. “Louise Gund Political Campaign Contributions 2016 Election Cycle.” Campaign Money. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/louise-gund.asp?cycle=16.
  22. “Louise Gund Political Campaign Contributions 2016 Election Cycle.” Campaign Money. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/louise-gund.asp?cycle=20
  23. “Louise Gund Foundation Profile: Totals.” OpenSecrets. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/louise-gund-foundation/totals?id=D000068864.
  24. “Louise Gund Foundation Profile: Recipients.” OpenSecrets. Accessed May 31, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/louise-gund-foundation/recipients?candscycle=2024&id=D000068864&toprecipscycle=2012.
  25. Vadum, Matthew. “The “Vast Left-wing Conspiracy”.” Capital Research Center. October 6, 2014. Accessed October 13, 2017. https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-vast-left-wing-conspiracy-george-soross-democracy-alliance-remains-a-potent-force-in-the-2014-elections/.
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