About Us
Who we are
Leaps.org is a not-for-profit initiative that publishes award-winning journalism, popularizes scientific progress on social media, and hosts events about innovation, ethics, and the future of humanity.
Our mission is to rebuild public trust in science as a force for good and to foster dialogue about the ethical implications of new breakthroughs.
Our Vision
Through accessible and accurate storytelling, Leaps.org counters misinformation and raises awareness about discoveries that could solve humanity's greatest challenges. Since plenty of gray areas exist today regarding how society should handle emerging developments — "leaps" — that catapult us into uncharted territory, Leaps.org encourages robust discussion among experts and the public alike about what constitutes the right path forward.
As the futurist and Leaps.org contributor Jamie Metzl memorably put it, "The problem we face today is that science is advancing exponentially, popular understanding is growing linearly, and the national and international regulatory infrastructure is only inching forward glacially. This mismatch is extremely dangerous for all of us."
If Leaps.org is successful in the coming years, we will witness a retreat of fear and skepticism toward innovation, and instead see renewed enthusiasm for scientific progress. In the long run, we hope to see transformative developments both responsibly implemented and widely embraced so that all of us — and our future generations — can flourish on planet Earth (and perhaps beyond).
Our Origin
In 2017, a venture capital division of Bayer called Leaps by Bayer set out to conquer ten huge health and agriculture challenges facing humanity by investing in paradigm-shifting biotechnologies. As part of their mission to innovate responsibly, they also set out to combat scientific misinformation and to encourage broad public discussion about how new technologies across the life sciences should be implemented.
They realized that a separate, journalistic platform would be best positioned to accomplish these goals. Thus, the original outlet, then called LeapsMag, was born under the editorially independent leadership of Editor-in-Chief Kira Peikoff, a science journalist with a Master's degree in Bioethics. Leaps by Bayer and other sponsors have never exerted influence over the content or contributors.
In 2019, LeapsMag joined forces with GOOD Worldwide to expand its reach. GOOD Worldwide is a Los Angeles-based media and social impact company; its subsidiary Upworthy, which reaches 150 million people monthly on social media, shares the best of humanity and inspires others to do the same.
In 2021, GOOD converted LeapsMag to the non-profit initiative Leaps.org, a program under the umbrella of the new GOOD Institute, a social impact alliance of GOOD Worldwide, Upworthy, and the business organization Net Impact. This move underscores Leaps.org's commitment to independence and enables it to fulfill its mission on a larger scale.
In February 2022, the Editor-in-Chief role transitioned to Matt Fuchs, a health and technology journalist, contributing reporter to The Washington Post and freelance writer for other national outlets including TIME Magazine, the New York Times and WIRED Magazine. Before becoming EIC of Leaps.org, Fuchs was a senior advisor in the Obama and Bush administrations and led research on public policy for a large nonprofit, the Pew Charitable Trusts.
In April 2023, Lina Zeldovich was named Deputy Editor of Leaps.org. Zeldovich's award-winning writing about ecology, health and sustainability has been featured in the New York Times, Reader's Digest, Smithsonian, Scientific American, Popular Science and many other major outlets. A Columbia J-School alumna, she has won several awards for her stories, including the ASJA Crisis Coverage Award for Covid reporting, and has been a contributing editor at Nautilus Magazine. In 2021, Zeldovich released her first book, The Other Dark Matter, published by the University of Chicago Press, about the science and business of turning waste into wealth and health.
Editor's note
Leaps.org articles do not reflect or represent the views of Leaps by Bayer or other sponsors. All editorial decisions, including what stories to cover and which opinions to publish, are mine alone in service to our readers.
Just as an advertiser exerts no influence over a newspaper's content, I am under no mandate to cover sponsors. They do not oversee my editorial calendar, review articles before publication, or censor critical opinions. – Matt Fuchs
Get involved
We want Leaps.org to be as inclusive a platform as possible, representing a wide range of opinions from diverse contributors across the globe. We publish scientists, journalists, thought leaders and others, because we believe that the greatest progress will be made by listening to and learning from one another. With this in mind, we welcome you to get in touch to offer feedback or responses to articles, or to suggest how you may be able to contribute: matt.fuchs@goodinc.com.