01
$15.31M+
DIRECTLY FUNDED OR HELPED FUND
Capital mobilized for pro-life and life-saving causes
A BERNING FAMILY PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTION · 501(c)(3)
WHOEVER SAVES ONE LIFE SAVES THE WORLD ENTIRE.
One Life Institute invests in pregnancy health clinics, resource centers, entrepreneurs, and innovations that protect human life, strengthen families, and build a culture in which poverty never makes abortion feel like the only choice.
$15.31M+
DIRECTLY FUNDED OR HELPED FUND
THOUSANDS
FAMILIES ASSISTED
TENS OF THOUSANDS
LIVES IMPACTED
01OUR MISSION
A FAMILY MISSION THAT BECAME SOMETHING MUCH LARGER.
One Life Institute was founded by Nathan Berning and his family to enable public family philanthropy for pro-life, Christian, and conservative-aligned charitable causes.
The Berning family has built and served businesses across real estate, medicine, commercial development, and industry. God has blessed those efforts with success, and the family believes that blessing carries a responsibility: to give back to the causes it cares about most.
What began with the hope of helping a few mothers became work that has assisted thousands of families and directly funded or helped fund more than $15,310,000 for life-saving causes.
One Life Institute now exists to scale that work institutionally—to identify exceptional organizations and leaders, seed promising ideas, help proven models grow, and create a trusted vessel through which other businesses and philanthropists can make larger, more meaningful investments in life.
Our family mission is simple: save lives, save souls, and change the culture.
02IMPACT
WHAT GENEROSITY HAS ALREADY MADE POSSIBLE.
These figures reflect direct family philanthropy, related charitable work, and capital the family helped mobilize alongside other philanthropists.
02
THOUSANDS
FAMILIES ASSISTED
Practical, medical, housing, and pregnancy support
03
TENS OF THOUSANDS
LIVES IMPACTED
Through organizations and efforts supported by the family
04
THE AMERICAS
PRIMARY REACH
North, Central, and South America with global service
03WHY ONE LIFE
EVERY NUMBER REPRESENTS AN INDIVIDUAL HUMAN LIFE.
The words “Whoever saves one life saves the world entire” were engraved on the ring presented to Oskar Schindler by the people whose lives he helped save.
That idea has deeply influenced our family’s approach to philanthropy. Institutions matter. Culture matters. Scale matters. But every number ultimately represents one mother, one child, one family, and one person who might otherwise have been forgotten.
We measure success accordingly.
THE CAPITAL-DEPLOYMENT FUND OF ONE LIFE INSTITUTE
ONE LIFE FUND
Discover how the Fund identifies promising work, seeds the first proof point, scales models that demonstrate measurable impact, and builds permanent endowments.
04THE MOMENT THAT CHANGED THE TRAJECTORY
WHEN ONE LIFE BECAME A FAMILY MANDATE.
In the Berning family’s account, its modern philanthropic mission began in 2018 at the 25th-anniversary theatrical return of Schindler’s List. The final scene—when Oskar Schindler receives a ring engraved with the words “Whoever saves one life saves the world entire”—did not remain a cinematic moment. It became a family mandate.
One Life Institute · Origin FilmSchindler's List · 1993
SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993) · PUBLIC YOUTUBE EMBED · ONE LIFE INSTITUTE IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE FILM, ITS STUDIO, OR ITS RIGHTS HOLDERS
THE CONVERSION STORY
A career in technology became a mission of rescue—and then a commitment to build institutions that could endure.
BEFORE THE MISSION
A BUILDER BEFORE A PHILANTHROPIST.
300K+
Before One Life, Nathan built technology and political-communications systems. #AskBen gave more than 300,000 organic subscribers two-way access to Dr. Ben Carson’s 2016 presidential campaign and the platform work received a HubSpot Impact Award.
THE QUESTION CHANGED
EMILY MADE THE ARGUMENT PERSONAL.
Emily’s pro-life conviction challenged Nathan’s belief that abortion, however tragic, solved crises the pro-life movement had not adequately addressed. Yet, his challenge was practical: if poverty, housing insecurity, fear, and isolation drive abortion, then those burdens must be confronted.
Nathan later wrote, “Like Oskar Schindler, the gray scales fell away, and the world came into color.” The circumstances are historically equivalent. What he recognized in Schindler’s story was the possibility of moral awakening, and the obligation to reorganize one’s gifts around rescue.
ONE MOTHER · ONE CHILD
THE ARGUMENT BECAME A LIFE.
The change became irreversible when Nathan and Emily helped a mother who was living in her car return to housing and keep her child. Holding Kiahari after his birth transformed an argument about abortion into a life Nathan could see, love, and never forget.
FROM RESCUE TO INSTITUTION
THE NEXT LIFE BECAME THE NEXT THOUSAND.
1,000+
Let Them Live grew from early interventions into an organization that reports helping more than 1,000 babies be born. One Life Institute exists to carry the same conviction into institution-building: identify life-saving work, fund it, prove it, scale it, and endow it.
The family describes a broader conversion that did not remain Nathan’s alone. Members who had once shared pro-choice assumptions came to embrace a passionate pro-life conviction and a common responsibility to act.
“The argument became a mother. Then a child. After that, there was no going back.”
RESCUE, INSTITUTIONALIZED
THE NEXT LIFE BECAME THE NEXT THOUSAND. THE NEXT THOUSAND BECAME AN INSTITUTION.
What began as individual rescue became a conviction that rescue should not depend on chance. One Life Institute exists to identify people and organizations capable of saving lives and give them the resources to do it at scale.
See the One Life FunnelOne Life draws inspiration from Schindler’s moral transformation and the Talmudic maxim quoted in the film. The Berning's believe that abortion is the modern holocaust. The lesson the family carries forward is narrower and enduring: threatened human life must not be ignored when practical rescue is possible.
05WHAT WE FUND
FUND WORK THAT PROTECTS LIFE AND STRENGTHENS FAMILIES.
One Life provides grants, matching endowments, seed capital, and strategic support to organizations and innovators whose work attempts to save a life, protect a vulnerable person, or materially help a family in crisis.
01
PREGNANCY HEALTH & RESOURCE CENTERS
Medical care, practical support, counseling, and direct intervention for women facing unexpected pregnancies.
We prioritize centers that direct time, staff, and resources toward measurable life-saving outcomes.
Direct service
02
HOUSING & FAMILY STABILITY
No pregnant mother should be without shelter, food, or necessary medical assistance.
We invest in maternity housing, emergency support, and durable systems that give mothers a real ability to keep their children.
Right to Keep
03
PRO-LIFE INNOVATION
Technology, services, programs, media, and new approaches capable of making the movement more effective.
Promising ideas can receive the seed capital required to become real, testable models.
Seed what could work
04
ENTREPRENEURS & STARTUPS
Mission-aligned founders building sustainable businesses and organizations that protect life and advance human dignity.
One Life serves as a funding vessel and incubator for pro-life, Christian, and conservative innovation.
Build durable institutions
05
MEDICAL & HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
Direct help for families experiencing medical, food, housing, or other serious hardship.
Our work extends beyond pregnancy assistance to help vulnerable people regain stability and move toward flourishing.
Protect the vulnerable
06
CULTURAL & STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
Education, advocacy, research, media, and lawful charitable initiatives capable of changing culture.
We support work that makes protecting life and supporting mothers an enduring cultural expectation.
Change the culture
06HOW WE GIVE
START WITH CONVICTION. CONTINUE WITH EVIDENCE. SCALE WHAT WORKS.
New relationships usually begin with a disciplined first grant. Organizations that demonstrate stewardship and measurable results can gain access to substantially larger amounts of capital over time.
01 · Typical first grant
SEED THE ATTEMPT
A promising leader, organization, or innovation may receive an initial grant—often $10,000—to create the first proof point.
02 · Demonstrate the result
PROVE THE MODEL
The recipient shows how funds were used, who was served, what lives were protected, and whether the approach worked.
03 · Unlock follow-on capital
GROW THE INVESTMENT
Strong execution can lead to grants of $25,000, $50,000, $100,000, or more.
04 · Build institution-level impact
SCALE WHAT SAVES LIVES
Exceptional models may receive major grants, matching endowments, growth capital, or philanthropic partnerships reaching $1 million and beyond.
07A MODEL IN PRACTICE
FROM $30,000 TO NEARLY $3 MILLION.
One Life’s approach was shaped in part by the family’s experience supporting an innovative full-service Pregnancy Health Center in Texas.
The project began with approximately $30,000. The center worked with Let Them Live and used a triage-oriented system designed to focus time, effort, and financial assistance on situations where intervention could directly help save a life.
As the model demonstrated results, the investment grew. What began as a small grant ultimately developed into approximately $3 million in support.
That is the One Life model: give good people an opportunity, measure what happens, and when something works, give them the resources to do much more of it.
FROM FIRST GRANT TO PERMANENT ENDOWMENT
THE ONE LIFE FUNNEL
This prove-and-scale model is now institutionalized through One Life Fund: Identify. Seed. Prove. Scale. Endow.
IDENTIFY · SEED · PROVE · SCALE · ENDOWEXPLORE THE ONE LIFE FUNNEL
08CURRENT PRIORITIES
BUILD THE CONDITIONS THAT MAKE KEEPING A CHILD POSSIBLE.
Our current work advances a cultural and charitable commitment: a pregnant mother should be protected, and abortion should never feel like her only option because she is poor.
01
THE RIGHT TO KEEP
A mother’s practical ability to keep her child.
We support education, research, direct assistance, and lawful charitable work that strengthens access to the material resources mothers need to choose life.
Protect the choice to keep
02
A ROOF, FOOD & MEDICAL CARE
Basic protection for every pregnant mother.
Our long-term objective is that no pregnant woman lacks safe shelter, adequate food, or necessary medical assistance.
If she is pregnant, she should be protected
03
A CULTURE OF LIFE
Change what society expects of itself.
We seek a cultural shift in which communities, institutions, businesses, and philanthropists accept responsibility for ensuring poverty does not corner a mother into abortion.
Generosity as infrastructure
09A NETWORK OF LIFE-SAVING WORK
ORGANIZATIONS AND EFFORTS OUR FAMILY HAS SUPPORTED.
Support has taken different forms and in some cases predates the formal launch of One Life Institute. The broader family philanthropic record includes organizations, centers, direct-assistance efforts, entrepreneurs, and initiatives throughout the United States and beyond.
LIFE ADVANCEMENT GROUP
Life-affirming innovation and organizational work.
SUPPORTED ORGANIZATION
LET THEM LIVE
Direct financial and practical assistance for abortion-determined mothers.
SUPPORTED ORGANIZATION
LIVE ACTION
Education, media, and cultural advocacy for human life.
SUPPORTED ORGANIZATION
LOVE LIFE
Church mobilization and life-affirming outreach.
SUPPORTED ORGANIZATION
SO05
SURVIVORS OF THE ABORTION HOLOCAUST
Youth education, activism, and movement leadership.
SUPPORTED ORGANIZATION
CF06
CENTERS, FAMILIES & INNOVATORS
Pregnancy centers, humanitarian efforts, medical assistance, housing support, and emerging mission-aligned projects.
BROADER FAMILY PHILANTHROPY
10ONE LIFE, ONE WORLD
ATORIA’S STORY.
In 2019, Nathan and Emily Berning helped Atoria cancel her late-term abortion. She was living in her car without support. Her story is a reminder that behind every funding decision is a person—and that timely help can change everything.
Film notes
A mother, a child, and the difference made by someone deciding to help.
11LEADERSHIP
FAMILY STEWARDSHIP. INSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY.
One Life Institute is governed and managed by family and mission-aligned leadership committed to responsible stewardship, measurable outcomes, and long-term cultural impact.
NATHAN BERNING
Chairman
Founder and family philanthropic leader.
RICHARD BERNING
President
President and member of the Berning family leadership team.
MATT MARCH
Vice President
Vice President supporting institutional development and execution.
REBECCA BERNING
Treasurer
Treasurer responsible for financial stewardship and oversight.
RITA BERNING
Secretary
Secretary supporting governance and organizational recordkeeping.
LILIAN BERNING
Fund Manager
Primary contact for grant requests and philanthropic partnerships. Lillian@onelife.institute · 260-615-3371.
12PARTNER WITH US
MOVE CAPITAL TOWARD WORK THAT CAN CHANGE A LIFE.
One Life Institute currently accepts philanthropic partnerships beginning at $10,000. Select an intended level to begin a conversation with the fund manager about checks, wires, securities, donor-advised funds, matching commitments, designated gifts, or other approved giving methods.
CHOOSE A PARTNERSHIP LEVEL
BACK WORK THAT CAN CHANGE A LIFE.
One Life Institute works with families, businesses, executives, foundations, and philanthropists who want their charitable capital placed behind direct service, promising innovation, and proven life-saving work.
YOUR INTENDED GIFT
$10,000
Major-gift inquiry · Transfer instructions are provided by the fund manager
ONE LIFE FUND · 1L.FUND
THE CAPITAL-DEPLOYMENT FUND OF ONE LIFE INSTITUTE.
One Life Fund identifies promising work, seeds the first proof point, scales what demonstrates measurable impact, and builds permanent endowments around exceptional institutions.
IDENTIFY · SEED · PROVE · SCALE · ENDOW
ONE MISSION. ONE FUND. LIVES SAVED FOR GENERATIONS.
Explore the One Life Funnel, One Life Fellows, and the disciplined process through which charitable capital is deployed.
14SELECTED MEDIA, INTERVIEWS & PUBLIC RECORD
THE WORK HAS ENTERED THE PUBLIC RECORD.
One Life Institute is new, but the work that preceded it has been profiled, interviewed, debated, published, and preserved across national journalism, public-affairs programming, movement media, podcasts, and presidential-campaign archives.
Journalism · Interviews · Movement Media · Campaign Archives
A curated, non-exhaustive record of journalism, interviews, authored commentary, recognition, and archival sources. Inclusion does not imply endorsement by One Life Institute or by the featured outlet.
012022 · NATIONAL FEATURE
NATIONAL JOURNALISM & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
National reporting on Nathan, Atoria, Let Them Live, and the argument that practical support must follow changes in abortion law.
022021 · PUBLIC-AFFAIRS ARCHIVE
NATIONAL JOURNALISM & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Emily Berning’s public-affairs appearances and CPAC discussion are preserved in the C-SPAN Video Library.
032026 · AUTHORED CONVERSION STORY
NATIONAL JOURNALISM & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Nathan’s first-person account of beginning pro-choice, changing his mind, and deciding that life-saving work had to be scaled.
042019–26 · REPORTING & INTERVIEW
NATIONAL JOURNALISM & PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Coverage from the March for Life and a later Problematic Women interview with Emily about Let Them Live’s model.
052020 · LONG-FORM INTERVIEW
INTERVIEWS & MOVEMENT MEDIA
A long-form conversation with Emily about supporting pregnant women in crisis and charting a new course.
062021 · CPAC INTERVIEW
INTERVIEWS & MOVEMENT MEDIA
An interview with Emily Berning about Let Them Live and its work with pregnant mothers facing financial pressure.
072020–24 · FOUNDING & GROWTH PROFILES
INTERVIEWS & MOVEMENT MEDIA
Detailed reporting on the Bernings’ founding story, Atoria’s case, the Schindler’s List inspiration, and later growth beyond 1,000 assisted women.
082023–25 · PROFILE & GUEST COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS & MOVEMENT MEDIA
A founder profile of Emily and later authored commentary on faith, family, loss, and the value of life.
092023 · ALUMNI & FOUNDER PROFILE
INTERVIEWS & MOVEMENT MEDIA
A profile of Emily as a Leadership Institute graduate and faculty member, including the founding story of Let Them Live and the Bernings’ early work.
102025 · ALUMNI & LEADERSHIP PROFILE
INTERVIEWS & MOVEMENT MEDIA
Emily reflects on campus leadership, the founding of Let Them Live, and building a national organization from one intervention.
112025 · PREGNANCY HELP PODCAST
INTERVIEWS & MOVEMENT MEDIA
Emily discusses collaboration with pregnancy centers, financial aid, mentorship, storytelling, and social-media outreach.
122016 · OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN ARCHIVE · #ASKBEN
TECHNOLOGY & CAMPAIGN ARCHIVE
Official Carson campaign releases preserve the nightly Ask Ben fireside-chat service, public schedule, and supporter text line.
132016 · TECHNOLOGY RECOGNITION · #ASKBEN
TECHNOLOGY & CAMPAIGN ARCHIVE
The Ask Ben platform’s HubSpot and Zendesk integration received a HubSpot Impact Award after more than 300,000 organic subscribers engaged with the campaign.