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Audrey Cappell
Status
Living in New York, NY.
Criminal status: No convictions
Summary
Audrey Cappell is a philanthropist whose wealth derives from the Audrey Simons Delaware Trust, established by her father Jim Simons, founder of Renaissance Technologies. She founded the Foundation for a Just Society (FJS) in 2011 to advance the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQI people globally. Since its founding, FJS has distributed more than USD 399.6 million to organizations across Francophone West Africa, Mesoamerica, South and Southeast Asia, and the US Southeast.
Cappell's grantmaking approach prioritizes trust-based, multi-year general operating support — grants that give recipient organizations the flexibility to adapt their strategies rather than conform to donor-imposed restrictions. She co-founded the AC & JC Foundation with her husband Jacob Cappell in 2020, focused on conservation, arts, and food security. She serves as president of Felicity House, a free community space for women with autism, and as a trustee of the Nick Simons Foundation, which supports global health and environmental causes.
Business Relationships
Professional activity is centered on philanthropic leadership, with work carried out through FJS, Felicity House, and Nick Simons Foundation board service.
Ownership
Cappell controls the Foundation for a Just Society as board president, overseeing USD 1.29 billion in foundation assets and directing its global grantmaking strategy. The foundation receives funding from the Audrey Simons Delaware Trust, a trust established in Cappell's name by her father Jim Simons.
She co-controls the AC & JC Foundation with Jacob Cappell as co-principals, a family foundation that held USD 24.9 million in assets as of fiscal year 2024.
Cappell also directs Foundation for a Just Society International, a Bermuda-based foundation that has funded sexual and reproductive health, anti-trafficking, and girls' education programs in Francophone West Africa since initiating grantmaking in 2016.
Family & Heirs
Cappell is the daughter of Jim Simons (1938–2024), mathematician and founder of Renaissance Technologies, and Marilyn Simons, who co-founded the Simons Foundation. Jim Simons' philanthropic legacy — focused on basic science and mathematics education — shaped Cappell's own philanthropic trajectory.
Cappell is married to Jacob Cappell, with whom she co-founded the AC & JC Foundation in 2020. Her brother Nick Simons co-founded the Nick Simons Foundation focused on global health and environmental causes, on whose board Cappell serves as a trustee.
Evidence
2011-12-31 - 😇 - Foundation for a Just Society joins Women's Funding Network to advance global gender justice
2016-10-05 - 😇 - Forbes profiles Audrey Cappell's Foundation for a Just Society as part of Simons family philanthropic legacy
2022-04-01 - 😇 - Foundation for a Just Society and Felicity House expand into shared Flatiron District office space
2022-12-31 - 😇 - Foundation for a Just Society awards USD 64.5M across 351 grants including multi-year support for Fondo Centroamericano de Mujeres
2023-12-31 - 😇 - Foundation for a Just Society disburses USD 71.9M in charitable grants during fiscal year 2023
2023-12-31 - 😇 - Foundation for a Just Society grants USD 800K to Mama Cash global women's fund
2023-12-31 - 😇 - AC & JC Foundation awards USD 7.5M across 42 grants spanning conservation, performing arts, and food security
2024-12-31 - 😇 - Foundation for a Just Society grants USD 1M to Borealis Philanthropy for Black-Led Movement Fund
2024-12-31 - 😇 - Foundation for a Just Society publicly discloses audited financial statements for 2022, 2023, and 2024
2024-12-31 - 😇 - Audrey Cappell serves as trustee of Nick Simons Foundation, which disburses USD 16.7M in global healthcare and environmental grants
Analysis
Audrey Cappell has built a substantial philanthropic infrastructure focused on organizations led by women, girls, and LGBTQI people in regions where these communities face acute legal and social vulnerability. The Foundation for a Just Society's trust-based model — prioritizing multi-year unrestricted grants — distinguishes it from more transactional philanthropy that ties funding to narrow measurable outputs.
The consistency of FJS's grantmaking across more than a decade, combined with Cappell's active leadership of Felicity House and her trustee role at the Nick Simons Foundation, reflects a comprehensive philanthropic commitment. The expansion into environmental conservation and food security through the AC & JC Foundation broadens the scope of her impact.
FJS's pro-democracy grantmaking includes multi-year support for ProGeorgia, a Black feminist-led coalition combating voter suppression in Georgia, and membership in the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity, a pooled fund supporting state-level reproductive-rights organizing after the Dobbs decision.
Questions
How does FJS evaluate the long-term impact of its trust-based grants given that it explicitly avoids narrow outcome metrics?
To what extent does Cappell coordinate her Foundation for a Just Society grantmaking with the broader Simons family philanthropic ecosystem, including the Simons Foundation and Nick Simons Foundation?
Redemption Arc
Cappell has sustained and grown her philanthropic commitments since 2011. The Foundation for a Just Society disbursed USD 71.9M in FY2023 charitable grants and USD 74.6M in total charitable disbursements in FY2024. She co-founded the AC & JC Foundation in 2020, adding conservation and arts philanthropy to an already active portfolio.