John R. Hunting (born November 7, 1931) is a philanthropist who is the son of David D. Hunting, founder of

Steelcase Steelcase Inc. is an international manufacturer of furniture, casegoods, seating, and storage and partitioning systems for offices, hospitals, classrooms, and residential interiors. It is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. ...

, an office furniture manufacture based in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. In 2006 he was noted as a major contributor to liberal or progressive

527 organization A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of U.S. tax-exempt organization organized under Section 527 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (). A 527 group is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defeat ...

s. He was also the President of the Beldon Fund, which was an environmental fund that ceased to exist. He is particularly active on environmental causes, and also funds other progressive causes including

EMILY's List EMILYs List is a left-leaning American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "E ...

Biography

John R. Hunting was born to an

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

family on November 7, 1931, at

Blodgett Hospital Beaumont Health was Southeast Michigan’s largest health care system (based on inpatient admissions and net patient revenue) and was headquartered in Southfield, Michigan. It was bought out and merged with Spectrum Health of West Michigan in ...

, the son of Mary (née Ives) and David Dyer Hunting Sr. His father was a co-founder of

. He went to school in

East Grand Rapids, Michigan East Grand Rapids is a city in Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. , the population was 11,371. The city is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area, including Grand Rapids, Michigan, Grand Rapids ...

and later at the Cranbrook Academy in

Bloomfield Hills Bloomfield Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Detroit on the Woodward Corridor, Bloomfield Hills is located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, and is surrounded on most sides by Bloomfi ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He attended the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

but was drafted and spent two years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. After his service, he graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in guidance counseling and accepted a job at the Cranbrook academy as a teacher. Hunting along with

George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...

and other

Democracy Alliance The Democracy Alliance is a network of progressive megadonors who coordinate their political donations to groups that the Alliance has endorsed. Since its founding in 2005, the Democracy Alliance has given more than $1 billion to liberal organiz ...

members

Gail Furman Gail Furman (1946 – 2019) was an American psychologist and political donor. Furman was president of the Furman Foundation, Inc. The foundation is a major donor to the Tides Center and the Media Matters for America, a left-leaning center for jour ...

; Paul Rudd (co-founder of Adaptive Analytics);

Pat Stryker Patricia A. Stryker (born April 6, 1956) is an American billionaire businessperson, philanthropist, and political activist. Stryker is the granddaughter of Homer Stryker, founder of Stryker Corporation, a medical technology company. Since the ea ...

; Nicholas Hanauer; ex-Clinton administration official Rob Stein;

Drummond Pike Drummond MacGavin Pike (born October 11, 1948) is an American philanthropist and Progressivism in the United States, progressive political activist. He founded the Tides Foundation in 1976 and served as its president until 2010. He currently serve ...

; real estate developer Robert Bowditch;

Pioneer Hybrid International Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., a subsidiary of Corteva, is a U.S.-based producer of seeds for agriculture. It is a major producer of genetically modified crops with insect and herbicide resistance. History In 1926, farm journal editor an ...

-heir and congressional candidate Scott Wallace;

Susie Tompkins Buell Susie Tompkins Buell (née Russell; born 1943) is an American entrepreneur, businesswoman and a donor to progressive causes. Tompkins Buell co-founded the Esprit clothing and The North Face brand with her first husband, Doug Tompkins whom she met ...

; real estate developer Albert Dwoskin; and

Taco Bell Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired ...

-heir Rob McKay, funded the

Secretary of State Project Formed in the fall of 2006 by Becky Bond, Michael Kieschnick and James Rucker,

, an American non-profit, 527 political action committee focused on electing reform-minded progressive Secretaries of State in battleground states, who typically oversee the election process. The Alliance was critical in getting California Secretary of State

Debra Bowen Debra Lynn Bowen (born October 27, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as the Secretary of State of California from 2007 to 2015. Previously, she was a member of the California State Legislature from 1992 to 2006. In March 20 ...

and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie re-elected.

References

External links

Beldon Fund Records, 1954-2015
at

Indiana University Indianapolis Indiana University Indianapolis (IU Indianapolis or IU Indy) is an urban public research university located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and is a core campus of the Indiana University system. It was founded on July 1, 2024 after its predecesso ...

American philanthropists American abortion-rights activists American environmentalists Living people 1931 births People from Grand Rapids, Michigan University of Michigan alumni {{US-business-bio-1930s-stub