Strengthening American freedoms and promoting civic engagement

Exhibitions at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, in Bentonville, Arkansas, invite visitors of all ages to view artworks related to the country’s political history and engage directly with the founding documents of American democracy—including an original copy of the U.S. Constitution, purchased by Ken Griffin in December 2021.
Photo Credit: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, photograph by Jared Sorrells © 2023 Jasper Johns / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Freedom and democracy are fundamental pillars of our society, but they are not guaranteed. Griffin Catalyst works with our partners to champion these essential American values.

our impact stories

Championing Freedom of Speech

Our fundamental freedoms are the lifeblood of democracy. They foster innovation, advance progress, and enable individuals to pursue their dreams.

Free speech is a cornerstone of our American freedoms, and Griffin Catalyst is proud to partner with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) in its wide-ranging, nonpartisan efforts to defend and sustain the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought.

Honoring the Service and Sacrifice of the Navy SEALs 

Since our country’s founding, generations of Americans have bravely answered the call to serve, putting themselves in harm’s way to defend the United States. 

It is our duty to honor those who have served and sacrificed and to care for our service members when they return home. Griffin Catalyst is proud to partner with the Navy SEAL Foundation to provide critical support services to these elite operators and their families. 

Learning From Our Past, Inspiring Future Generations

Griffin Catalyst is proud to partner with the nonprofit American History Unbound. This partnership represents Ken Griffin’s latest support of bold initiatives promoting freedom and democracy through inspirational and educational programming.

The collaboration will present dramatic multimedia storytelling about World War I and World War II to audiences in New York and Miami, and nationwide through a documentary being filmed for broadcast on public television later this year, to coincide with Veterans Day.

161,000+

Visitors to the We the People exhibition at Crystal Bridges Museum

1,000+

Direct advocacy victories won by FIRE on behalf of free speech for college students and faculty

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Accessible, educational videos through iCivics’ series “The Constitution Explained”

A student playing an iCivics game—an interactive game about constitutional history for fifth- through ninth-graders—at the Baylor University iEngage Summer Civics Institute in Waco, Texas.
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor knew we needed to invest in students to understand what it takes to be a part of civic life and solve common problems. The Constitution Explained as well as the Conventional Wisdom games touch on these things. Through the Constitution you develop the skills to think about these things, and then you become invested.
Louise Dube
Executive Director, iCivics Inc.
A student playing an iCivics game—an interactive game about constitutional history for fifth- through ninth-graders—at the Baylor University iEngage Summer Civics Institute in Waco, Texas.

Featured Partners

Our partner organizations are doing vital work in upholding freedom and democracy. We’re proud to support them.

In Brief

June 30, 2020
Griffin Catalyst has made the largest gift in the history of the Navy SEAL Foundation, to provide critical education, health care, and financial support to members of one of the U.S. military’s most elite special operations forces and their families.
September 8, 2023
In 2022, Griffin Catalyst joined with partners to support the Organs Initiative, a coalition leveraging data to drive change with broad bipartisan support. The challenge: To fix a broken, inefficient organ donation system that leads to tens of thousands of healthy organs going unrecovered each year and contributes to 30 Americans dying every day for lack of an available organ. In August 2022, the group achieved the first major overhaul of the organ donation system in 40 years, projected to save over 7,000 lives annually. Almost a year later, in July 2023, Congress unanimously passed legislation to break up
December 27, 2023
The success of Operation Warp Speed in 2020, which brought forth an effective COVID-19 vaccine in less than twelve months, was not only a scientific breakthrough but also a demonstration of the power of an approach called an advanced market commitment (AMC). By creating a demand so that pharmaceutical companies could invest in production prior to proving the efficacies of vaccines, this successful approach accelerated time to market and highlighted the opportunity for a class of similar “market-shaping tools” to accelerate progress. To expand this approach, Griffin Catalyst and Schmidt Futures have partnered with the University of Chicago to launch
April 17, 2025
Griffin Catalyst is proud to partner with the nonprofit American History Unbound. The collaboration will present dramatic multimedia storytelling about World War I and World War II to audiences in New York and Miami, and nationwide through a documentary being filmed for broadcast on public television later this year, to coincide with Veterans Day. The unique combination of narration and imagery from renowned historian John Monsky, accompanied by music from Broadway stars and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, brings to life in new ways two of two of the most pivotal events in the 20th century.
March 12, 2025
Partnership with American History Unbound is set to unfold at Carnegie Hall and New World Center. “The Great War & The Great Gatsby” brings World War I to life through music and imagery. “The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE Day” recounts the harrowing final year of World War II.
October 28, 2024
Griffin Catalyst provided a seed gift of $2.5 million to accelerate the efforts of Feng Zhang, a faculty member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, to develop “programmable therapeutics,” an approach that holds promise for revolutionizing medicine by reprogramming cells to cure a wide range of human diseases.
August 30, 2024
Since 2023, Griffin Catalyst has announced transformative gifts to three major health care institutions in Miami. Taken together, the support—totaling $125 million—represents an investment in the future of medical care and research in South Florida.
May 31, 2024
Launched in 2023, the Miami-Dade Innovation Authority leverages the power of competition and innovation to support start-ups, scale solutions to local problems, and improve lives.
May 23, 2024
To pay tribute to the nation's most distinguished military heroes—and to unite our country around the values their stories represent—Griffin Catalyst is supporting the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation with a $30 million gift. The National Medal of Honor Griffin Institute is a key component of a three-pronged, $300 million effort that also includes a new museum in Arlington, Texas, and a new monument in Washington, D.C.

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