About Omidyar Network (ON):
Omidyar Network (ON) is a philanthropic organization whose mission is to bend the arc of the digital revolution toward shared power, prosperity, and possibility. Digital technology is a powerful and ubiquitous force that, harnessed wisely, makes wondrous things happen. We believe in working together to guide tech’s trajectory intentionally. Our vision is for our shared humanity to steer our digital future.
So far, we have committed more than $1.94 billion to initiatives that share our vision. We engage, partner with, and fund some of the world’s brightest thinkers and innovators to guide our digital future toward the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
About the Programs and Policy team:
Our Programs and Policy team focuses on the key drivers of our shared digital future: the culture, the governance, and the business of digital tech. Through grantmaking, advocacy, and funder partnership, we aim to shape more intentional societal governance and amplify our shared agency. We work with a broad range of stakeholders, including investors, tech firms, policymakers, consumers, and workers, to guide tech’s trajectory and build coalitions and counterweights to concentrated power in civil society. Our team members come from policy, advocacy, nonprofits, community organizing, technology, consulting, philanthropy, education, and the arts.
About the Role:
As the Principal, Programs and Policy (Philanthropic Partnerships) at ON you will play a central role in honing our engagement across the philanthropic ecosystem at a time when so many funders, new and seasoned alike, are asking questions about artificial intelligence and digital technology: What role should we play? Where to begin? Who’s doing what? What opportunities stand out?
In this role, you will upgrade our approach to philanthropic partnership in three domains: (1) funder education, everything we do to help individual and institutional funders get oriented, networked, and off the sidelines; (2) funder collaboration, including a portfolio of formal partnerships and faster-moving aligned funding opportunities; and (3) signature initiatives or products to elevate our network’s point-of-view and priorities.
This is an exciting time to join ON. In recent years, we’ve incubated or seeded new initiatives (e.g., Andaris, The Tech We Want), co-founded philanthropic collaboratives (e.g., Humanity AI, Responsible Tech Youth Power Fund), and co-convened funder learning tables and workshops (e.g., AI and labor, competition, California policy).
The ideal candidate is a savvy orchestrator who excels at the relational, intellectual, and strategic dimensions of moving a fragmented philanthropic ecosystem toward greater impact. You are equally at ease one-on-one with a family foundation principal discussing what we know about AI’s labor implications or briefing an eclectic room of 30 funders on ON’s priorities. Day to day, you are the conductor of a team-wide partnership approach that demands judgment calls about what to spotlight, who to pull into meetings, and how to translate an opportunity for different audiences.
This role reports to the Senior Director, Programs and Policy, who is based remotely in Los Angeles, CA.
How You’ll Contribute to our Impact:
Be a trusted resource for funders. Run substantive briefings on the tech/AI and society landscape and the opportunities most responsive to field and funder priorities. Create and manage a library of assets including briefing presentations and two-pagers that illuminate opportunities for institutional philanthropy, high-net-worth individuals and family offices, funding intermediaries, donor advisors, and other public interest funds. Plan and facilitate events that connect funders with learning and investment opportunities, bringing in relevant experts and ON colleagues.
Steward relationships with funders. Manage a pipeline of funder relationships spanning inbound inquiries, proactive outreach, and existing…