Emerson Collective

Emerson Collective, LLC

Named after	Ralph Waldo Emerson[1]
Established	2004; 20 years ago (2004)^[citation needed]
Founder	Laurene Powell Jobs[2]
Type	Limited Liability Company[3]
Purpose	Education, environmental activism, immigration reform, supports public policy advocates[1][4]
Headquarters	Palo Alto, California, US[4]
Methods	Advocacy Impact investments[4] Philanthropy[5]
President	Laurene Powell Jobs[6]
Key people	Michael Klein (Managing Partner)[7] Arne Duncan (Managing Partner)[6] Andy Karsner (Managing Partner)[6] Dan Tangherlini (CFO)[6]
Website	www.emersoncollective.com

Emerson Collective is an organization focused on education, immigration reform, the environment, media and journalism, and health. Founded by billionaire philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs,^[2] the collective, which operates under a limited liability company (LLC) model, uses philanthropy, impact investing, advocacy, and community engagement as tools to broadly spur change in the United States and abroad.^[2] The organization is considered to be one of the leading groups engaged in philanthrocapitalism.^[8]

History

Emerson Collective was founded in 2004 by Laurene Powell Jobs in Palo Alto, California.^[4] Named after transcendentalist writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, the organization says its mission is to do the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people.^[9]

In 1997, Powell Jobs had co-founded, together with Carlos Watson, the nonprofit organization College Track, a college completion program to combat the achievement gap among students of color.^[10][11] When Emerson Collective was established in 2004, grants and investments largely focused on the education sector. When Powell Jobs began learning more about the challenges plaguing immigrant students, particularly those whose undocumented status made it difficult to attend college, Emerson Collective broadened its portfolio to include immigration reform and advocacy.^[2]

Powell Jobs and Emerson Collective were strong advocates of the creation of President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and have continued to push for permanent legislation to provide "Dreamers" with a path to citizenship.^[12] In October 2016, she wrote the article "Immigrants Fuel Innovation. Let's Not Waste Their Potential" for WIRED.^[13]

In 2015, Emerson Collective's Managing Director of Education Russlynn H. Ali launched the affiliate XQ Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to rethinking American public high school.^[14]

In 2015, Emerson Collective became the lead investor in education technology company Amplify.^[15]

In 2016, Andy Karsner joined Emerson Collective to launch Emerson Elemental, a practice dedicated to investments in the environmental and clean energy space. Karsner previously served in the United States Department of Energy as Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.^[16]

In 2016, former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined Emerson Collective to launch Chicago CRED, a nonprofit committed to curbing gun violence in Chicago through counseling, training, and matching young men with jobs.^[17]

In 2017 and 2018, Emerson Collective supported the immigration-focused work of the artist JR, and helped bring Alejandro González Iñárritu's Academy Award-winning, virtual reality experience Carne Y Arena to Washington, D.C.^[12][18]

In 2019, Emerson Collective led a round of funding for Boom Supersonic, an aerospace company that aims to make supersonic commercial flight a realization again, and its proposed 55-passenger business-class transport.^[19]

Media investments and donations

• Invested in Ozy,^[20] and was one of its first backers.^[21]

• On September 1, 2016, invested in series A funding for Axios Media, a news website focusing on business, technology, politics and media trends.^[22]

• On July 28, 2017, became the majority owner of The Atlantic, purchasing the majority stake from Atlantic Media's David G. Bradley.^[23] The outlets owned by Emerson Collective include The Atlantic magazine and its digital properties along with its standout events line, AtlanticLIVE, and its consulting division, Atlantic 57. The Washington Post reports Emerson Collective plans to move to full ownership of The Atlantic in "three to five years" after their 2017^[update] investment.^[24]

• In 2017, invested, along with the Stripes Group, in Gimlet Media, the podcasting startup behind the shows StartUp, Reply All and Homecoming.^[25][26]

• In 2018, acquired the parent of California Sunday and Pop-Up Magazine.^[27]

• In 2021, invested, along with others, a total of $12 million in WaitWhat. WaitWhat is a podcast and media company founded and led by former TED executives June Cohen and Deron Triff.^[28]

• Has donated money to Mother Jones.^[29]

References

1. "Our Mission - Emerson Collective". Emerson Collective. Archived from the original on November 26, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
2. "The Quest of Laurene Powell Jobs". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
3. "Arne Duncan Joins Emerson Collective". EdSurge. March 20, 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
4. "Company Overview of Emerson Collective LLC". Bloomberg. November 25, 2017. Archived from the original on November 26, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017. Emerson Collective LLC invests and advocates for immigration reform, environment, school improvement, and social justice initiatives through investments in entrepreneurs and nonprofits. It also supports public policy advocates. Emerson Collective LLC was founded in 2004 and is based in Palo Alto, California.
5. White, Gillian B. (July 28, 2017). "Emerson Collective Acquires Majority Stake in The Atlantic". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
6. "Our Team - Emerson Collective". Emerson Collective. Archived from the original on November 26, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
7. Dylan Byers (October 15, 2018). "Saudi ties entangle Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective". NBC News. Retrieved October 16, 2018. Klein, a Wall Street rainmaker and former Citigroup executive, is a managing partner at Emerson and helps manage the company's business
8. "The Gift - Leigh House - The Incubator for Disruptive Philanthropy". www.e-flux.com. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
9. "Emerson Collective - About Us". Emerson Collective. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
10. "In Unusual Move, Ithaca College President Joins Laurene Powell Jobs' College Track". July 8, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021. College Track got started in 1997 when Laurene Powell Jobs and Carlos Watson
11. THEODORE SCHLEIFER (September 29, 2021). "Laurene Powell Jobs' Bizarre Week in the Headlines". Puck. Retrieved October 5, 2021. Powell Jobs has been close with Ozy C.E.O. Carlos Watson for decades—the two co-founded College Track, her first philanthropic initiative, back in East Palo Alto in 1997
12. "The Welcoming Committee". Marie Claire. August 15, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
13. "Immigrants Fuel Innovation. Let's Not Waste Their Potential". WIRED. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
14. Medina, Jennifer (September 14, 2015). "Laurene Powell Jobs Commits $50 Million to Create New High Schools". The New York Times. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
15. "Laurene Powell Jobs Among Buyers of News Corp's Digital Education Business". The Hollywood Reporter. November 20, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
16. "Nuclear Power Will Be an Undeniable Power Source In The Future". Fortune. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
17. "Chicago CRED Offers a Lifeline to Young Black Men". Chicago Sun Times. Archived from the original on August 31, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
18. "It takes only 6 minutes to be immersed in the immigrant experience". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
19. "Boom Raises $100M to Develop a Supersonic Airliner. It's Going to Need a Whole Lot More". Forbes.
20. "Marc Lasry steps down from Ozy Media's board following scandal". Axios. September 30, 2021. Retrieved October 5, 2021. Other investors in that deal included [...] Emerson Collective
21. Jody Serrano (October 2, 2021). "Ozy Media's Lies Made It Go Up in Flames [Updated]". Gizmodo. Retrieved October 5, 2021. Emerson Collective, Laurene Powell Jobs' company dedicated to investing and advocacy, said that while it had been one of Ozy's first backers
22. Sarah Ellison (November 30, 2016). "Exclusive: Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei Reveal Their Plan for Media Domination". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on May 8, 2017. Retrieved November 25, 2017. Axios wants to focus on business, technology, politics, and media trends [...]
23. White, Gillian B. (July 28, 2017). "Emerson Collective Acquires Majority Stake in The Atlantic". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
24. Wemple, Erik (July 28, 2017). "Laurene Powell Jobs's Emerson Collective to purchase majority stake in the Atlantic". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
25. Jarvey, Natalie (August 1, 2017). "Gimlet Media Raises $15 Million From Stripes Group, Emerson Collective". The Hollywood Reporter. hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
26. Spangler, Todd (August 1, 2017). "Podcast Startup Gimlet Media Raises $15 Million From Stripes Group, Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective". Variety. variety.com. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
27. Swisher, Kara (November 27, 2018). "Laurene Powell Jobs's Emerson Collective bought Pop-Up Magazine Productions". Recode. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
28. Lunden, Ingrid (June 21, 2021). "WaitWhat raises $12M to double down on what comes after podcasts". techcrunch.com. TechCrunch. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
29. Sarah McBride; Gerry Smith (April 25, 2019). "Billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs Turned Her LLC Into a VC Machine". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on April 29, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Official Twitter Account