Emerson Collective

Emerson Collective is an organization focused on education, immigration reform, the environment, media and journalism, and health. Founded by billionaire philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs,^[2] the collective, which operates under a limited liability company (LLC) model, uses philanthropy, impact investing, advocacy, and community engagement as tools to broadly spur change in the United States and abroad.^[2] The organization is considered to be one of the leading groups engaged in philanthrocapitalism.^[8] One of its most high-profile acquisitions was its majority interest in The Atlantic magazine in 2017.

Emerson Collective, LLC

Named after	Ralph Waldo Emerson[1]
Established	2004; 21 years ago (2004)[citation needed]
Founder	Laurene Powell Jobs[2]
Type	Limited Liability Company[3]
Purpose	Education, environmental activism, immigration reform, supports public policy advocates[1][4]
Headquarters	Palo Alto, California, US[4]
Methods	Advocacy Impact investments[4] Philanthropy[5]
President	Laurene Powell Jobs[6]
Key people	Michael Klein (Managing Partner)[7] Arne Duncan (Managing Partner)[6] Andy Karsner (Managing Partner)[6] Dan Tangherlini (CFO)[6]
Website	www.emersoncollective.com

History

Emerson Collective was founded in 2004 by Laurene Powell Jobs in Palo Alto, California.^[4] Named after transcendentalist writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, the organization says its mission is to do the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people.^[9]

In 1997, Powell Jobs had co-founded, together with Carlos Watson, the nonprofit organization College Track, a college completion program to combat the achievement gap among students of color.^[10][11] When Emerson Collective was established in 2004, grants and investments largely focused on the education sector. When Powell Jobs began learning more about the challenges plaguing immigrant students, particularly those whose undocumented status made it difficult to attend college, Emerson Collective broadened its portfolio to include immigration reform and advocacy.^[2]

Powell Jobs and Emerson Collective were strong advocates of the creation of President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and have continued to push for permanent legislation to provide "Dreamers" with a path to citizenship.^[12] In October 2016, she wrote the article "Immigrants Fuel Innovation. Let's Not Waste Their Potential" for WIRED.^[13]

In 2015, Emerson Collective's Managing Director of Education Russlynn H. Ali launched the affiliate XQ Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to rethinking American public high school.^[14]

In 2015, Emerson Collective became the lead investor in education technology company Amplify.^[15]

In 2016, Andy Karsner joined Emerson Collective to launch Emerson Elemental, a practice dedicated to investments in the environmental and clean energy space. Karsner previously served in the United States Department of Energy as Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.^[16]

In 2016, former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined Emerson Collective to launch Chicago CRED, a nonprofit committed to curbing gun violence in Chicago through counseling, training, and matching young men with jobs.^[17]

In 2017 and 2018, Emerson Collective supported the immigration-focused work of the artist JR, and helped bring Alejandro González Iñárritu's Academy Award-winning, virtual reality experience Carne Y Arena to Washington, D.C.^[12][18]

In 2019, Emerson Collective led a round of funding for Boom Supersonic, an aerospace company that aims to make supersonic commercial flight a realization again, and its proposed 55-passenger business-class transport.^[19]

In April 2025, it was reported that the company invested in io Products, which was founded by Jony Ive and Sam Altman, to create a new artificial intelligence hardware device.^[20]

Media investments and donations

• Invested in Ozy,^[21] and was one of its first backers.^[22]

• On September 1, 2016, invested in series A funding for Axios Media, a news website focusing on business, technology, politics and media trends.^[23]

• On July 28, 2017, became the majority owner of The Atlantic, purchasing the majority stake from Atlantic Media's David G. Bradley.^[24] The outlets owned by Emerson Collective include The Atlantic magazine and its digital properties along with its standout events line, AtlanticLIVE, and its consulting division, Atlantic 57. The Washington Post reports Emerson Collective plans to move to full ownership of The Atlantic in "three to five years" after their 2017^[update] investment.^[25]

• In 2017, invested, along with the Stripes Group, in Gimlet Media, the podcasting startup behind the shows StartUp, Reply All and Homecoming.^[26][27]

• In 2018, acquired the parent of California Sunday and Pop-Up Magazine.^[28]

• In 2021, invested, along with others, a total of $12 million in WaitWhat. WaitWhat is a podcast and media company founded and led by former TED executives June Cohen and Deron Triff.^[29]

• Has donated money to Mother Jones.^[30]