Under the new leadership of Alex Soros, the Open Society Foundations (OSF) is set to undergo significant changes, including a notable reduction in global staff by 40%.
Open Society Foundations, a central body for George Soros’ political efforts, has indicated that their board of directors has sanctioned “significant changes to the Foundations’ operating model.”
In a statement from Mark Arena, a representative for OSF, he mentioned, “This will involve some difficult decisions,” and went on to confirm the scale of the staff cutbacks.
“We anticipate that implementing the proposed new model would involve the redesign and retooling of our existing operations, and a substantial reduction in headcount of no less than 40% globally,” Arena said.
Supporters of the Soros organization are worried about the repercussions on left-wing “social justice” initiatives.
Kellea Miller, the head of the Human Rights Funders Network, voiced her concern saying, “We are most concerned for social justice movements, which now have to wait for the impact on their sustainability,” and noted the significant influence that high-level decisions in philanthropy can wield over those at the ground level working for change.
Internal communications from the foundation have shed light on the extent and nature of the cutbacks.
According to Bloomberg, an email from OSF’s Vice President of Programs, Binaifer Nowrojee, elucidated the reasons behind the decision, stating, “We no longer have the bandwidth to operate multiple small offices, and thus the decision to further reduce our locations.”
Details from another email disclosed by Muthoni Wanyeki, OSF Africa Executive Director, revealed that the restructuring would entail the closing of offices in several African cities, such as Abuja, Addis Ababa, Cape Town, Freetown, Kampala, and Kinshasa.
However, some locations like Dakar, Johannesburg, and Nairobi are set to remain operational.
Wanyeki expressed her regret over the developments in her message to the staff: “I’m very sorry that it’s turned out this way,” and acknowledged that the present direction diverged from what was “committed to two years ago.”
“It’s obviously not what any of us expected and I’m also very sorry that I didn’t have the information on this earlier,” she added.
This move comes in the backdrop of a leadership transition, with Alex Soros, George Soros’ son, taking the helm of OSF in December 2022.
The younger Soros initiated this second restructuring soon after assuming charge, bringing the $25 billion global network’s workforce down to a mere fraction of its size from just two years ago.
