The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), the philanthropic organization founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, did not provide funding to the pro-immigration and criminal justice reform advocacy group FWD.us in 2025. The decision formalizes a multi-year strategic shift at CZI away from social advocacy and toward scientific research and artificial intelligence.
Background and Timeline
Zuckerberg helped launch FWD.us in 2013 via an op-ed in The Washington Post, with backing from prominent tech leaders including Reid Hoffman, Eric Schmidt, Drew Houston and Chamath Palihapitiya. For years CZI provided core financial support for FWD.us’s bipartisan work on immigration and criminal justice reform.
Sources say CZI began narrowing its priorities in late 2022 and that plans to wind down social advocacy funding were discussed at that time. The financial separation from FWD.us was formalized in April 2025, and Bloomberg first reported the funding change. CZI has stated it fulfilled earlier foundational commitments to FWD.us as part of the transition.
Organizational Changes
Earlier in 2025, Jordan Fox, CZI’s chief of staff, resigned from the FWD.us board; CZI will not appoint another representative to that seat. FWD.us president Todd Schulte said the organization’s mission remains the same: pursuing pragmatic, bipartisan solutions to improve immigration and criminal justice systems.
Trump and Zuckerberg at a White House dinner.Alex Wong/Getty Images
Context and Political Notes
The move comes amid broader shifts in Zuckerberg’s public posture following President Donald Trump’s reelection. In 2024 Zuckerberg met with Trump adviser Stephen Miller — a meeting that reportedly prompted questions about CZI’s ties to FWD.us — and Zuckerberg has had multiple post-election encounters with the president. Meta also contributed $1 million to the presidential inaugural fund and played a role in White House renovations.
"Nearly five years ago, we shared that we were focusing on our core work in science, education, and supporting our local communities," a CZI representative told Business Insider. "As part of that transition, we committed foundational funding to FWD.us to continue their bipartisan work. We have fulfilled that financial commitment and wound down our social advocacy funding."
Separately, Meta made several policy changes in 2024 and 2025 that were viewed by some as favorable to conservative critics, including adjustments to third-party fact-checking and content-moderation rules. In September 2024 Zuckerberg also announced a large public investment commitment from Meta.
CZI’s New Focus
In November, Zuckerberg and Chan publicly described a reorientation of CZI toward science and AI. The foundation now emphasizes projects such as the Biohub, a network of biology labs CZI has supported since 2016. As Chan put it, the group’s recruiting pitch centers on computational resources: "We've got GPUs." Zuckerberg added that researchers increasingly need computing power rather than additional staff or office space.
FWD.us says it will continue its advocacy work without CZI’s continued funding, emphasizing its commitment to bipartisan policy solutions. CZI’s move underscores a broader trend of tech philanthropies reassessing the balance between social advocacy and scientific investment.
