SOURCE OF WEALTH: Cofounder of Reddit; Tech Investor
FUNDING AREAS: Digital Rights, Community Funding, Racial Justice, TBD
OVERVIEW: Alexis Ohanian does not yet appear to have a formal charitable organization, but he serves on several boards, including Institute on Higher Awesome Studies (IHAS), which “seeks to increase awesomeness in the world.” He has also been an advocate for digital rights and net neutrality.
BACKGROUND: Born in New York, Alexis Ohanian grew up in Baltimore. He graduated from University of Virginia in 2005, and co-founded Reddit, a social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. Ohanian also helped launch travel search site Hipmunk, and is a co-founder of Initialized Capital.
ISSUES:
DIGITAL RIGHTS: Ohanian is involved with Fight for the Future, which advocates “against threats to our basic rights and freedoms on the internet.” The organization played a role in the strike against web censorship bills SOPA and PIPA. At one point, Ohanian was set on testifying before Congress against SOPA, and fielded feedback from Reddit users.
CLIMATE CHANGE: Ohanian has said that the climate crisis is the greatest existential threat to humanity, and in 2023 his 776 Foundation pledged to distribute $20 million to fund climate solutions.
OTHER: Ohanian is a co-founder and serves as treasurer of the board of the Institute on Higher Awesome Studies (IHAS), which “seeks to increase awesomeness in the world by experimenting with new, community-driven ways to incubate, fund and promote awesome individuals and their projects.” IHAS is the parent organization of the Awesome Foundation, which has autonomous chapters in the U.S. and globally that distribute $1,000 microgrants to support worthy projects. Thus far, around $2.4 million has been granted to more than 2400 projects. The foundation has chapters in places like Ann Arbor, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Ottawa, Sydney, and Paris.
Ohanian also sits on the national advisory board of Donorschoose.org, an online charity that makes it “easy for anyone to help a classroom in need.” He was also a Kiva Fellow in Armenia in 2010. Ohanian’s father’s parents were genocide survivors.
Ohanian, along with funders like the Blackstone Charitable Foundation, donated a total of $1.75 million to the Coalition for Queens, a nonprofit that teaches tech skills to New Yorkers.
RACIAL JUSTICE: Following the death of George Floyd, Ohanian resigned from the Reddit board and is pledging $1 million to Colin Kaepernick’s “Know your Rights Camp,” which aims to educate, empower and mobilize black and brown communities.
LOOKING FORWARD: Only in his 30s, Ohanian has plenty of time to increase his philanthropy and establish a formal family foundation. Global development work in Armenia is worth keeping an eye on, as is his work through IHAS. His exact net worth is unknown, but may well grow in the coming years. Finally, his recent marriage to superstar athlete Serena Williams is notable. The two may well become a philanthropic power couple.
LINK:
