Adam was devoted to bringing transparency to government. He walked away from business fifteen years ago with a singular idea: hold government accountable to the taxpayers it serves.
It was a shock to hear that a collaborator and dear friend of the Bradley Impact Fund community, Adam Andrzejewski, died in late August at the age of fifty-five. A brilliant entrepreneur, patriot, and friend, some years ago, Adam noticed problems with his local school district and brought his financial acumen to bear to hold them accountable for their spending.
Turns out he had a thing for it. A few years later, he found himself fighting for transparency at the national level, even starting “a revolution in fiscal transparency” (Roger Kimball) by making the organization he founded, Open The Books, the publisher of the largest private database of US government spending in the world.
Grounded in his faith, friendships, and his famous work ethic, Adam stayed humble and focused even as he became a national media figure for breaking major stories on Anthony Fauci’s remarkable taxpayer-funded windfall, Kamala Harris’s sky-high staff turnover rate, and the Biden Administration’s squandering of more than a half-trillion of taxpayers’ dollars in the last three-plus years.
It takes a very special man to build such a powerful and effective organization—one that Impact Fund members have been quick to support. Indeed, it takes a man with an exceptional mind and a huge heart, both of which drove him to excel, for love of family, friends, his Open The Books colleagues, and his country. We’re all better off for his bold leadership and his unwillingness to accept the status quo.
It’s an understatement to say he’ll be missed. Rest in peace, Adam.
A statement in memoriam from the Open The Books Board of Directors, Bruno Behrend, Jameson Campaigne, Chuck Chokel, Lisa Markham, Thomas W. Smith, and Dick Weiss:
It is with tremendous sorrow we announce the passing of Adam Andrzejewski. We extend our deepest sympathies to his wife, Kerry, and his daughters.
Adam was devoted to bringing transparency to government. He walked away from business fifteen years ago with a singular idea: hold government accountable to the taxpayers it serves. He founded Open The Books to accomplish that task. He was a happy warrior. Under his leadership, Open The Books has become a highly respected well-known brand. His death is a loss not only to his family and his organization but the nation.
Adam’s belief in the power of transparency to transform government and hold it accountable at every level is the driving force behind our work. His relentless pursuit of open records and forensic auditing has set new standards in the fight for government transparency.
Adam’s dream was to spark a transparency revolution. The result of his leadership is a well-oiled machine that operates at enormous scale and efficiency, dedicated to posting ‘every dime online,’ in as close to real time as possible. The organization now generates tens of thousands of media mentions, and our work is cited in dozens of Congressional hearings, oversight letters, and bill introductions each year.
Guided by the dedicated team he built, Adam’s vision will guide us forward and inform our work in the years to come. We are more dedicated than ever to helping taxpayers hold government officials to account for their spending in a way that honors both Adam and our honorary chairman, the late Senator Tom Coburn.