Corporate Genome Project

Ralph Benton Wilson

Funding Area: Critical shared infrastructure / Infraestructura compartida critica

Problem Statement: The influence of unbridled wealth is destabilizing democracy around the world by decoupling public institutions from the expressed intent of their citizenry. This leaves public institutions susceptible to the influence of fringe ideologues and plutocrats who value ideology and profit over the maintenance of a multicultural democracy. Despite its chaotic appearance, research demonstrates that this phenomena has evolved through a deliberate and ordered strategy. Corporate donors leverage funding to universities, non-profits, media outlets, litigation groups, and political entities to not only achieve policy change, but to seize further influence over public institutions with the ultimate aim of delegitimizing and destroying them. While awareness around the issue is growing, the network’s increasing size and complexity is outpacing efforts to curtail its influence. This demands that those working to protect democracy have access to relevant research. Research is key to framing public debate and collective action, but such research requires considerable skill and tracking capacity. Without a technological solution, the public is unlikely to understand the national patterns driving their local problems. Effective resistance requires a collaborative, accessible, and illuminating map of the problem.

Proposed Activities: In collaboration with many partners, the Corporate Genome Project will document how networks of operatives manufacture political narratives and advance public policy for the profit of their donors. The first iteration of the Corporate Genome Project provides a suite of tools that allows users to decode the complex activities of the Koch network’s system of “weaponized philanthropy,” including searchable tables, data-visualizations, and programmatically-generated profiles. Users will have access to a growing database of donors, institutions, and payments, as well as the individuals and actions that convert those payments into policy outcomes. In this way, the application will show the complete system of influence, from inception of idea to enactment of policy. This will be applicable at the national, regional, state, and local levels with longer-term plans to integrate global data. Early 2024: We will launch the first iteration of the CGP website; this will detail payments from several of the largest donors to nonprofits and universities, providing the public with searchable tables for institutions, donors, and donations and the ability to produce automated profiles and reports. Spring 2024: This will include new functionalities of document analysis and new data entry tools for trusted collaborators. We will also add features to reveal more about corporate-funded scholars and lawmakers with ties to the State Policy Network and American Legislative Exchange Council. Summer 2024: We will incorporate data from several collaborative investigations. Longer term investigative projects include integrating research from other sources: Advocacy activities including legislative testimony, lawsuits, and amicus briefs in state, federal, and supreme court cases Organizations and individuals affiliated with anti-Civil Rights efforts Longer term functionality will include: Document comparison, allowing researchers to compare legislation to model bills produced by non-profits Data visualizations and larger statistical analysis An active blog written by researchers using CGP for investigations To accomplish this, we will need a considerable number of hours from a researcher with experience and knowledge of the organizations involved. If awarded at the level requested, we will use this grant to fund a research fellow for Spring 2024, or if we can not find someone, for director salary in Spring 2024.

Openness: Based on the three points emphasized in the grant’s definition of “open infrastructure”: 1.CGP has built an application to illuminate complex political activity for journalists, activists, and the public. CGP’s data will also be highly localized, so that users can see the geographic or issue-specific components of the much larger networks of activity. We will also target local and state media to maximize the dissemination of the tool and research into community spaces. 2. While the database will not be open for public contributions, it will be open for contributions from trusted collaborators, allowing a growing network of organizations and researchers to build an increasingly complete picture of a large complex network. The application itself will be open source, and we will seek to create an API or other form of direct access for the project’s raw data. 3. Our application unifies our original research with findings from numerous other disparate sources of investigative research, including non-profit payments, campaign finance, and political activity. Such data involves tobacco, fossil fuel, and other industry-funded advocacy work reported by collaborators at ScienceCorruption, DeSmog, Center for Media and Democracy, the Climate Social Science Network, and others. We will continue to build relationships with trusted partners to engage the broader community in this work and ensure our results are accessible to as many people as possible.

Challenges: Anticipated challenges for carrying out this work include: Data Access: Obtaining comprehensive and accurate data on corporate donors and their networks may require navigating privacy concerns and overcoming resistance from certain entities. Funding: Securing sustainable funding for the long-term development and maintenance of the project poses a challenge, given its complexity and scope. Research Validity: Ensuring the accuracy and objectivity of the research and analysis is crucial to maintain the project's credibility and impact. Legal Considerations: Complying with data protection and privacy laws while maintaining transparency and accessibility will require careful navigation. Complexity: Dealing with the intricacies of influence networks, integrating data from diverse sources, and presenting it in an understandable manner is a substantial undertaking. Stakeholder Engagement: Garnering cooperation from various stakeholders, including researchers, collaborators, and institutions, requires effective communication and relationship-building. Ethical Implications: Addressing potential ethical dilemmas, such as protecting individual privacy and avoiding undue harm, is essential in conducting this work responsibly. Navigating these challenges will require strategic planning, collaboration, and a commitment to uphold the project's integrity and mission.

Neglectedness: This grant is one of the first we are pursuing as part of a larger fundraising effort. In lieu of searching for early funding, the project director used the pandemic as an opportunity to learn how to code the database and web applications. This allowed them to develop a beta version to show a proof of concept for potential funders and interested collaborators. While the ambitious scope of the project made it seem improbable and unlikely, having a beta version helps clarify the need and the potential for the project.

Success: Success for the Corporate Genome Project would be measured through: 1. Public awareness: Tracking website traffic, user engagement, and media coverage to gauge reach and resonance. 2. Research utilization: Monitoring citations in academic papers, media articles, and policy documents. 3. Database expansion: Measuring growth in donors, institutions, payments, and policy outcomes. 4. Collaborative engagement: Tracking use of document analysis and data entry tools by trusted collaborators. 5. Long-term objectives: Integrating data from various investigative projects and adding extremist affiliations. 6. User feedback: Collecting regular surveys to enhance usability and effectiveness. Through diverse metrics, we ensure alignment with our mission to protect democracy globally.

Total Budget: $25,000

Affiliations: Corporate Genome Project is a fiscally-sponsored project of the Alliance for Global Justice.

LMIE Carveout: CGP research involves research pertaining to policy efforts in countries around the world, and we aim to produce multilingual resources and do active outreach to international journalists and scholars.

Team Skills: Ralph Wilson: Project founder and director - Ralph has a background and degrees in mathematics and physics, studying chaos and complex systems. After becoming a leading expert on corporate donor influence and academic freedom as co-founder and research director of UnKoch My Campus, he has expanded his research and coding skills into databases and web applications. Ralph aims to pass his skills on to a team of researchers and the public. He also holds connections to interested scholars and organizations. Samantha Parsons: Development Director of Real Food Generation and co-founder of UnKoch My Campus - Sam provides fundraising support, and holds extensive connections to interested community & movement networks Nancy MacLean: Professor of History at Duke University - Nancy provides critical insight on historiographical methodology, and holds extensive connections to interested scholars and organizations. Isaac Kamola: Professor of Political Scientist at Trinity College - Isaac provides critical insight on political science methodology, and holds extensive connections to interested scholars and organizations. Nancy MacLean is the author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America, a finalist for the National Book Award. Ralph and Isaac are the co-authors of Free Speech and Koch Money: Manufacturing a Campus Culture War, from Pluto Press.

How Did You Hear About This Call: Word of mouth (e.g. conversations and emails from IOI staff, friends, colleagues, etc.) / Boca a boca (por ejemplo, conversaciones y correos electrónicos del personal del IOI, amigos, colegas, etc.)

Submission Number: 133