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A movement of ambitious idealists

The School for Moral Ambition is a foundation dedicated to helping ambitious people take on the world's most pressing problems. We pick the causes others overlook — factory farming, Big Tobacco, unfair tax systems — and empower small groups of driven idealists to solve them.

The best minds of our generation are thinking about how to make people click ads.

Too much talent flows to problems that don't need solving. In Moral Ambition, historian Rutger Bregman made the case for a different measure of success. What began as an idea is now a foundation in Amsterdam and a movement across 150+ countries. 
How It Started

What We Do

We help people turn their ideals into action and find their own path to greater impact. We do that through our Career Fellowships, our University programs, and our community. Each stands on its own; together they're how the movement grows.

Fellowships

Funded, full-time programs for people ready to commit their careers. Selective, and open for applications at set times each year.

Explore Fellowships

Universities

A track for ambitious students at leading universities, ready to put their talent toward the world's biggest problems. Open for applications each year.

Explore University Fellowships

Community

A free, open community for 25,000+ ambitious idealists in 150+ countries. Find our peer-led Circle program, where small groups work through a structured path toward greater impact. Join events, expand your network, and meet your people.

Join the Community

Our Cause Areas

There's no shortage of problems worth working on. We chose the ones where the stakes are highest, real progress is possible,  and too few people are working on them. These are the three we're starting with.

Tax Fairness

$492 billion in tax revenue disappears every year to global tax abuse. Four in five Americans support taxing the rich more.

Read Explainer

Tobacco Free Future

An industry worth over $900 billion kills 8 million people a year. Nine in ten smokers started before they were 18.

Read Explainer

Food System Reform

80% of the world's farmland feeds livestock, not people. The EU still spends €387 billion in subsidies to prop this system up.

Read Explainer

Who We Are

Who's Behind It

The School for Moral Ambition was founded by historian Rutger Bregman, designer Harald Dunnink, former banker Julia van Boven, former consultant Jan-Willem van Putten, and entrepreneur Ruben Timmerman. Today a growing team works from Amsterdam, Brussels, and New York to turn moral ambition into action.
Meet The Team

Our Principles

Everything we do is grounded in seven principles: seeing the world as it is, changing our minds when the evidence does, treating ambition as inspiration rather than envy.
What We Stand For

Our Impact

Since 2024, we've placed 38 fellows inside 30 influential organizations taking on Big Tobacco and factory farming. More than 20,000 people have joined our community across 140+ countries, and we've helped launch new initiatives that now stand on their own.
Read Our Latest Impact Report

How we’re funded

We're a nonprofit foundation, funded by individuals and philanthropic foundations. Never by governments or corporate sponsors. Rutger Bregman donates all proceeds from Moral Ambition to the movement, and we publish our largest funders openly.
Our Funders

Support Us

Start contributing to our mission today — whether it’s by giving your time, your resources, or your expertise. Explore the ways you can get involved and start driving meaningful change with us.

Support Us