An emerging initiative to “reignite the American spirit,” set to launch around the country’s 250th birthday, is getting a funding boost from the billionaire and libertarian-conservative megadonor Charles Koch, Business Insider has learned.
The new effort, which has the tagline “Be the People,” has enlisted a number of marketing heavy hitters in addition to its support from Stand Together, a philanthropic endeavor founded by Koch in 2003. It’s led by Andrew Essex, the founding chief executive of creative agency Droga5 and a longtime media and ad executive.
The organizers described the “Be the People” initiative to potential supporters as an apolitical effort to unite America, three people briefed on the plans in recent weeks told Business Insider. The initiative is a separate effort from America250, the official celebration that is being planned by a bipartisan commission, with involvement from President Donald Trump.
A leaked “Be the People” presentation document dated October and seen by Business Insider lists six prominent marketers as advisors: John Hayes, formerly of American Express; Jim Stengel, formerly of Procter & Gamble; Mike Jackson, ex General Motors; Tariq Hassan, a vet of McDonald’s; Jill Baskin, ex Hershey; and Remi Kent, formerly of Progressive. These people are serving as informal, unpaid advisors, according to a source familiar with the matter.
It cites data showing people are politically divided and also ready for change. It calls for a $250 million promotional campaign — an amount similar in scale to a blockbuster movie push — encouraging people to volunteer and give to causes like combating hunger. The campaign would also create a platform where people could find charitable organizations based on their interests, the pitch document says.
The document emphasizes that the initiative is working to create a “brand safe, apolitical” coalition. It says it’s in conversations with around two dozen blue-chip companies and organizations, including Starbucks, JPMorgan Chase, and Habitat for Humanity, to lend support.
“Be the People” also wants to enlist popular cultural figures to help amplify its mission. The document lists around 80 bold-face names spanning industries and disciplines, including Oprah Winfrey, Fox News’ Bret Baier, happiness expert Arthur Brooks, and billionaire investor Mark Cuban. It’s unclear from the document who has signed on and who is seen as a potential supporter. Cuban and Brooks confirmed they’re involved. Reps for Winfrey and Baier said they weren’t aware of the initiative.
“The effort aims to support sustained civic engagement that begins with America’s 250th anniversary and extends well beyond it, and is intended to complement the many other efforts around the anniversary,” a spokesperson for Stand Together said in a statement. The rep said Stand Together is one of several funders helping build a coalition of leaders and partners, and declined to name the others. They said the presentation deck is an early aspirational concept, with the activities and coalition still taking shape.
The “Be the People” pitch comes ahead of the official US birthday celebration, America250, which was similarly pitched as nonpartisan. The Wall Street Journal and other outlets have reported that Trump had been placing his allies and operatives in charge of much of the planning. America250 has faced criticism from lawmakers, including Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-NJ, who sits on the commission to plan the America250 celebration, as well as historians such as presidential biographer and frequent Trump critic Jonathan Alter, that Trump is making the official celebration about himself, as The Atlantic and other outlets have reported.
An America250 spokesperson said its celebration is a bipartisan effort to involve all Americans through “values-based programming, the largest bicameral, bipartisan congressional caucus in history, and historic public-private partnerships.”
Koch and his brother David, who died in 2019, have been powerful forces in Republican politics and the modern conservative movement. The Kochs have sometimes been at odds with Trump, going back to his first term. Their political network endorsed Nikki Haley in the 2024 campaign, and in April, the Charles Koch-funded New Civil Liberties Alliance sued Trump over import tariffs. Trump successfully moved to have the case transferred to the US Court of International Trade, which is overseeing similar cases. The case is ongoing.
