Open Society Foundations

For the type of society, see Open society.

Open Society Foundations
AbbreviationOSF
FoundedApril 1993; 31 years ago (1993-04)
FounderGeorge Soros
Location
Chair
Alexander Soros
President
Binaifer Nowrojee
Revenue (2021)
$988 million[1]
Endowment (2021)$5.89 billion[1]
Websiteopensocietyfoundations.org Edit this at Wikidata
Formerly called
Open Society Institute

Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a US-based grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros.[2] Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the stated aim of advancing justice, education, public health and independent media.[3][4] The group's name was inspired by Karl Popper's 1945 book The Open Society and Its Enemies.[5]

As of 2015, the OSF had branches in 37 countries,[6] encompassing a group of country and regional foundations, such as the Open Society Initiative for West Africa, and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa. The organization’s headquarters is located at 224 West 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. In 2018, OSF announced it was closing its European office in Budapest and moving to Berlin, in response to legislation passed by the Hungarian government targeting the foundation's activities.[7] As of 2021, OSF has reported expenditures in excess of US$16 billion since its establishment in 1993, mostly in grants to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) aligned with the organization's mission.[8]

  1. ^ a b "Open Society Institute - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. May 9, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  2. ^ Duszak, Alexandra (December 21, 2012). "Donor profile: George Soros". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  3. ^ Harvey, Kerric (2013). Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics. SAGE Publications. p. 919. ISBN 9781483389004.
  4. ^ "Open Society Foundations mission and values", OSI, Soros, September 6, 2012.
  5. ^ de Cock, Christian; Böhm, Steffen (2007), "Liberalist Fantasies: Žižek and the Impossibility of the Open Society", Organization, 14 (6): 815–836, doi:10.1177/1350508407082264, S2CID 15695686.
  6. ^ Callahan, David (September 14, 2015). "Philanthropy vs. Tyranny: Inside the Open Society Foundations' Biggest Battle Yet". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  7. ^ "The Open Society Foundations to Close International Operations in Budapest". Open Society Foundations. May 15, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  8. ^ "Financials". Open Society Foundations. Retrieved January 20, 2021.