Stephen Rickard is a left-leaning lawyer and lobbyist who serves as executive director of the Open Society Policy Center (OSPC), which is the lobbying arm of the Open Society Foundations network of left-leaning political groups created and funded by liberal billionaire George Soros. ¹

He has spent his career as a prominent lawyer and left-of-center foreign policy operative. Rickard also directs foreign policy advocacy for the Open Society Foundations (formerly the Open Society Institute), the one of the grantmaking arms of the network. Before joining Open Society, Rickard directed the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, worked for Amnesty International USA, the U.S. State Department, and former U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.).²

Background

Rickard has earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a law degree from Yale. After working several years at a New York City law firm, he began his policy career working for notable liberal U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also worked in the State Department’s Bureau of South Asian Affairs during the Clinton Administration.

Rickard joined the Open Society Foundations in 2001 after working for both the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights and Amnesty International, both noted liberal organizations. Rickard Joined the Open Society Policy Center in 2003.³

Open Society Policy Center

Under Rickard’s leadership, the Open Society Policy Center has been a big spender at the federal lobbying level. The Open Society Policy Center acts as the lobbying firm of the core network of nonprofit organizations founded and supported by George Soros.⁴

In 2017, the group reported spending over $16 million on federal lobbying mostly on foreign policy and defense issues including requiring congressional approval for action against North Korea, and military and state department funding. Much of the lobbying money reported by the organization consists of grants for other liberal organizations to conduct lobbying work.⁵

According to tax documents, Rickard receives a salary from more than one organization in the Open Society network. He is listed as both the Executive Director and Board Member of the Open Society Policy Center, as well as the Director of the Washington Advocacy Program at the Open Society Foundations (formerly the Open Society Institute). His total compensation from all affiliated organizations was $404,667 in 2015.⁶

1. Duszal, Alexandra. “Donor Profile: George Soros” The Center for Public Integrity. December 21, 2012. https://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/12/21/11975/donor-profile-george-soros
2. “Stephen Rickard” Open Society Foundations. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/people/stephen-rickard
3. “Stephen Rickard” Open Society Policy Center. https://opensocietypolicycenter.org/about-us/our-executive-staff/stephen-rickard/
4. Duszal, Alexandra. “Donor Profile: George Soros” The Center for Public Integrity. December 21, 2012. https://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/12/21/11975/donor-profile-george-soros
5. Ackley, Kate. “Group Backed by Liberal George Soros Posts Uptick in Lobbying”. Roll Call. January 22, 2018 https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/group-backed-liberal-george-soros-posts-uptick-lobbying
6. IRS form 990, 2015. Open Society Policy Center.