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. 

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

35

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

April 22, 2023
A $20 million gift from Griffin Catalyst to Miami Dade College — which serves over 100,000 students — will establish the Griffin Scholarship Fund. This support, which represents the largest single gift in the history of Miami Dade College, will provide scholarships for more than 8,000 low-income students, most of them first-generation college-goers.
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
February 12, 2024
The Lincoln Memorial has long been one of America’s most visited monuments and the scene of some of the defining moments of the last century. In time for the 250th anniversary of the country, a new expansion project will transform a massive, long-hidden space beneath the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall into an immersive museum, exhibition, and theater space, encouraging visitors to explore the story of one of America’s greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln, and to learn about the nation’s progress toward becoming a more perfect union.
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
December 20, 2023
On ABC's Good Morning America, Anchors Robin Roberts and Lara Spencer joined with Ken Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel and Founder of Griffin Catalyst, and Dr. Selwyn Vickers, President and CEO of Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) to announce the largest donation in MSK's nearly 150-year history.
November 21, 2023
In a conversation at George Washington's Mount Vernon, Ken Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel and Founder of Griffin Catalyst, joined David Rubenstein, renowned investor and philanthropist, to discuss the importance of America's founding principles and constitutional government.
November 14, 2023
Griffin Catalyst is supporting a major enhancement of UK Biobank, one of the world’s leading scientific resources for health data and biological samples. Griffin Catalyst’s $10 million gift—matched by Eric Schmidt and Schmidt Futures—will enable UK Biobank and scientists from around the world to accelerate research into disease mechanisms, to better leverage artificial intelligence, and to work towards more personalized options for treatment.
September 28, 2023
In a CNBC exclusive interview, Anchor Sara Eisen spoke with Ken Griffin, Founder and CEO of Citadel and Founder of Griffin Catalyst, and Eva Moskowitz, Founder and CEO of Success Academy, about the need to transform education in America to drive U.S. competitiveness.

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