Olam tracks Righteous Persons Foundation grants to Bend the Arc, T'ruah and JUFJ, who governs each group, and what the public records do and do not show.
The Righteous Persons Foundation, founded by Steven Spielberg in 1994, gave Bend the Arc, T'ruah, Jews United for Justice and the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable about $3 million between 2020 and 2024, according to Olam's tabulation of its tax filings. Bend the Arc endorsed Zohran Mamdani for New York mayor in September 2025, and Mamdani won in November. This piece sets out the grants, the people who govern each group, and what the public records do and do not show.
Updated October 8, 2026. Grant totals are Olam's tabulation from Form 990-PF filings. Where the foundation's own grants archive differs, the difference is noted below. Characterizations of organizations are attributed to their own published materials.
Spielberg Foundation Investigation Series:
- Part 1: Where Schindler's List Money Went: foundation grantmaking to Jewish progressive organizations (2020 to 2024)
- Part 2 (this piece): Spielberg Foundation grants and the Mamdani campaign
- Part 3: Bend the Arc's Money Map: the foundation ecosystem beyond Spielberg and Soros
- Part 4: The Other Spielberg Foundation: Hearthland
- Entity Pages: Bend the Arc: Jewish Action | T'ruah | Jews United for Justice
How Did Spielberg's Foundation Come to Fund These Groups?
Steven Spielberg founded the Righteous Persons Foundation on October 1, 1994, with profits from Schindler's List, according to press reports at the time. The foundation named Margery Tabankin as its executive director. Olam's reporting describes Tabankin as a veteran progressive organizer who has shaped the foundation's priorities since.
Olam's analysis is that the grants reflect a consistent strategy toward progressive Jewish organizations. The foundation has not publicly confirmed that reading. Olam asked for comment, as described below, and received no substantive response.
Who Governs the Righteous Persons Foundation?
Olam reports that Spielberg chairs the foundation and that Kate Capshaw Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger serve as directors. Tabankin is executive director. According to Olam's reading of the Form 990-PF filings, board members receive no compensation and the board includes no independent directors.1
Olam's reading is that Spielberg holds final approval authority over grants. That conclusion rests on the foundation's structure and has not been confirmed by the foundation. The filings do not describe individual approval decisions.
Which Organizations Received Foundation Grants?
Olam's tabulation shows four recipients receiving about $3 million between 2020 and 2024, roughly 13% of the foundation's annual disbursements in that period. Each recipient has published positions on Israeli policy, Gaza and Palestinian advocacy. Those positions are summarized below from each group's own materials.
One check on the totals matters. The foundation's own grants archive lists Bend the Arc grants of $50,000 (2013), $200,000 (2018) and $200,000 over two years (2020). The 2020 entry in Olam's tabulation below shows $200,000 in a single year, so readers should compare it against that archive record. Olam could not reconcile the 2021 to 2024 amounts against a public archive page for this update.
What Did Bend the Arc Receive and What Has It Said?
Bend the Arc received $1.2 million in Olam's tabulation (2020 to 2024: $200K, $250K, $275K, $225K, $250K).2 The foundation's archive describes its grants to Bend the Arc as general support for community organizing, training Jewish activists and advocating for fair, inclusive policies. The descriptions reviewed for this update (2013, 2018, 2020) do not mention electoral work.
Olam reports that Alex Soros has served as board chair of Bend the Arc Jewish Action, the group's 501(c)(4) political arm. Olam also reports that Bend the Arc issued its first mayoral endorsement on September 26, 2025, for Mamdani, and described its role in his victory as helping shape it with "our air game and ground game." Mamdani won on November 4, 2025.
Olam tabulates additional funding to Bend the Arc from the Alexander Soros Foundation ($250K or more) and Open Society Foundations ($1.03M or more). Combined with the Spielberg grants, that is $2.48M or more in Olam's count.
Positions and campaigns, as Bend the Arc describes them in its published materials:
- Immigration: Bend the Arc says it organized defense campaigns for people detained by ICE, including Mahmoud Khalil, detained in March 2025.
- Policing: It supports cutting federal COPS funding, ending the 1033 program and passing the Ending Qualified Immunity Act.
- Courts and elections: It supports judicial term limits, D.C. statehood and voting-standard changes.
- Civil rights: It frames LGBTQ and reproductive rights as Jewish civil-rights priorities.
- Antisemitism definition: In April 2025 it co-signed a letter opposing the Antisemitism Awareness Act with T'ruah, JUFJ and others, arguing that the IHRA definition restricts speech on Israel and Palestine.
Bend the Arc's annual budget is not disclosed in the materials Olam reviewed.
What Did T'ruah Receive and What Has It Said?
T'ruah received about $690K in Olam's tabulation (2020 to 2024: $120K, $130K, $150K, $140K, $150K).3 T'ruah describes itself as a rabbinic human rights organization, and Olam reports it reaches about 1,900 rabbis and cantors. Its CEO is Rabbi Jill Jacobs.
Positions, as T'ruah states them publicly:
- It describes Israel's presence in the West Bank since 1967 as a "violent military occupation" and frames ending it as a Jewish religious obligation.
- It has called continued war and military reoccupation in Gaza "morally indefensible."
- It has characterized Israeli aid restrictions as collective punishment.
- It has demanded investigations into alleged abuse of Palestinian prisoners.
- It co-produces material on the occupation with the group Breaking the Silence.
Olam puts T'ruah's budget at about $2.5M.
What Did Jews United for Justice Receive?
Jews United for Justice received about $925K in Olam's tabulation (2020 to 2024: $150K, $175K, $200K, $200K, $200K).4 Olam reports an executive director of Jacob Feinspan, an operating budget of $3.7M, 32 staff and 1,877 volunteers, mainly in Washington, Baltimore, Maryland and Virginia. In April 2025 it co-signed the same letter opposing the Antisemitism Awareness Act.
What Is the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable?
The Jewish Social Justice Roundtable received about $250K in Olam's tabulation (2020 to 2024: $50K, $55K, $60K, $50K, $35K).5 Olam describes it as a coordinating body for the progressive Jewish network. Its stated focus has included coordinated opposition to the IHRA antisemitism framework.
What Are the Totals?
In Olam's tabulation the Righteous Persons Foundation gave $3,065,000 to the four groups: Bend the Arc $1,200,000, T'ruah $690,000, Jews United for Justice $925,000 and the Roundtable $250,000. That is an average of about $613,000 a year.
On the Soros side, Olam counts $250K or more from the Alexander Soros Foundation and $1.03M or more from Open Society to Bend the Arc, a total of $1.28M or more. Olam's combined count is $2.48M or more.
What Do the Records Show About Influence on the Campaign?
The records show that the foundation gave general-support grants to Bend the Arc and that Bend the Arc later endorsed Mamdani. Olam argues the grants helped build the network that backed him. The records reviewed do not show that any grant was directed to the endorsement or to Mamdani's campaign.
Olam's earlier framing described the foundation's board as knowing and intending that outcome. The public record does not establish what the board knew or intended. That question is the basis of the comment requests below.
Did Spielberg or Soros Respond to Comment Requests?
Olam contacted Steven Spielberg's office, the Righteous Persons Foundation, Alex Soros, the Alexander Soros Foundation and Bend the Arc for comment. The questions covered:
- How grants to Bend the Arc were approved
- Whether the foundation considered the groups' political programs when funding them
- Alex Soros's role as chair of Bend the Arc's political arm during the mayoral campaign
- How the foundation views its grantees' opposition to the IHRA definition
No substantive response was received by publication deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much has Spielberg's foundation given to these groups?
About $3 million from 2020 to 2024 in Olam's tabulation of Form 990-PF filings. Bend the Arc is the largest recipient at $1.2 million in that tabulation. The foundation's own archive lists different year-by-year Bend the Arc figures, which this piece notes above.
Did Alex Soros fund Bend the Arc too?
Olam counts at least $250K from the Alexander Soros Foundation and at least $1.03M from Open Society Foundations. Olam also reports that Alex Soros has chaired Bend the Arc's political arm.
Is there a connection between Schindler's List and the Mamdani campaign?
The connection is indirect. The foundation was funded with Schindler's List profits and later gave grants to Bend the Arc, which endorsed Mamdani. The records do not show that any grant was directed to the campaign.
Sources
Tax filings and grant records:
- Righteous Persons Foundation Form 990-PF filings, via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
- Alexander Soros Foundation filings, via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer
- Righteous Persons Foundation Grants Archive
- Foundation record of its 2020 Bend the Arc grant
Organizational materials:
- Bend the Arc: Jewish Action campaigns, policy documents and its September 26, 2025 endorsement announcement
- T'ruah public statements and position papers
- Antisemitism Awareness Act opposition letter, April 2025
Press coverage: The New York Times on the January 5, 2026 Spielberg and Mamdani meeting; the Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap on Spielberg's January 2026 move to New York; JTA's 1994 reporting on the foundation's founding.
The Takeaway
The public record supports a narrow finding: a Spielberg-founded foundation gave general-support grants to organizations that later took political positions, including an endorsement of Mamdani. It does not show that the funders directed those positions. Readers should weigh Olam's analysis of intent as analysis, not as a finding.
Footnotes
1 Board structure and compensation reflect Olam's reading of Righteous Persons Foundation Form 990-PF filings for 2020 to 2024.
2 Olam's tabulation of Bend the Arc grants from Form 990-PF filings: $200K (2020), $250K (2021), $275K (2022), $225K (2023), $250K (2024), total $1,200,000. The foundation's archive lists a 2020 grant of $200,000 over two years.
3 Olam's tabulation of T'ruah grants: $120K (2020), $130K (2021), $150K (2022), $140K (2023), $150K (2024), total $690,000.
4 Olam's tabulation of Jews United for Justice grants: $150K (2020), $175K (2021), $200K (2022), $200K (2023), $200K (2024), total $925,000.
5 Olam's tabulation of Jewish Social Justice Roundtable grants: $50K (2020), $55K (2021), $60K (2022), $50K (2023), $35K (2024), total $250,000.
How we report: Olam stories draw on public filings, company disclosures and named sources, checked by our editors. Read our methodology · Corrections
