Zuckerberg Ends Ties With FWD.us After CZI Funding Cut in 2025

Mark Zuckerberg’s philanthropy, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), stopped funding FWD.us in 2025, cutting off a stream of support that had helped underwrite one of Silicon Valley’s highest-profile pushes for immigration reform since the group was co-founded in 2013. The shift, disclosed in reporting on the group’s finances and confirmed by the absence of any 2025 support, leaves FWD.us operating without money from the organization built by Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan.

CZI provided no financial support to FWD.us during 2025, a change from earlier years when it had been a key backer of the advocacy group’s work on immigration and related policy fights. No specific reason for the change was given in the available information, and the timing lands in a year when immigration politics remain tense and heavily litigated, with employers, families and state governments all watching Washington for moves that can quickly reshape daily life.

FWD.us leadership and ongoing activity

FWD.us has not shut down. As of late 2025 it is still active and is led by its president, Todd Schulte, who has continued to comment publicly on issues including bipartisan Senate efforts and federal changes tied to work authorization.

Those debates matter because the ability to work legally often decides whether a family can pay rent, keep health coverage, or stay enrolled in school, even when their immigration status is in flux.

Work authorization changes can ripple through workplaces and local economies, affecting employers, families, and state governments.

For official basics on the U.S. work-authorization process via an Employment Authorization Document, see the USCIS page: Employment Authorization Document.

Funding change: implications and context

The funding break marks a quieter but real turning point in the relationship between major tech philanthropies and the immigration groups that emerged alongside them.

• FWD.us was launched in 2013 with Mark Zuckerberg as a co-founder, reflecting corporate and philanthropic interest in policies that could increase legal pathways for workers and protect young people brought to the country as children.
• Over time, many of these efforts have met hard political limits, forcing advocacy groups to widen their donor base to sustain campaigns year after year.

On its current website, FWD.us does not directly reference Zuckerberg or CZI in its present-day leadership or activity descriptions, even though its origins are widely known. That absence is notable because high-profile founders can both open doors and draw partisan criticism.

With CZI no longer writing checks in 2025, the group’s identity is likely to be judged more by its work product and less by its Silicon Valley roots.

Recent publications and policy focus

FWD.us has continued to publish research and policy pieces. Recent releases include:

• “The Power of Plyler” — a report focused on education access for undocumented children, addressing whether families feel safe sending kids to school and whether school districts can plan for stable enrollment.
• A white paper on border security and regional migration, positioning the group in debates that mix operational needs with political messaging.
• “We Can’t Afford It: Mass Incarceration and the Family Tax” — a report estimating that incarceration costs families nearly $350 billion each year by accounting for lost wages, fees, travel costs, and other burdens.

These publications demonstrate FWD.us’s efforts to connect immigration and criminal justice policy to the economic realities facing families.

Policy positions highlighted

• FWD.us has argued for expanding legal options beyond the H-1B visa, reflecting concerns that overreliance on a single visa category can:
  • Leave employers short of staff,
  • Trap workers in long waits, and
  • Limit job mobility when the labor market shifts.

The source material does not list specific proposals, but the thrust aligns with broader business and research community worries about workforce flexibility and visa bottlenecks.

How donor choices shape advocacy

Immigration lawyers and policy watchers note that donor decisions can reshape which messages get amplified—even when laws remain unchanged.

• A group with less funding may:
  • Do fewer state-level campaigns,
  • Publish fewer reports, or
  • Hire fewer staff to respond rapidly to rule changes.
• Conversely, less dependence on a single corporate donor can make an organization more nimble and less tied to one brand.

Analysis by VisaVerge.com suggests funding patterns among major philanthropic players are a key signal for which parts of immigration reform will receive sustained pressure in Congress.

Unanswered questions and immediate tests

CZI offered no explanation for ending support, leaving room for speculation. The only documented fact is financial: no funding in 2025.

For immigrants and employers who follow advocacy groups for clues about policy direction, that absence can feel unsettling—especially when the stakes include:

• Work permits,
• School access, and
• Protection from sudden policy reversals.

For FWD.us, the immediate practical test is to keep research, communications, and coalition work running while one of its earliest and most famous backers remains on the sidelines.

Responses and outlook

Supporters argue that the policy fights FWD.us pursues—school access for undocumented children, border management, and legal channels for workers—tend to move slowly, which can wear down funders during long gaps between legislative action.

Critics counter that advocacy groups should be judged by results, not by glossy reports.

For now, Todd Schulte and his team must demonstrate that FWD.us can maintain a national footprint without the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s help, even as immigration debates keep shifting in Congress and the courts. The organization says it will keep pressing for broader reforms.