OPS Foundation history

In 1985, the first Wall of Fame Humanitarian Awards Dinner was held as a fundraiser for public education.

It was quickly followed in 1986 with the first Spring Honors Luncheon, now known as Stars of Education.

The foundation closes in 1989, just before the government’s brutal crushing of dissent in Tiananmen Square.

By 1994, the Foundation’s assets had increased to slightly under $500,000.

George Soros makes a separate pledge in 1995 of $50 million to help the government build housing for people living in makeshift shacks and overcrowded city dwellings.

The Open Society Foundations takes direct responsibility for managing the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF). The fund, founded by George Soros in 1997, invests in high-risk business initiatives that will have a positive social impact.

In 1998, the Open Society Foundations open a field office in Baltimore to better understand and address education, justice, and addiction issues in the city and create solutions that can serve as a model for other urban areas.

In 2000, the center becomes part of the Drug Policy Alliance, which continues today as a leading advocate for drug policy reform.

Additionally, he helped fund the launch of the first Global Plan to Stop tuberculosis in 2001, an effort backed today by some 1,700 organizations in more than 100 countries around the world.

In 2005 the Community Foundation established the “Making a Good Gift Better” program.

In 2006 SOWF expanded to include support of Special Operations Personnel wounded in combat, with a $2,000 stipend of immediate financial assistance.

In 2009, the Foundation revisited the Project KIDS report, assessing progress toward its goals and issuing recommendations aimed at helping the district’s academic operations catch-up with the construction program’s success.

Each summer since 2010, Omaha Public Schools rising 9th graders, current high school students and social studies teachers have come together with professors, community members and university students to create original content about Omaha's diverse history.

In a major victory in early 2011, a mobile court finds a colonel, three junior officers, and five soldiers guilty and gives them sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years.

Eligibility was expanded again in 2013 with the inclusion of surviving children of all Special Operations Personnel Line of Duty deaths.

In November 2014, The Foundation launched a partnership with DonorsChoose to connect donors directly to local classrooms.

In 2015, support from The Foundation allowed the successful Urban Teacher Preparation Academy program to expand.

In 2016, once Myanmar formalizes a transition toward a more open government, the Open Society Foundations open a foundation to support civil society and groups representing marginalized people to encourage a representative democracy to take root.

Preschool grants of up to $5000 for students 3-5 years old began in 2017.

Under the guidance of the Board of Directors, education programs also evolved over time to more holistically support what became SOWF’s top priority in its Strategic Plan, developed in 2018: student success.

In 2019, SOWF formalized its support of students with learning disabilities, and designated a certified counselor to work with those families on their unique needs.

Most recently, program eligibility expanded in 2020 to include the children of all Medal of Honor Recipients.

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