Over the past quarter-century, Gara LaMarche has had a super interesting career in philanthropy and progressive politics. For nearly a decade, starting in the mid-1990s, he worked for George Soros helping Soros figure out how to give away hundreds of millions of dollars in the United States. During that time, the Open Society Foundations would emerge as a key early funder of causes like criminal justice reform and marriage equality. LaMarche then went to work for another top mega-donor, Chuck Feeney, and led Atlantic Philanthropies, where he was once again in charge of giving away huge piles of money.
After that, he became head of the Democracy Alliance, a network of wealthy donors that collectively moves tens of millions of dollars a year to progressive causes. Along the way, LaMarche has worked with just about every important organization and leader on the left. LaMarche has been a practitioner of big philanthropy, but also a thoughtful critic. Host David Callahan spoke with LaMarche not long before he announced that he would be stepping down as president of the Democracy Alliance.
Inside Change is produced by David Callahan and Kayan Tara.
