Bill Gates has ceased funding from his $77 billion foundation to a consulting firm that channels money to progressive causes and Democratic candidates.
The Gates Foundation made the decision in late June to terminate funding grants to nonprofits managed by Washington DC-based Arabella Advisors.
This is according to an internal foundation announcement obtained by the New York Times.
Foundation executives stated they would not make any new investments with “Arabella-related entities” and would not extend any existing grants to the for-profit consulting firm.
The foundation also indicated it would attempt to “pursue early exits” from several long-term investments with the organization.
Officials cited a desire to engage more directly with grant recipients and reduce reliance on intermediaries as the rationale for the policy change.
“Teams are increasingly working directly with programmatic partners – organizations that are deeply embedded in the communities we serve and [are] closely aligned with our mission,” the June 24 announcement said.
“As we look ahead, this is a chance to build deeper, more durable relationships with those partners – and to reinforce the kind of legacy we want to leave behind.”
A Gates Foundation spokesperson characterized the decision as “a business decision that reflects our regular strategic assessments and partnerships” in a statement to the Times.
The policy shift occurs amid heightened scrutiny of Arabella’s “dark money” funds that support Democrats and progressive causes, as Gates seeks to protect the charity he founded and led for nearly three decades.
The billionaire has become increasingly focused on protecting the Gates Foundation as President Donald Trump threatens philanthropists with ties to Democratic policies and the tax-exempt status of specific nonprofits, according to the Times.
Gates has already reduced emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion causes to shield his charity from potential political targeting.
The foundation served as one of Arabella’s earliest and largest financial backers, distributing or pledging approximately $450 million to its nonprofit funds over the past 16 years.
These funds subsequently finance nonprofit organizations active in areas such as gender equality and education, providing back-office operations including payroll services.
Arabella manages funds that support nonprofits with political objectives through civic engagement work and administers explicitly political funds that donate to Democratic super PACs.
The New Venture Fund, one of Arabella’s largest funds, has donated money to another Arabella-managed group called the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which has contributed $97 million to super PACs seeking to elect Democrats and defeat Republicans since 2016.
Arabella Advisors was recently found to be managing several funds, including the Sixteen Thirty Fund, Windward Fund and New Venture Fund, which have all contributed to Community Change and Community Change Action since 2020, the New York Post reported.
Community Change and Community Change Action are financing Free DC’s activism campaign protesting President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in the nation’s capital.
Arabella’s political activities have drawn criticism from conservatives, with Elon Musk calling for an investigation into Arabella’s entities and White House officials being briefed on its actions.
“It is ironic that a protest to ostensibly ‘Free DC’ was hosted by Community Change, a group funded by massive amounts of outside dark-money to push a pro-crime agenda,” Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of nonprofit watchdog Americans for Public Trust, told the Post.
“DC is facing shootings, carjackings and assaults and yet progressive groups like The Pritzker Foundation, George Soros and the Arabella Network all spend millions of dollars to manufacture protests that weaken our communities.”
Arabella executives contend that critics overstate the organization’s political influence, with Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Megan Cartier stating Arabella merely “provides operational support to hundreds of philanthropic clients pursuing social change.”
“We do not have donors, make grants or engage in political activity,” she explained.
Lee Bodner, president of the New Venture Fund, emphasized that its “grants are restricted for only nonpartisan purposes.”
Bodner told the Times that money from Gates Foundation accounted for only two percent of its funding last year.
“Gates has been an important partner since the beginning of [the] New Venture Fund and we continue working with them today,” Bodner said.
“Today, our work continues to expand in varied ways and our partners recognize the high-quality work we do is more important than ever.”
The post Gates Foundation Abruptly Severs $450M Relationship With Dem Dark Money Network appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.
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Author: Jordyn M.
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