Kubzansky
<span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kubzansky</font></span><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</b></font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Inside the Omidyar Network, New Thinking About a Changed World</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">David Callahan</font></div><div>
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The 2016 election prompted many foundations to play urgent defense to protect hard-won gains in areas like the environment and healthcare, as well as to support immigrants and other vulnerable groups. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But Trump’s election, along with the Brexit vote a few months earlier, also led some philanthropies to ask deeper questions about the rise of illiberal populism—and how to combat this ominous trend.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“The 2016 election was a wake-up call that the institutions of democracy are under threat,” says Mike Kubzansky,</b> who leads the Omidyar Network, which is the philanthropic investment firm of eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Things we once took for granted... had been thrown into question.”</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Like so many other observers, Omidyar’s leadership saw a clear line between the new illiberalism and the failure of capitalism to deliver shared prosperity—a failure that was generating new cultural cleavages. They also saw how <b>technology was being used to amplify grievances and spread disinformation. </b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Last year, after Kubzansky became managing partner at ON, the organization embarked on its first strategic review in 10 years. That process involved grappling with an environment that had changed dramatically since the Omidyar Network was founded in 2004. In a very different world, Kubzansky says, it was important to “think about what really matters” in setting priorities going forward. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A New Approach for a Changed World</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last fall, ON rolled out a revised strategy that outlined several new directions for the organization and repositioned its work in some intriguing ways.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">While the Omidyar Network has long believed that markets can be a force for good, and still does, it’s now also looking at ways to move past neoliberalism and “reimagine” capitalism. According to a blog post Kubzansky published in October, ON is aiming to “build more equitable economies that rebalance the social contract among business, the state, and the individual</span>.” </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>ON is taking a more critical stance on technology, too, after years of evangelizing the beneficial uses of technology to improve the world. </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Though it still embraces that faith, it wants to offset the negative consequences of new technologies and work to ensure that the drivers of “technological innovation are human well-being and respect for individual liberty.” </span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>ON’s interest in responsible technology has already led it to fund work on surveillance and artificial intelligence, among other activities.</b> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">It’s also keen to address the ways that technology “can be used to exacerbate tribal instincts and shred the social fabric.” This is part of another new effort it’s undertaking, which it describes as <b>“building bridges in a pluralistic world.</b>” Here, the Omidyar Network is looking to reduce the cultural divides revealed by the rise of illiberal populism. This is unfamiliar terrain for the organization, and Kubzansky says it’s still figuring things out. But one goal is to bring together diverse people and communities in “active dialogue grounded in mutual respect.”</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In addition to taking on new issues, ON is looking to become a stronger advocate for its agenda. Last fall, it backed a state ballot initiative (in Maine) for the first time, and it plans to engage in more 501(c)4 giving going forward.</span> This shift tracks with a larger trend that finds wealthy donors stepping up electoral spending in ways that complement their philanthropy. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The Rules of the Game”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To be sure, much of ON’s revised strategy tracks with its previous work, and is “rooted in our DNA,” as Kubzansky put it. It will continue to mix impact investing with traditional grantmaking to empower individuals worldwide. And it has ambitious plans to use both market approaches and new technologies to drive change. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Still, ON’s more critical stance toward both capitalism and technology is striking. It reflects a larger awakening seemingly afoot among Silicon Valley philanthropists long criticized for their techno-utopianism and embrace of market ideology. These donors, many of whom are<b> engineers by training, have often been seen as naive about larger matters of political economy—and downright dangerous in their faith that technology can solve tough problems. </b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lately, though, more tech givers are tuning into issues they once glossed over, talking about the shortcomings of markets and warming up to a progressive community they once carefully kept at arm’s length. Some of these donors, like Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, are even supporting efforts to challenge the power of Big Tec</span>h. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Pierre Omidyar’s evolution has been plain to see on his Twitter feed over the past two years, where he’s inveighed fervently against Trump and the GOP</b>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> But even before the 2016 election, Omidyar had been investing in new ventures aimed at shoring up the foundations of modern liberalism. He set up the Democracy Fund in 2011 to address the deep problems in America’s electoral system and civic life. And in 2013, he bankrolled First Look Media to “empower journalists who hold the powerful accountable.” Its flagship publication, The Intercept, is a leading platform for progressive investigative journalism. </span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Now, the Omidyar Network—which is part of a small fleet of philanthropic entities created by Pierre and Pam, tapping a fortune estimated at $11.7 billion—is also evolving</b>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> It’s looking to focus “<b>upstream on the rules of the game</b>” that structure society, as Kubzansky put it, and engage in more policy combat if that’s what it takes to make those rules fairer. </span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A Different Kind of Philanthropic Entity</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pierre and Pam Omidyar first created their foundation after eBay went public in 1998, part of an early wave of dotcom-era winners who turned to large-scale giving. But they found traditional forms of philanthropy limiting. So in 2004, they formed the Omidyar Network as an LLC, with the goal of investing in social enterprises alongside grantmaking to nonprofits. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">While hybrid entities like ON have now become more common, the organization had a lot of people scratching their heads during its early years—or gnashing their teeth. Pierre was sometimes referred to as a libertarian, and his promotion of for-profit microfinance approaches attracted controversy—including a 2006 New Yorker article about his rift with Nobel Peace Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus on this issue</span>. A few years later, Omidyar would be held up as a leading example of a “philanthrocapitalist” by the authors Matthew Bishop and Michael Green. To many, the eBay billionaire’s embrace of market-based solutions to social problems seemed to exemplify how philanthropy was being reshaped by neoliberal ideology.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These days, though, the Omidyar Network’s impact investing strategies are much more widely embraced (and understood), including by leading progressive foundations like<b> Ford.</b> Meanwhile, the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> story of Pierre and Pam Omidyar’s philanthropy has continued to evolve—with much of that work conducted via conventional channels. Through the Omidyar Group, the couple manages seven organizations. Besides the Omidyar Network, these include the Democracy Fund, First Look Media, and Humanity United, which works on issues like human trafficking, mass atrocities and violent conflict. The newest of these groups is<b> Luminate</b>, which spun out of the Omidyar Network last year to become an independent organization working on what had been the priorities of ON’s Governance & Citizen Engagement initiative.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Still, the Omidyar Network remains the biggest island in what I’ve called the “Omidyar archipelago.” So far, it’s committed $1.4 billion to more than 700 organizations, with those investments roughly divided between investments in for-profits and grants to nonprofits. (In a recent year, the ON’s foundation arm made around $85 million in grants.)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mike Kubzansky says that the Omidyar Network has a small but active board of directors that meets as often as five times a year. Pam and Pierre both serve on the board, but Pierre is more actively involved, with <b>Pam focusing a greater share of her attention on Humanity United and another Omidyar entity, HopeLab</b>. Kubzansky says that Pierre mainly engages on the big-picture issues facing ON, like last year’s strategic refresh, and he’s not involved in day-to-day grantmaking decisions. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Beyond Neoliberalism</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Perhaps the most intriguing part of Omidyar’s revised strategy is its focus on “reimagining capitalism.” The leadership of ON remain strong believers in markets, but see the need for a new model of capitalism to ensure greater equity. </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Over the past year, ON has become part of a conversation catalyzed by Hewlett Foundation President Larry Kramer among a small group of funders regarding how philanthropy can develop an alternative to neoliberalism</span>. While this effort is still evolving, the idea is to support new long-term thinking and ideas generation to develop a “new, post-neoliberal political economy paradigm,” as Kubzansky puts it.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">More immediately, the Omidyar Network is getting involved in labor policy and other economic issues. “Productivity has gone way up in recent decades, but workers haven’t shared in that,” Kubzansky says. Given the demise of labor unions, ON believes that new kinds of organizations are needed to empower workers. “There needs to be some way in the modern era that workers can organize and collectively advance their interests.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Omidyar Network’s new interest in labor issues is what got it involved in supporting the ballot initiative in Maine, which was aimed at improving the pay and career opportunities for home care workers. While the initiative was unsuccessful, Kubzansky says that ON plans further work on the “gig economy” and the larger challenge of creating a “21st-century social contract.”</span> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More by David Callahan</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Inside the Omidyar Network, New Thinking About a Changed World</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When Philanthropy Is Not Enough: A Top Donor Couple Takes a Broader Approach to Impact</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Inside Vulcan, a New Model for Solving Some of the World’s Biggest Problems</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Impossible to Justify." A Political Scientist Takes on American Philanthropy</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Crystal Ball Check-In: How Did We Do at Forecasting 2018 Philanthropy?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Richest Americans Are Sitting on $4 Trillion. How Can They Be Spurred to Give More of it Away?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Not Just Philanthropy: For Top Charter School Backers, Political Giving Is Seen as Key</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These Billionaire Philanthropists Also Spent Big to Influence This Year's Mid-Term Election</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Vision, Daring, and Compassion: Paul Allen's Legacy of Philanthropy</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Powerless: How Top Foundations Failed to Defend Their Values—And Now Risk Losing Everything</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Vast Wealth, Hidden Foundations: How Much Do We Really Know About Billionaire Donors?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jeff Bezos is Doing Smart Philanthropy. Now He Needs to Show Real Moral Leadership</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Is Elite Change Really a "Charade?" What's Missing From a New Book That Bashes the Overclass</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Build Capital.” Inside the World of Venture Philanthropy</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Keeping Tabs on the Billions and Billions That Warren Buffett Is Giving Away</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Foundation Impact Investing Is Gaining Steam. But Can Proponents Answer These Four Questions?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">State of Flux: Five Things To Know About K-12 Education Philanthropy Right Now</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Systemic Failure: Four Reasons Philanthropy Keeps Losing the Battle Against Inequality</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Inside the Minds of Wealthy Donors</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Banking Against Urban Poverty: Inside JPMorgan Chase Philanthropy</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
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</font></span></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">M</span>ike was appointed managing partner of Omidyar Network in March 2018 </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">after successfully leading the firm’s Intellectual Capital practice, a function he established when he joined the firm in 2013.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px rgb(30, 33, 44); font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mike brings nearly 30 years of emerging-markets experience across both the private and public sectors. His deep expertise includes strategy, innovation, impact investing, and businesses focused on the low- and lower-middle income markets in developing economies. <b>Mike is particularly interested in the broad effects of digital technology on our society,</b> and he has led efforts to explore and understand the continuum of its impact, from the promises of increased access to services via mobile phones and <b>digital identity </b>to the threats of trampling on privacy and bypassing those who are not digitally connected.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px rgb(30, 33, 44); font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In his role as head of Intellectual Capital, <b>Mike served as a member of the investment committee, led strategy development, advised on research, published the firm’s <a href="https://www.omidyar.com/spotlight/how-do-we-invest-across-returns-continuum" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; transition: background-color 0.25s linear 0s, border-color 0.25s linear 0s, opacity 0.25s linear 0s, color 0.25s linear 0s;">learnings</a>, and led incubation and development of new frontier areas for impact for Omidyar Network investment.</b> Two recent explorations include the firm’s new work in</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> digital identity and the future of work.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px rgb(30, 33, 44); font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Before joining Omidyar Network, Mike was a partner at Monitor Group (now Monitor Deloitte), where he spent more than ten years covering a range of sectors including telecom, satellite, and internet services.</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> In 2007, he co-founded and led the Monitor Inclusive Markets practice and published extensively on the team’s ground-breaking research findings. Mike also led many sector-based research and consulting efforts in financial services, healthcare, tech/BPO, energy, livelihoods, and impact investing for a range of corporate, investor, and donor clients. Mike also worked for the <b>World Bank</b> and IFC, and earlier in his career held a variety of roles for a start-up company in the telecoms sector.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px rgb(30, 33, 44); font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">He currently serves as the chair of the<b> Better than Cash Alliance</b> and as the vice-chair of EMPEA’s impact investing council. Mike also taught a class on emerging-market impact investing at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px rgb(30, 33, 44); font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mike earned his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px rgb(30, 33, 44); font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: museo-slab; vertical-align: baseline; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(30, 33, 44); background-color: rgb(235, 232, 225);">
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