Ballmer Group launches ‘MoveUp Washington’ as part of broader philanthropic restructuring

Ballmer Group, the Bellevue, Wash.-based philanthropy founded by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie, is spinning out its Washington state work into an independent organization, one of three new regional groups launched Wednesday as part of a broader restructuring.

The new organization, MoveUp Washington, will be led by Andi Smith, who currently heads Ballmer Group’s Washington regional office. It will operate independently from Ballmer Group but continue to be funded by the Ballmers, carrying on the philanthropy’s existing mission of improving economic mobility for kids and families in the state.

Similar organizations are launching in Southeast Michigan and Los Angeles County — MoveUp Southeast Michigan and MoveUp LA — led by Kylee Mitchell Wells and Nina Revoyr, respectively, who currently lead Ballmer Group’s regional offices in those areas.

As the three regional groups become independent, Ballmer Group said in a news release that it will narrow its own focus to a smaller set of large, scalable initiatives aimed at improving economic mobility for kids and families nationally.

“Our intention is to ensure that these local philanthropies can be permanent, ongoing resources in each region, while we concentrate our national efforts on advancing economic mobility in new ways,” the Ballmers said in a statement.

Ballmer Group CEO Terri Ludwig, who helped guide the shift, will serve as a founding board member for all three new organizations while continuing to lead Ballmer Group.

Each organization will establish its own independent board and continue its existing regional work while evolving to meet local needs, according to Ballmer Group.

“Across these regions, our teams have demonstrated exceptional leadership and have distributed more than $1.5 billion in grants over the past decade,” Ludwig said in a statement.

Examples of past giving include:

• $38 million to strengthen mental health services in Washington, including graduate-level clinical education scholarships coordinated through the University of Washington’s School of Social Work.
• $43 million to the UW and other groups to boost early childhood education, including more than 1,500 scholarships over eight years.
• $400 million toward Black investment fund managers and Black businesses, working with firms including Fairview Capital and Goldman Sachs.

Ballmer Group team members currently working in Washington, Southeast Michigan and Los Angeles County will transition to the new organizations over the next year. Current grantees will continue to be supported throughout the process, with no disruption to existing commitments, according to Ballmer Group.

The Ballmers are still determining the long-term financial structure for the new organizations — an endowment is one option under consideration, though not something being established at launch.

Steve Ballmer, who served as Microsoft CEO from 2000–2014, is founder of USAFacts, a nonpartisan organization founded in 2017 to make government data more accessible and understandable. He’s also chairman of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team.