Offices
New York, United States
The New York office is Open Society’s main grant-giving center, as well as the base for many global initiatives and thematic and regional programs.
Washington, United States
The Washington, D.C., office engages in advocacy aimed at influencing U.S. government policy on domestic and international issues such as civil liberties, criminal justice reform, human rights, transparency, and accountability.
By the Numbers
Expenditures by Year
The Open Society Foundations work to advance rights, freedom, and justice, and to defend democracy. We pursue these goals in the United States by supporting groups that protect civil and human rights; strengthen democratic participation, economic freedom, and opportunity; and encourage the U.S. to play a principled, values-driven role in the world.
We support organizations working to safeguard our democracy at a time when fundamental rights are under attack. This includes protecting the right of all people to vote and access the ballot, protecting the integrity of free and fair elections, promoting fair political representation, encouraging nonpartisan civic engagement, and countering disinformation.
Open Society also invests in equality and racial justice through both organizational and individual grants. Our support includes fellowships and capacity building grants to organizations on behalf of marginalized populations.
Following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, we’ve supported efforts to restore and protect reproductive rights for millions of people in states like Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Missouri, Arizona, and Nevada. We continue to defend every woman’s right to make decisions about their health and future.
Our work also includes supporting organizations that defend the constitutional right to due process and a fair trial. We fund organizations that offer free counsel for those who cannot afford it, and advocate for a justice system that treats everyone equally. We have backed criminal justice reforms that helped overturn wrongful convictions and made sentencing fairer while increasing public safety and reducing recidivism.
As the United States has grappled with the overdose crisis, Open Society has supported holding industry accountable. We have advocated for state governments to use the billions of dollars won in lawsuits with opioid manufacturers and distributors for impactful public health programs. We have invested in solutions that save lives and decreased drug overdoses, including by increasing access to naloxone, drug checking, medications for opioid use disorder, overdose prevention centers, and supporting health-based solutions that are effective alternatives to incarceration.
At the Open Society Foundations, we believe every person deserves the opportunity to determine their future and live with dignity. This includes the freedom to earn a living wage, change jobs, start a business, and form a union.
We have championed organizations protecting workers’ rights and advocating for policies to help families thrive, such as affordable childcare, home care, prescription drugs, and health care, especially for low-income Americans. Our recent support helped expand paid leave in Nebraska and increase the minimum wage in Missouri. We also back efforts to improve pay and protections for caregivers, and to challenge the growing consolidation of corporate power that stifles competition and economic mobility. We fund campaigns to support tax fairness and policies that support working families.
We believe the United States should remain a refuge for people fleeing persecution and seeking a better life for their families. We support orderly and planned immigration, including by working with communities to welcome newcomers. We also fund a range of organizations that provide frontline legal advice to individuals seeking asylum or facing deportation.
We believe the United States has a responsibility to be a force for good in the world. We work with partners who advocate for diplomacy to prevent conflict and resolve it justly. We support U.S. leadership in advancing democracy, human rights, and justice—and in engaging actively with multilateral institutions and standing up for international law. We fund organizations that strengthen civil society around the world and advocate for robust U.S. support for humanitarian and development aid. We back efforts to ensure all Americans have a voice in shaping foreign policy.
George Soros’s giving in the United States began in the 1980s with a focus on just two issues—improving the quality of palliative care and reforming punitive drug policies that largely targeted Black Americans. During the 1990s, our racial justice work broadened to fight bias in schools, in policing, in voting, and in the justice system, while we expanded support for those advocating for greater levels of government accountability and the protection of civil and political rights for all. We have offices in New York and Washington, D.C.
Highlights of Our Work in the United States
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Power and Public Memory
Q&A: Why Monuments Must Change
We tend to think of monuments as being immutable, permanent structures. But the nonprofit group Monument Lab is on a mission to change the way the U.S. thinks about monuments and their relationship with power and public memory.
Colonial Legacies
Let Puerto Rico Chart Its Own Course
The Supreme Court recently upheld an unelected fiscal control board’s right to continue operating in secrecy—the latest in a long line of rulings treating U.S. territories as second class. Time for meaningful change.
Press release
The Overturning of Roe v. Wade Is an Assault on Women and Democracy Globally
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is an assault on women’s rights, human rights, and democracy that will have a damaging impact around the world.