The objective of the 2020 Climate Education Fund is to get younger people and people of color involved in projects that support left-leaning climate and energy policies. It was launched in 2016 with a $1 million grant from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation through the New Venture Fund (NVF). ^{1 1}

NVF provides incubation services for several other left-of-center organizations. Arabella Advisors, a for profit consulting firm, is the parent organization of NVF. Arabella was founded in 2005 by Eric Kessler, a Clinton administration alumnus and long-time staffer at the League of Conservation Voters. ^{2 3 4}

Background

The objective of the 2020 Climate Education Fund is to get younger people and people of color involved in projects that support left-leaning climate and energy policies. ¹ It was launched in 2016 with a $1 million grant from the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation. ¹

According to the Hewlett Foundation the New Venture Fund (NVF) is the fiscal sponsor of the 2020 Climate Education Fund. ¹ The New Venture Fund (NVF) is a 501(c)(3) funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofit that makes grants to left-of-center advocacy and organizing projects and provides incubation serves for other left-of-center organizations. ³

Arabella Advisors is the parent organization of NVF. Arabella is a for profit consulting firm that guides the strategy, advocacy, and management for high-dollar left-leaning nonprofits and individuals. Arabella provides these clients with services that ease their operations and that enable them to enact policies focused on environmentalism and other left-of-center issues. The company was founded in 2005 by Eric Kessler, a Clinton administration alumnus and long-time staffer at the League of Conservation Voters who remains a senior managing partner at the firm. Between 2008 and 2018, Arabella’s nonprofits paid the company nearly $103 million in contracting and management services fees. ^{2 4 5}

Other examples of left-leaning NVP-sponsored projects include the Center for Applied Environmental Law and Policy (CAELP), Americans for Tax Fairness, and Climate Interactive. The Hewlett Foundation has also provided funding to CAELP. ^{6 3}

1. New Venture Fund: For Support of The 2020 Climate Education Fund.” William + Flora Hewlett Foundation. Accessed March 12, 2020. https://hewlett.org/grants/new-venture-fund-for-support-of-the-2020-climate-education-fund/ ^
2. “Arabella Advisors.” Devex. Accessed May 29, 2020. https://www.devex.com/organizations/arabella-advisors-62136
3. “Project Directory.” New Venture Fund. Accessed May 14, 2020. http://www.newventurefund.org/project-directory/
4. “Our People.” Arabella Advisors. Accessed May 29, 2020. https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/company/our-people/
5. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990) (multiple). New Venture Fund, Sixteen Thirty Fund, Hopewell Fund, Windward Fund. 2008-2018. Part VII. Section B (Independent Contractors)
6. Feb 27, 2020 $50, 2019 $50 Nov 18, and 2019 $250 Nov 1. “New Venture Fund – for the Center for Applied Environmental Law and Policy.” Hewlett Foundation, August 15, 2017. https://hewlett.org/grants/new-venture-fund-for-the-center-for-applied-environmental-law-and-policy/