Stand Together
Stand Together is a philanthropic community founded in 2003 by Charles Koch, the chairman and co-CEO of Koch Industries, to support changemakers addressing the root causes of major societal issues including poverty, education gaps, economic stagnation, and social division.[1] Based in Arlington, Virginia, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, it operates as an umbrella network encompassing entities such as the Stand Together Foundation and the Charles Koch Foundation, channeling resources toward initiatives that emphasize individual empowerment, mutual benefit, and Principle Based Management—a framework derived from Koch's business practices to foster long-term value creation.[1][2] The organization's mission centers on cultivating a society where individuals succeed by helping others, achieved by providing funding, networking opportunities, and strategic guidance to diverse partners ranging from nonprofits and social entrepreneurs to business leaders and activists.[1] Key programs span areas like education reform—such as supporting innovative learning models and policy changes to expand access—strong communities initiatives that combat cycles of poverty and promote civic engagement, and efforts in criminal justice reform aimed at rehabilitation and reintegration.[3][4] Notable impacts include partnerships like The Phoenix, which has assisted over one million individuals in recovery from addiction, and substantial investments in civic education totaling $56 million.[1] Charles Koch's personal philanthropy, estimated at nearly $8 billion in donations to nonprofits, underscores Stand Together's scale and commitment, with recent recognition including the 2025 Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award for Philanthropy.[1][5] Under CEO Brian Hooks, the community has expanded its influence through fellowships, internships, and collaborations in sectors like music, sports, and entertainment to amplify problem-solving narratives.[1] While praised for empirical approaches to social challenges rooted in voluntary cooperation and incentives, Stand Together has faced scrutiny from critics who view its advocacy for market-oriented solutions and limited government as ideologically driven, though such perspectives often emanate from institutions with documented left-leaning biases that undervalue evidence-based alternatives to centralized interventions.[1][2]History
Origins in Koch Philanthropy
Charles Koch, who assumed leadership of Koch Industries in 1967, initiated systematic philanthropy in the 1970s, directing funds toward organizations advocating free-market principles and individual liberty, including the establishment of the Cato Institute in 1977 and support for the Institute for Humane Studies.[2] These efforts emphasized research and education to counter what Koch viewed as barriers to societal progress imposed by government intervention, drawing on principles of voluntary cooperation and entrepreneurship derived from his business philosophy of Market-Based Management. By the 1980s, Koch and his brother David expanded giving to libertarian think tanks and policy advocacy groups, committing tens of millions annually to promote deregulation, tax reform, and limited government, with total family philanthropy exceeding $1 billion by the early 2000s.[6] This foundation of Koch philanthropy, rooted in addressing root causes of poverty and stagnation through bottom-up solutions rather than top-down mandates, set the stage for coordinated donor networks in the early 2000s amid growing interest in conservative policy reform following the 2000 election. Charles Koch, recognizing the need for collaborative funding to scale impact, began hosting seminars for like-minded donors, evolving from ad hoc support into structured gatherings that pooled resources for strategic initiatives in education, criminal justice, and economic opportunity. These activities reflected a shift from isolated grants to networked philanthropy, prioritizing measurable outcomes and partnerships with social entrepreneurs over traditional charitable aid.[1] In 2003, this approach formalized with the creation of the Seminar Network by Charles Koch, an entity designed to convene hundreds of donors—typically contributing $100,000 or more annually—for twice-yearly retreats focused on policy strategy and grantmaking alignment.[7] The network served as a hub for vetting and funding organizations tackling systemic issues, building directly on decades of Koch-led experiments in principle-driven giving that had already influenced movements like the Tea Party through affiliated groups such as Americans for Prosperity, founded in 2004. This precursor structure laid the groundwork for Stand Together's broader ecosystem, emphasizing empirical evaluation of interventions and avoidance of politically motivated spending, though critics from left-leaning outlets have portrayed it as a vehicle for undue corporate influence without substantiating claims of policy distortion beyond donor coordination.[2]Establishment as Freedom Partners (2003–2018)
In 2003, Charles G. Koch initiated the organizational framework that would underpin what later became known as the Freedom Partners network by hosting an initial gathering of business leaders, philanthropists, and social entrepreneurs aimed at fostering collaborative efforts to promote principles of individual liberty, free markets, and voluntary cooperation.[8] This event marked the beginning of a structured donor consortium, evolving from Koch's earlier philanthropic activities dating back to the 1960s, with the goal of scaling impact through shared resources and strategic philanthropy rather than isolated grants.[8] The seminars, held biannually, served as the core mechanism for donor coordination, attracting participants committing at least $100,000 annually to support aligned initiatives in policy advocacy, education, and criminal justice reform.[9] By 2011, the network formalized its funding operations through the establishment of Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, a 501(c)(6) trade association headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, initially incorporated as the Association for American Innovation before renaming to reflect its emphasis on liberty-oriented partnerships.[10] Freedom Partners functioned as the central financial conduit, pooling anonymous contributions from donors—including Koch Industries executives and other high-net-worth individuals—and disbursing them to advocacy groups, think tanks, and political operations aligned with libertarian and conservative causes such as limited government and deregulation.[11] In its inaugural full year of 2012, the entity distributed $236 million in grants, primarily to organizations like Americans for Prosperity and the Center to Protect Patient Rights, enabling coordinated campaigns on issues including opposition to the Affordable Care Act and support for free-market policies.[11] This structure allowed for efficient resource allocation while maintaining donor privacy under tax code provisions for business leagues.[12] Throughout the 2003–2018 period, Freedom Partners expanded the seminar network's scope, hosting events that combined strategic planning sessions with presentations from academics, policymakers, and activists to identify leverage points for societal change, such as education reform and entrepreneurship promotion.[13] Annual fundraising grew substantially; for instance, in 2016, the network raised approximately $889 million across its entities, with Freedom Partners playing a pivotal role in channeling funds to electoral and issue advocacy efforts without direct corporate involvement from Koch Industries, which maintained legal separation.[12] [14] The organization's operations emphasized outcome-based philanthropy, prioritizing measurable progress in areas like poverty alleviation through market-driven solutions over traditional welfare approaches, though critics from progressive outlets have characterized the funding as "dark money" influencing elections.[2] By 2018, amid internal strategic reviews following David Koch's health challenges and shifting political landscapes, Freedom Partners began winding down its direct funding role, setting the stage for reorganization while having facilitated over $1 billion in total disbursements since inception.[11][9]Rebranding and Evolution to Stand Together (2018–Present)
In May 2019, the Koch-affiliated Seminar Network announced a major reorganization, rebranding as Stand Together to emphasize a philanthropic community focused on supporting grassroots solutions to societal challenges.[9][15] This shift marked a departure from prior structures, including the closure of Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, whose operations were largely absorbed by Americans for Prosperity, reducing emphasis on centralized political funding mechanisms.[2][8] The rebranding aligned with Charles Koch's stated goal of prioritizing nonpartisan, principle-based approaches to foster mutual benefit and voluntary cooperation, drawing from evaluations that electoral-focused strategies yielded limited long-term impact.[8][16] Post-2019, Stand Together expanded its scope by integrating entities like the Charles Koch Foundation and Stand Together Foundation, directing approximately 70% of resources toward education and community programs while allocating 33% to policy advocacy and 10% to electoral efforts.[8] Key initiatives included bipartisan support for criminal justice reforms, such as the First Step Act signed in December 2018, which garnered 87 Senate votes through cross-ideological coalitions.[8] By 2020, the organization adapted to challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic by backing innovative education projects, including partnerships with figures like Sal Khan to advance personalized learning models.[17] Further evolution occurred in 2022 with the rebranding of the Charles Koch Institute to Stand Together Fellowships, enhancing fellowship programs for scholars and leaders committed to evidence-based reforms.[18] That year, Stand Together launched a $30 million poverty alleviation effort, selecting 25 initial partners with plans to support 100 nonprofits by 2025 through scalable community interventions.[19] Complementing this, a $7 million Catalyst Program campaign aimed to onboard 500 innovative nonprofits by 2025, providing training and resources to amplify local impact.[20] As of 2025, Stand Together collaborates with over 300 community organizations, more than 700 business leaders and philanthropists, and supports initiatives reaching over 2 million individuals, alongside grants to 1,000 professors at 300 universities.[8][7] Recent commitments include over $56 million in October 2025 for civic learning programs to promote informed citizenship, reflecting ongoing adaptation toward addressing root causes like educational disparities and social division through empirical, partner-driven strategies.[1] This evolution underscores a sustained pivot from top-down advocacy to empowering diverse, bottom-up changemakers aligned with principles of individual agency and societal cooperation.[8]Key Milestones and Expansions
In 2019, Stand Together underwent a significant rebranding from its predecessor, The Seminar Network, to emphasize collaborative, bottom-up approaches to social challenges, with the change announced on May 20.[21] This pivot expanded the organization's scope beyond prior structures like Freedom Partners, incorporating a broader network of nonprofits and focusing on issues such as poverty alleviation and community safety.[2] A major expansion occurred in October 2022, when Stand Together Foundation launched a $30 million initiative to empower up to 100 nonprofits in scaling evidence-based solutions to intergenerational poverty, marking one of the largest targeted grantmaking efforts in its anti-poverty portfolio.[22] That same year, the Charles Koch Institute rebranded as Stand Together Fellowships, integrating fellowship and internship programs to foster talent development in policy and social entrepreneurship, thereby extending the organization's educational outreach.[18] By 2025, Stand Together had scaled its partnerships, co-leading a coalition with the Carnegie Corporation and Bezos Family Foundation that committed over $56 million to civic learning and youth service programs nationwide.[1] This built on cumulative philanthropic investments exceeding $8 billion from founder Charles Koch since the 1970s, enabling growth in grantee networks and impact metrics, such as programs like The Phoenix surpassing 1 million individuals served in recovery and reintegration efforts.[1] These developments reflect expansions in funding mechanisms and collaborative models, prioritizing scalable, community-driven interventions over centralized advocacy.[23]Organizational Structure and Operations
Leadership and Governance
Stand Together is headed by Brian Hooks as chairman and chief executive officer, a position he has held since the organization's rebranding in 2018. Hooks, who previously served as executive director and chief operating officer of the Institute for Humane Studies and executive director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, co-authored Believe in People: Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World with founder Charles Koch in 2020.[1][6] He also serves as president of the Charles Koch Foundation and chairs its board.[6] Charles Koch, the organization's founder, maintains oversight as a guiding figure, drawing from his role as chairman and co-CEO of Koch Industries, the second-largest privately held company in the United States by revenue. Koch has directed nearly $8 billion in philanthropic giving through affiliated entities since the early 2000s, emphasizing market-based solutions and individual initiative over top-down interventions.[1] Stand Together's structure reflects Koch's influence, operating as a hub for a network of nonprofits, policy groups, and changemakers rather than a conventional corporate hierarchy.[24] Governance at Stand Together employs Principle Based Management™, a decision-making framework originating from Koch Industries that prioritizes empirical evaluation of methods, empowerment of teams through comparative advantage, and alignment with principles such as integrity, humility, and customer focus to drive voluntary cooperation and innovation.[25] This approach decentralizes authority, encouraging self-actualization among staff and partners while measuring success against long-term societal value creation, as opposed to short-term metrics.[26] The organization does not publicly disclose a formal board of directors beyond key executives, consistent with its private philanthropic model, which coordinates funding and initiatives across affiliated entities like the Charles Koch Foundation and Stand Together Foundation without rigid central control.[1]Affiliated Entities and Networks
Stand Together operates through a network of affiliated entities that execute its philanthropic and policy objectives, including the Stand Together Foundation, Stand Together Trust, and related Koch-affiliated organizations.[1] The Stand Together Foundation focuses on direct support for community-based nonprofits, partnering with over 300 organizations via its Catalyst program to provide training, peer networking, and grants—totaling $1.5 million in one recent cycle—for initiatives targeting poverty cycles, criminal justice, and economic mobility.[27][28] Examples of Catalyst partners include 4Tucson, which addresses economic challenges in Arizona, and A Second U Foundation, dedicated to criminal justice alternatives.[28] The Stand Together Trust, established as a key grantmaking arm, funds applied research and social entrepreneurs across sectors like education, business, and government to promote opportunity-driven reforms, with contributions from Charles Koch exceeding $1.8 billion in related nonprofit efforts as of recent reports.[29] It emphasizes evidence-based approaches to issues such as immigration and healthcare, often channeling resources to projects that challenge conventional welfare models.[29] Stand Together's broader ecosystem includes the Charles Koch Foundation, which allocates over $100 million annually to university programs and think tanks advancing market-based principles, and the Charles Koch Institute, which conducts policy research on criminal justice and economic policy.[2] These entities integrate with advocacy networks like Americans for Prosperity (AFP) and its foundation, which operate in over 35 states to influence legislation on taxes and regulation, absorbing functions from predecessor groups like Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce after its 2019 closure.[2][14] Stand Together Fellowships further extend this network by partnering with institutions such as the Cato Institute, Mercatus Center, and Reason Foundation for leadership training in policy and economics.[30] This structure enables coordinated funding—$176 million routed through donor conduits in 2022 alone—while maintaining operational independence among affiliates.[31]Funding Mechanisms and Grantmaking
Stand Together primarily channels philanthropic resources through entities such as the Stand Together Foundation and Stand Together Trust, which distribute grants to nonprofit partners aligned with its principles of fostering opportunity and voluntary cooperation.[1] These grants support programmatic expansions, new initiatives, and operational needs, often tailored to individual organizations rather than fitting rigid templates.[32] In 2023, the Stand Together Trust disbursed $157 million, with a substantial portion allocated to other Koch-affiliated groups and external recipients focused on policy and education.[33] Grantmaking occurs via an application process initiated through the organization's "Partner With Us" portal, featuring a multipage questionnaire that allows applicants to specify needs across categories like community programs or policy advocacy.[34] While some targeted requests, such as those exceeding $10,000 or multiyear commitments, are considered, Stand Together emphasizes outcomes-driven partnerships over traditional grantor-grantee dynamics, providing funding alongside strategic resources.[35] Specific requests for proposals (RFPs), like those for roles in constitutionally limited government organizations, are periodically issued by the Trust to support classical liberal initiatives.[36] The scale of funding reflects Charles Koch's broader philanthropy, with entities under the Stand Together umbrella directing resources to areas such as education reform and criminal justice, often without fixed deadlines for unsolicited proposals in related foundations.[37] For instance, in January 2025, the Stand Together Foundation awarded $1.5 million to partners developing community solutions, prioritizing innovative, evidence-based approaches over ideological conformity alone.[27] This mechanism avoids donor-advised funds as a primary vehicle, instead favoring direct allocations to vetted partners to maximize impact on root causes like poverty and overregulation.[29]Philosophy and Principles
Core Ideological Foundations
Stand Together's core ideological foundations rest on a vision of a society defined by equal rights and mutual benefit, in which individuals pursue lives of meaning by leveraging their unique abilities to improve others' circumstances. This perspective prioritizes an empowerment paradigm over centralized control, positing that societal progress emerges from voluntary cooperation, innovation, and the free exchange of ideas and resources, rather than coercive directives or predefined outcomes.[38] The philosophy traces its intellectual lineage to classical liberal traditions, incorporating emphases on individual liberty, free markets, rule of law, limited government, and free expression, as articulated by figures including Adam Smith, John Locke, and Milton Friedman.[8] Founder Charles Koch, drawing from experiences dating to 1963, has framed this approach as a rejection of special-interest cronyism and partisan entrenchment in favor of nonpartisan coalitions that apply timeless principles to address root causes of social stagnation.[8] At the heart of these foundations are five interlocking principles that guide decision-making and problem-solving:- Dignity: An affirmation of every person's inherent worth, entitling them to pursue their lives with respect for others' equal rights and under legal protections that ensure impartial enforcement.[39][38]
- Openness: The conviction that unrestricted flows of ideas, resources, and people generate knowledge, spur innovation, and expand opportunities, thereby accelerating human progress.[39][38]
- Bottom-up approach: The principle that effective solutions arise from general rules of conduct enabling localized, knowledge-based actions by individuals, rather than top-down impositions that overlook on-the-ground realities.[39][38]
- Mutual benefit: The idea that true success and cooperation stem from creating value for others, incentivizing exchanges that enhance collective well-being over zero-sum conflicts.[39][38]
- Self-actualization and principles over ideology: Individuals realize purpose by cultivating and applying their distinctive talents, with a commitment to universal principles that transcend rigid ideological camps, fostering adaptability and unity around doing right.[38][39]
Approach to Problem-Solving and Social Change
Stand Together advocates a bottom-up approach to social change, emphasizing that effective solutions emerge from individuals and communities closest to societal problems rather than centralized, top-down interventions. This methodology posits that people possess unique knowledge and capacities to innovate and address root causes, such as poverty or educational failure, through voluntary cooperation and local experimentation. By contrast, it critiques uniform, government-led mandates as inefficient and disempowering, favoring diverse, adaptive strategies that unlock human potential across institutions like education and criminal justice.[40][38] Central to this framework is Principle Based Management (PBM), a decision-making system that applies timeless principles to empower organizations and changemakers in creating value and solving challenges. PBM encourages grounding actions in core tenets like mutual benefit—where success depends on contributing to others—and openness to ideas, resources, and people, fostering innovation over coercion. Organizations adopting PBM, such as those tackling addiction recovery or youth development, report enhanced impact, with examples including a tenfold increase in outcomes for one partner since 2016 through principle-aligned scaling. This approach extends to broader social efforts by uniting diverse partners, guided by the ethos of collaborating "with anyone to do right and with nobody to do wrong," transcending ideological divides to prioritize empirical progress.[25][41] The philosophy draws from classical liberal thinkers like Friedrich Hayek and Adam Smith, adapting principles of individual liberty and free exchange to contemporary issues without rigid ideological purity. It promotes self-actualization, where individuals apply their talents for mutual gain, and dignity, ensuring equal rights under general rules rather than targeted interventions. Stand Together supports this through partnerships with social entrepreneurs, aiming to spark grassroots movements that reform institutions incrementally, as evidenced by coalitions addressing regulatory barriers or community safety since the organization's evolution in 2018.[41][38]Programs and Initiatives
Focus on Economic Opportunity
Stand Together promotes economic opportunity by supporting bottom-up solutions that emphasize individual agency, entrepreneurship, and market-driven innovation over top-down interventions. The organization views economic challenges as rooted in barriers to voluntary exchange and personal initiative, advocating for policies and programs that reduce regulatory hurdles, foster job creation, and enable wealth-building through private enterprise.[42] This approach aligns with their broader philosophy of an "economy of abundance," where mutual success arises from innovation and cooperation rather than scarcity-driven competition for resources.[42] Central to these efforts is the Catalyst program, a network of more than 320 nonprofits designed to disrupt persistent poverty cycles by prioritizing self-sufficiency and community-led strategies.[43] In 2023, Stand Together allocated $30 million toward scaling this initiative to back 100 high-impact nonprofits by 2025, targeting outcomes like increased employment and financial independence in underserved areas.[44] Complementary community programs assist small-business owners in expanding operations, thereby generating local jobs and intergenerational wealth accumulation.[45] Stand Together also invests in targeted mobility enhancements, such as impact lending models exemplified by On the Road Lending, which extends vehicle financing to low-income workers to improve commute access and employment stability.[46] Workforce initiatives include partnerships like the November 2024 collaboration with Per Scholas and the Atlanta Hawks, providing tech training to underrepresented groups for high-demand IT roles, aiming to bridge skills gaps and elevate economic prospects.[47] On a larger scale, Stand Together participated in a July 17, 2025, coalition with philanthropists including Charles Koch, pledging $1 billion over five years to expand access to economic mobility tools, such as education and job placement services tailored to individual needs.[48][49] These commitments underscore a focus on measurable progress in areas like income growth and poverty reduction, informed by data from partner evaluations rather than aggregate government statistics.[29] Through Stand Together Fellowships, including the Koch Associate Program, emerging leaders receive training to advance these principles in policy and nonprofit sectors, with stipends supporting full-time engagements at aligned organizations.[30]Education and Workforce Development
Stand Together emphasizes aligning educational systems with labor market demands by promoting skills-based hiring, alternative credentials, and lifelong learning over traditional college degrees as the primary pathway to employment. Through its Future of Work issue area, the organization partners with employers, educators, and policymakers to develop workforce training models that connect individuals to career opportunities, including microcredentialing programs that allow workers to acquire targeted skills without lengthy degrees.[50][51][52] In K-12 education, Stand Together supports reforms aimed at bridging the skills gap, such as expanding school choice options through partners like EdChoice, which has assisted over 700,000 students in accessing career-focused schooling since its inception. Initiatives like Youth Entrepreneurs, bolstered by Stand Together's involvement since around 2020, teach high school students entrepreneurial skills, with the program growing from 50 to more locations in recent years to foster self-reliance and job readiness. Additionally, programs such as Education Opens Doors target middle schoolers to encourage early planning for postsecondary and career paths, creating cultures of proactive skill development in schools.[53][54][55] For postsecondary and adult learners, Stand Together backs alternatives to four-year degrees, including self-directed learning models and virtual K-12 extensions into workforce preparation, as seen in guides to programs like Outschool for flexible, interest-driven education. The organization funds innovators like Education Design Lab, which collaborates with employers to redesign credentials for modern jobs, addressing the mismatch where only 46% of college graduates report feeling workforce-ready. Workforce development efforts also include strategies for lifelong professional growth, such as ongoing training to adapt to trends like AI integration in workplaces, projected to reshape roles by 2025.[56][57][58][59] Stand Together Fellowships further advance these goals by selecting and supporting social entrepreneurs in education and business, providing resources to scale models that prioritize measurable outcomes in human potential and employment. These efforts reflect a broader philosophy of empowering individuals through voluntary, bottom-up solutions rather than top-down mandates, with grants directed via entities like Stand Together Trust to organizations demonstrating empirical progress in reducing barriers to opportunity.[39][29]Community Safety and Criminal Justice Reform
Stand Together supports criminal justice reforms aimed at enhancing public safety through evidence-based strategies that address root causes of crime, promote rehabilitation, and reduce recidivism rates, which nationally stand at approximately 70% within five years of release.[60][61] The organization emphasizes collaboration across ideological lines, partnering with over 120 education scholars, nonpartisan policy coalitions, dozens of community organizations, and more than 3,000 business leaders to advance systemic changes beyond partisan divides like "tough on crime" versus "soft on crime" approaches.[62] A key achievement was Stand Together's facilitation of bipartisan coalitions leading to the First Step Act, signed into law on December 21, 2018, which passed the U.S. Senate 87-12 and reformed federal sentencing by reducing mandatory minimums for certain nonviolent drug offenses, expanding rehabilitation programs, and allowing earned time credits for early release.[63] The Act has enabled retroactive sentence reductions for thousands of inmates, improved prison programming to lower recidivism, and inspired state-level "clean slate" laws in places like Pennsylvania and Utah, allowing record expungement for millions to facilitate reintegration and employment.[63][64] Stand Together bridged unlikely allies, including conservative figures like Koch network executives and progressives such as Van Jones and the ACLU, to prioritize second chances while maintaining accountability.[63] Through grantmaking and partnerships, Stand Together funds nonprofits focused on reentry and recidivism reduction, such as a $660,000 investment in Prison Fellowship's warden exchange program in 2020 to train officials on rehabilitation models.[65] Supported organizations include Root & Rebound for legal aid in clearing barriers to employment and housing, JumpStart Prison Ministry for yearlong transitional support encompassing job placement and health care, and The Last Mile for technology training in prisons, which received a $10 million gift in collaboration with other donors to expand coding and entrepreneurship programs.[66][67][68] Ventures Lab invests in platforms like Honest Jobs, a fair-chance hiring tool connecting individuals with records to employers.[69] These initiatives target breaking cycles of incarceration by building skills and community ties, with partners demonstrating lower recidivism through individualized education and support.[61] To bolster community safety, Stand Together promotes programs addressing police-community relations, such as Serve & Connect, which fosters joint efforts between law enforcement and residents to tackle crime precursors like poverty and disconnection.[70] The organization backs the Unbundle Policing Challenge, launched in 2022 via MIT Solve, providing $50,000 seed grants to innovative teams reimagining non-arrest responses to low-level offenses while preserving core policing functions.[71] Overall, these efforts align with a vision of a justice system that prioritizes public safety, human dignity, and restorative measures over punitive excess, evidenced by scaled nonprofit impacts and policy wins like the First Step Act.[4]Other Targeted Areas
Stand Together supports initiatives in health care aimed at fostering innovation and patient empowerment through market mechanisms rather than centralized regulation. The organization funds organizations developing transparent pricing models, telehealth expansions, and direct primary care practices to reduce costs and improve access, emphasizing personal responsibility and competition over government mandates.[23][1] For example, partners like the Foundation for Government Accountability advocate for policies that eliminate certificate-of-need laws, which restrict new health facilities and inflate prices, leading to documented cost savings in states where reformed.[28] In immigration, Stand Together promotes reforms that prioritize legal pathways, border security, and assimilation to bolster economic productivity while addressing humanitarian concerns. It backs research and advocacy for work-based visas and reduced illegal entries, arguing that current systems distort labor markets and strain communities; a 2023 analysis supported by affiliates estimated that streamlined legal immigration could add $1.5 trillion to U.S. GDP over a decade by filling skill gaps.[23] The approach critiques both unrestricted open borders and overly restrictive policies, favoring evidence-based enforcement that deters smuggling networks, as evidenced by pilot programs reducing unauthorized crossings in targeted sectors.[28] Efforts in housing and homelessness focus on community-driven solutions to break cycles of instability, including supportive housing models integrated with employment and addiction recovery. Stand Together has invested in nonprofits like those pioneering eco-villages and rapid rehousing, which have achieved 80-90% retention rates in stable housing for participants compared to traditional shelter systems' 20-30% success.[72][28] In 2022, it committed up to $30 million to scale antipoverty programs incorporating housing stability, targeting root causes like family breakdown and skill deficits rather than symptomatic subsidies.[19] Additional targeted work includes free speech advocacy, where Stand Together funds legal defenses and campus reforms against viewpoint discrimination, citing data from over 1,000 documented incidents of suppression since 2014.[23] This aligns with broader principles of open discourse to enable problem-solving, countering institutional biases observed in higher education surveys showing 60-70% of faculty leaning left, which correlates with reduced intellectual diversity.[1]Impact and Evaluations
Financial Scale and Resource Allocation
Stand Together operates as a philanthropic network encompassing multiple entities, including the Stand Together Foundation (a 501(c)(3)), Stand Together Trust, and Stand Together Chamber of Commerce (a 501(c)(6)), with primary funding derived from contributions by Charles Koch, who has directed nearly $8 billion in philanthropy through the initiative as of recent reports.[73] In 2023, the Stand Together Foundation reported expenses of $62.4 million against revenue of $12.9 million, supported by total assets of $313 million, reflecting a reliance on endowments and prior donations for sustained operations.[74] Concurrently, the Stand Together Chamber of Commerce recorded expenses of $364 million on revenue of $258 million, with assets of $208 million, indicating a larger operational footprint often directed toward advocacy and network-building activities.[75] Resource allocation emphasizes grantmaking to external nonprofits and internal affiliates, prioritizing evidence of scalable impact in areas such as poverty alleviation, education, and criminal justice reform. The Stand Together Trust disbursed $157 million in 2023, predominantly as grants to other Koch-affiliated organizations and select external partners advancing market-based solutions.[33] The Foundation alone awarded over $36 million in grants that year, focusing on organizations demonstrating measurable outcomes like reduced recidivism or improved economic mobility, with funding scaled based on program track records rather than ideological alignment alone.[76] Allocation decisions incorporate performance metrics, such as partner nonprofits' ability to replicate successful interventions, as seen in a 2023 initiative committing up to $30 million across 100 organizations tackling poverty through localized, bottom-up strategies.[77] This grantmaking model avoids broad programmatic spending in favor of targeted, high-leverage investments, with examples including $300,000 three-year grants to select poverty-focused partners in 2023 and $1.5 million distributed in early 2025 to innovators addressing community challenges.[78][27] Overall, the network's approach channels resources toward entities that align with principles of individual agency and empirical efficacy, though critics from progressive outlets question the concentration of influence within Koch-funded conduits, which moved over $176 million to aligned groups in 2022.[31] Such allocations are documented in IRS Form 990 filings, providing transparency into disbursements but highlighting the interconnected nature of funding flows that amplify the network's reach beyond standalone entities.[79]Empirical Outcomes and Success Metrics
Stand Together's advocacy contributed to the passage of the First Step Act in December 2018, which expanded recidivism reduction programs and retroactively applied sentencing reforms, resulting in over 44,000 federal prisoners being released early by mid-2024.[80] Independent analyses indicate that individuals released under the Act have recidivism rates of approximately 9.7% to 12.4%, compared to 46.2% for the general federal prison population, representing a 37% to 55% reduction in reoffending.[80][81][82] These outcomes stem from evidence-based programming in areas like education and vocational training, though causal attribution to the Act alone is complicated by participant selection and concurrent interventions.[83] In supported criminal justice programs, such as JUMPSTART Prison Ministry—a peer-led initiative focusing on life skills and faith-based mentoring—participants exhibit a reported 96% success rate in avoiding reincarceration, defined as sustained community reintegration post-release.[67] Broader data from aligned efforts, including employment-focused reentry, show that securing stable jobs can reduce recidivism by up to 61%, aligning with Stand Together-funded models like Honest Jobs that prioritize hiring individuals with records.[61] However, these metrics are often program-specific and self-reported, with limited large-scale, peer-reviewed evaluations isolating Stand Together's funding effects from other factors. For education and workforce development, Stand Together backs skills-based hiring and work-integrated learning, but quantifiable outcomes remain nascent. Initiatives like those partnering with Education Design Lab aim to align training with employer needs, yet no aggregated data on employment or earnings gains directly tied to these efforts has been publicly released.[57] In economic opportunity programs, a $30 million commitment launched in 2023 supports 100 antipoverty nonprofits employing customer feedback metrics, with early testing across 200+ organizations via the Personal Transformation Index, though specific impact figures such as income uplift or poverty exit rates are not yet available.[77][84]| Program Area | Key Metric | Reported Outcome | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Step Act Releases | Recidivism Rate | 9.7%-12.4% (vs. 46.2% baseline) | Brennan Center, Council on CJ[80][82] |
| JUMPSTART Ministry | Reintegration Success | 96% avoidance of reincarceration | Stand Together[67] |
| Employment Reentry | Recidivism Reduction via Jobs | Up to 61% lower | Council on CJ[61] |