About the Project

We seek to document how networks of corporate donors manufacture political narratives and public policy for private gain.

The Corporate Genome Project will provide a growing body of investigations, web reports, and data-visualizations designed to increasingly decode this complex political activity. It will be a resource for those trying to understand or confront its manifestations in their own communities. 

The project’s initial release (Spring 2021) will track: 

• Key entities that make up the political network led by Charles Koch

• Payments made by Koch network donors to universities and non-profits

• Non-profits that make up the State Policy Network, American Legislative Exchange Council, Atlas Network, and other key networks

• Tracking and analysis of over 100 pieces of corporate-backed legislation

Areas of expansion will include key activities of this network, including:

• Tobacco industry funded advocacy

• Climate change denial

• Opposition to Civil Rights

Just as the Human Genome Project realized the need to map the full structure of human DNA and function of its components, we look to illuminate the structure of the nation’s complex political machines. In order to do this, we integrate our original research with the extensive investigative work that has come before us to assemble a full picture of the network, their actions, and the resultant effects.