Bay Rising Action (BRA) is a project of the left-of-center Movement Strategy Center (MSC) that advocates for equal outcomes for minorities and conducts voter mobilization, including providing a search tool for left-of-center voter guides. ^{1 2}

BRA is aligned with the Chinese Progressive Association of San Francisco, California and the left of center Climate Justice Alliance, which works with organizations that advocate socialist policies. ^{3 4 5}

Organization

Bay Rising Action and its affiliated organization Bay Rising (BR) are sponsored by the left-wing Movement Strategy Center, which serves as an umbrella for the groups San Francisco Rising, Oakland Rising Action, and Silicon Valley Rising. These groups advocate for equal outcomes for minority populations and conduct voter mobilization campaigns. ⁶

BRA provides direct support and advocacy for political candidates that back its position of building power in minority communities and voting regulations that disregard the risk of fraud. ⁷

Parent

Bay Rising Action is one of 36 fiscally sponsored projects of Movement Strategy Center. Other MSC projects include left-of-center Climate Justice Alliance (CJA), which spun off from MSC in 2020, and the Brown Boi Project, which teaches men how to support the LGBT movement while maintaining their masculinity. ^{8 9 10}

Network

Bay Rising Action is an umbrella organization for three partner organizations, San Francisco Rising, Oakland Rising Action, and Silicon Valley Rising. BRA claims that sixteen organizations are members, including five statewide alliances and advocacy partners in their network. ¹¹

Member organizations include Causa Justa ++ Just Cause, which seeks equal outcomes in housing and justice, the left wing Chinese Progressive Association, and left-of-center Working Partnerships USA (WPUSA), a co-founder of Silicon Valley Rising and advocate of equal economic outcomes. ^{12 13 14}

Statewide alliances and advocacy partners include Urban Habitat, which helps build the strength of marginalized communities to seek equal outcomes in transportation and housing; Bay Area Equity Atlas, a partnership of the San Francisco Foundation, a donor-advised fund that makes grants to left-of-center organizations; USC Equity Research Institute, a University of Southern California based group that creates data to support an equal outcomes agenda; left-of-center PolicyLink, which advocates for economic and climate equal outcomes; and the Bay Area Political Equality Coalition, an umbrella organization that is supportive of LGBTQ organizations. ^{15 16 17 18}

Campaigns

Bay Rising Action opposes California’s Proposition 13 caps on real estate tax increases, claiming that it is regressive in providing greater tax relief for wealthier white neighborhoods than for ethnically diverse ones. It claims that “Big Oil” is responsible for California’s recent heat wave and opposes efforts to extend the life of oil refineries. ^{19 20}

People

Kimi Lee serves as executive director of Bay Rising Action. Her background includes roles as a field director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Southern California, executive director of the Garment Worker Center, director of programs at CoreAlign, and senior fellow at Movement Strategy Center. ^{21 22}

1. “Progressive Voter Guide Search.” Bay Rising Action. August 5, 2022. https://bayrisingaction.org/voter-guide-search/.
2. Gargione, Frank. “Bay Rising.” Movement Strategy Center. April 25, 2022. https://movementstrategy.org/bay-rising/.
3. “Our Members and Partners.” Bay Rising. September 14, 2022. https://bayrising.org/about/our-members/.
4. Mike Gonzalez. “Fact-Checking New York Times Fact-Checker on BLM’s China Links.” The Daily Signal. September 23, 2020. https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/09/21/fact-checking-new-york-times-fact-checker-on-blms-china-links/.
5. “Our Members.” Climate Justice Alliance. November 12, 2019. https://climatejusticealliance.org/members-of-the-alliance/.
6. “About.” Bay Rising Action. April 29, 2021. https://bayrisingaction.org/about/.
7. “Progressive Voters Guide 2022.” Bay Rising Action. August 5, 2022. https://bayrisingaction.org/.
8. “Fiscally Sponsored Projects Archives.” Movement Strategy Center. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://movementstrategy.org/category/fiscally-sponsored-projects/.
9. Gargione, Frank. “Brown Boi Project.” Movement Strategy Center. April 25, 2022. https://movementstrategy.org/brown-boi-project/
10. Gargione, Frank. “Climate Justice Alliance.” Movement Strategy Center. September 9, 2022. https://movementstrategy.org/climate-justice-alliance/.
11. “Our Members and Partners.” Bay Rising. September 14, 2022. https://bayrising.org/about/our-members/.
12. Chinese Progressive Association. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://cpasf.org/.
13. “About Us.” Causa Justa Just Cause. January 3, 2017. https://cjjc.org/about-us/.
14. “About Working Partnerships USA.” Working Partnerships USA. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://wpusa.org/about/.
15. “ERI’s Mission.” USC Dornsife: College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://dornsife.usc.edu/eri/mission-vision-values/.
16. “What We Do: Urban Habitat.” Urban Habitat. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://urbanhabitat.org/about/what-we-do.
17.  “About: Bay Area Equity Atlas.” Bay Area Equity Atlas. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://bayareaequityatlas.org/about#us.
18. “Our Mission.” Bay Area Equality Coalition. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://bayequality.org/.
19. “Bay Rising Action.” Facebook. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/bayrisingaction/.
20. Twitter. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://twitter.com/bayrisingaction.
21. “Who We Are.” Bay Rising. September 9, 2022. https://bayrising.org/about/who-we-are/.
22. “Kimi Lee.” Linkedin. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimilee.