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Humanity United
Pamela Omidyar launched Humanity United in 2005 as part of The Omidyar Group, the family's umbrella for philanthropic and investment activities.
Humanity United
Pamela Omidyar launched Humanity United in 2005 as part of The Omidyar Group, the family's umbrella for philanthropic and investment activities. The founding mandate emerged from a conviction that the private sector and civil society could dismantle systems enabling human exploitation. Unlike a conventional foundation, Humanity United blends grantmaking with advocacy and direct field operations, focusing on forced labor in corporate supply chains and peacebuilding in fragile states. The organization operates from San Francisco, with outposts in New York and Brooklyn. Humanity United's programmatic work spans eradication of forced labor, conflict resolution, and human trafficking prevention. The organization made early catalytic investments in supply-chain transparency technology, backing tools and nonprofits like the Freedom Fund — a pooled donor vehicle it co-founded with the Children's Investment Fund Foundation and other partners in 2014. Its work extends into Southeast Asia's seafood and garment industries, Central Africa's conflict mineral zones, and the Middle East. In 2022, Humanity United sharpened its strategic framework around responsible sourcing and anti-slavery litigation, supporting international legal accountability mechanisms alongside direct service organizations. Team size is not publicly disclosed. The organization operates as a 501(c)(3) foundation under the broader Omidyar Group ecosystem, which includes the Omidyar Network (impact investing) and Luminate Group (democracy and governance). This architectural separation allows Humanity United to take advocacy positions and fund litigation that the family's for-profit or lobbying entities cannot. In 2023, Managing Partner Srik Gopal continued to lead the organization, emphasizing partnerships with corporations on human rights due diligence mandates under European and proposed US legislation. Humanity United's structural differentiator is its posture as an operating foundation with a private-sector toolkit. Rather than only disbursing grants, it deploys capital across advocacy, litigation support, field research, and market-shaping — pushing mandatory human rights due diligence into corporate procurement processes. Its model relies on influence, not scale, to reshape labor markets and conflict economies.
General information
Firm type
Foundation
Year founded
2005
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
San Francisco
Corporate office
San Francisco, CA, United States
Additional offices
New York, NY · Brooklyn, NY
Principals
Pamela Omidyar
Founder and Board Chair
Srik Gopal
Managing Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Humanity United?
Humanity United is a philanthropic foundation, not an investment firm. Programmatic grantmaking and strategic direction are led by Managing Partner Srik Gopal, who reports to the board chaired by founder Pamela Omidyar. The Omidyar Group's investment portfolio is managed separately through entities like Omidyar Network, which handles the family's impact investing and venture capital activities.
How is Humanity United related to Omidyar Network and The Omidyar Group?
Humanity United is one of several entities within The Omidyar Group, the family office ecosystem established by Pierre and Pamela Omidyar. It operates independently from Omidyar Network, which focuses on impact investing, and Luminate Group, which addresses governance and democracy. Each entity has distinct leadership and legal structures, though they share a common wealth origin in the eBay fortune.
Is Humanity United a single-family office or a foundation?
Humanity United is structured as a private 501(c)(3) foundation. While it is part of the Omidyar family's broader organizational ecosystem, it does not manage the family's investable assets or function as a single-family office. Its mandate is exclusively philanthropic, targeting human rights abuses through grants, advocacy, and field operations.
Which sectors does Humanity United explicitly avoid?
Humanity United does not make for-profit investments and does not fund political campaigns or lobbying directly. Its programmatic boundaries exclude issues outside forced labor, human trafficking, and peacebuilding — for example, it does not work on climate mitigation or public health, though those issues intersect with its mandate in specific supply chain contexts.
What is Humanity United's known posture on co-investments alongside external funders?
Humanity United actively co-funds with other philanthropic institutions. A prominent example is the Freedom Fund, a collaborative donor vehicle it co-founded in 2014 with the Children's Investment Fund Foundation and other partners to pool resources for anti-slavery work in hotspots including India, Ethiopia, and Thailand. The organization operates on a model of coalition-building rather than solo grantmaking.
Does Humanity United participate in fund commitments or only direct grants?
Humanity United primarily makes direct grants to operating nonprofits, advocacy groups, and research institutions. It does not commit capital to investment funds as a limited partner. However, through umbrella collaborations like the Freedom Fund, it participates in pooled philanthropic vehicles that aggregate donor capital and regrant it to frontline organizations.
Where does the underlying wealth come from?
The wealth backing Humanity United originates from the eBay fortune created by Pierre Omidyar, who founded the online auction platform in 1995 and took it public in 1998. Pamela Omidyar, a co-founder of Humanity United, was married to Pierre Omidyar during the period the foundation was established. The family's assets are held and managed separately within The Omidyar Group network.
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