Letter from Vice President of Open Society Institute Explains Impact of Changes on U.S. Programs

Following is the text of a letter Gara LaMarche, vice president and director of U.S.

programs for the Open Society Institute sent to grant recipients and others in May:

Last week George Soros informed the components of his Open Society Network around the world of significant changes that he intends to put in place over the next several years. Like all parts of the Open Society Network, the U.S. Programs will be significantly affected by these changes, and I am writing to our grantees, advisory board members, fellows, and funding partners to tell you more about them and what they are likely to mean for the work we have done in the United States since 1994.

In short, as I will discuss in more detail below, by 2006 OSI’s work in the United States will have a sharper focus on one substantial program area — justice, including the issues now covered by our Criminal Justice Initiative and Law and Society Program — and a significant general fund to deal with other open society issues and special opportunities.

As all of you know, George Soros announced several years ago that he planned to end his foundation network by 2010. His recent announcement affects that timetable in two respects: He will withdraw or sharply reduce funding for some parts of the network sooner, between now and 2006; but he will also preserve the capacity for his funds to be used to promote open society beyond 2010.

Those of you who have followed his recent thinking and writing know that George Soros is deeply engaged with the challenges of globalization: the transparency and effectiveness of international financial and political institutions, the obligation of wealthy states toward poorer ones, and the need for a multilateral approach to global problems such as human rights, security, development, international justice, and environmental protection. Soros wants his philanthropy to follow in this direction.

At the same time, while the “revolutionary moment” may have passed in a number of countries in the original European part of his foundation network, there are opportunities to make an impact in a number of countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, and the open society network has been expanding in this direction. There are now two regional Soros foundations in Africa — OSISA, covering nine southern African nations; and OSIWA, covering 16 west African countries. There is also significant Soros activity in Turkey, Peru, Indonesia and Afghanistan, as well in established foundations in Haiti, Guatemala and South Africa. There is every sign this trend will continue.

To preserve his capacity to move with the times, and to make an impact for years to come, George Soros has determined that he must in the next several years reduce his funding in some more established parts of the network. He wants to do this in a strategic way that disrupts as little as possible the significant accomplishments that have been made, and the important role that OSI plays in a number of countries and fields. As his letter indicates, the first places affected are the Soros Foundations in eight Central and East European countries that are slated for early accession to the European Union. By the end of next year, support for the foundations in these countries will be reduced significantly. Funding for the largest foundation outside the U.S., in Russia, will also decline substantially, and in several years the Soros Foundations in the Balkans will follow.

In addition to the national and regional Soros entities, there are also a number of thematic network programs in public health, education and youth, information and media, law, women’s rights, arts and culture, and support for local government reform. Some will be significantly reduced, ended or spun off into independent entities. Others which have traditionally focused on Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union will become global in scope.

What does this mean for the United States? For the next several years, until the end of 2005, our spending — which includes the 5-year commitment to the AfterSchool Corporation in New York — will not be significantly affected. But by 2006 we will operate at a much lower level of expenditure. The way that George Soros, the OSI Board and I have determined to handle this is as follows: Every U.S. Program commitment, legal and moral, will be honored; but none will be continued in its present form beyond the current term.

Virtually all the U.S. Programs are authorized by the OSI Board for three-year funding cycles. Several — the Southern Initiative, the Arts Initiative and the OSI contribution to the Funders Collaborative on Gun Violence Prevention — expire this year, and will not be extended. Between now and the end of the year we will make a number of final grants to organizations that have been supported through these initiatives, striving to do so in a way that enhances their stability.

At the end of 2003, we will end the Project on Death in America, the Program on Reproductive Health and Choice, the Program on Governance and Public Policy, and the Program on Law and Society. The end of 2004 completes the cycle for the Program on Medicine as a Profession. Our newest program, Youth Media, will continue through 2005, as will the recently-relaunched Criminal Justice Initiative (comprised of the Gideon Project, the After-Prison Initiative, and Community Advocacy Grants).

Two of our programs have always operated with finite time horizons, and those will not be affected by these recent developments. OSI-Baltimore was launched with a limited-time commitment, and its staff and board has worked from the start to make an impact within that framework. Our Urban Debate Program has been comprised of a series of 3- to 4-year grants to launch debate leagues in various U.S. cities, by the end of which they will be sustained with local government and private funding.

By the time the last installment of those grants has been made, OSI will also have helped to launch a national urban debate support institute.

Our fellowship programs — Soros Justice Fellows, Community Fellows, and the Soros Advocacy Fellowships for Physicians — invest in the development of new leadership in fields of concern to OSI. They will be continued throughout this period as we explore possibilities for sustaining them over the longer term with support from other sources. We may also resume the selection of resident policy fellows.

What will the U.S. Programs look like in 2006? In the first place, as the Open Society Network goes global, integrating its work across a range of issues and places, the U.S. work will follow. As George Soros indicates in his letter, the core concerns of OSI in the United States are justice, human rights and the rule of law. Taken together, these are now the largest U.S. Programs commitments, through the Criminal Justice Initiative, the Law and Society Program, and our drug policy reform work. This will remain the case for a number of years to come.

Indeed, in addition to the round of emergency grants we made earlier this year to deal with the civil liberties consequences of September 11, we plan to increase OSI’s support for civil liberties and human rights in the United States. Between now and 2006, we will bring this work together in a new funding and policy initiative that will be part of an OSI global rule of law program. In the coming months, we will develop a plan for the transformation of our justice programs in the next several years, particularly how to maintain our involvement in the judicial independence and access to justice work now carried out through our Law and Society Program after the program’s closing at the end of next year and until the establishment of the new global program.

There is one other respect in which OSI’s focus on the United States will increase: in building support for a U.S. foreign policy that is multilateral in its approach and more respectful of international law and institutions. This is more vitally important with the increasing dominance of the United States, militarily, diplomatically and economically, and with the changes in the world in the wake of September 11.

Programs that will come to an end in 2003-2005 will soon begin an assessment, consulting with advisers and grantees, to determine the best strategy for use of their remaining funds. In some cases, this will mean a series of “exit” grants; in others it may be possible and appropriate to identify other institutions to continue some of the work after OSI’s role ends. Some programs may want to accelerate grantmaking, others spread it out slightly longer. The programs involved will be encouraged to think creatively about this challenge.

We don’t have all the answers yet, and we will be calling on you for advice and assistance in this process.

From its very inception, OSI’s U.S. work has been focused on policy change — such as reducing reliance on incarceration, expanding government support for afterschool programs and drug treatment, removing barriers to access to abortion and emergency contraception, and promoting campaign finance reform and more humane welfare policies. We’ve done most of this through grantmaking, like most foundations, but also through our own activity, such as publications, convenings and research. In the coming years, we will do less grantmaking while maintaining and expanding our policy presence. The recent expansion of OSI’s Washington office is a significant step in this direction.

Finally, beginning next year and increasing through 2006, we will maintain a larger, flexible general fund. This will make it possible for us to continue making occasional grants in areas in which we have been involved — such as campaign finance reform, end-of-life care, and community arts — but in which we will no longer maintain ongoing programs. It will also be available for cross-cutting initiatives and special opportunities. As long as there is philanthropic activity made possible by the funds donated by George Soros, we will strive to act boldly to meet the needs of the time.

I addressed this letter to the OSI U.S. Programs “community” because I believe that over the last eight years such a community has come into being. It is linked by money, to be sure, and since there will be less of it over the years we hope it is linked by more than that — by a shared set of values about what constitutes a just, fair and open society and by a common conviction that those marginalized by race, class, gender and poverty should be supported in their efforts to bring about change. We intend to remain your partner in advancing those values and giving voice to those convictions. It has been a privilege for all of us on the OSI staff to work with you to make the United States a more open society, and we look forward to doing so for many years to come.