Non-profit

Accountability Project

Tax ID:

32-0470290

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(4)

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The Accountability Project is a left-of-center organization that supports campaigns attacking free-market and center-right groups advocating for employee freedoms and school choice. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has reported making direct contributions to the organization, as has an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA) teachers union; the group itself has strong associations with left-progressive political consultancies, most prominently The Organizing Group of long-time labor union-movement political operative Steve Rosenthal, who sits on The Accountability Project’s board.1

Activities

The Accountability Project funds Pennsylvania Spotlight and Northwest Accountability Project, labor-union-funded advocacy groups that run campaigns attacking the Commonwealth Foundation and Freedom Foundation, center-right groups in Pennsylvania and the Pacific Northwest region, respectively.2

Union Funding

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and Washington Education Association (an affiliate of the NEA teachers union) have reported making direct contributions to Accountability Project.3 In 2019, SEIU reported paying the Accountability Project $500,000 as a “consulting firm” for “support for political activities.”4

The Organizing Group

The Accountability Project has extensive ties to The Organizing Group, a left-of-center labor union-aligned political consultancy owned by Steve Rosenthal, the longtime labor union political operative who is the board treasurer of Accountability Project. In 2018, Accountability Project reported paying The Organizing Group $173,000 for its services.5

Before forming The Organizing Group, Rosenthal headed the controversial anti-George W. Bush campaign group America Coming Together during the 2004 Presidential election cycle and served as political director of the AFL-CIO.6 Labor unions that have reported paying for The Organizing Group’s services include the SEIU, a known funder of the Accountability Project; the AFL-CIO; and the United Auto Workers.7

Reports indicate that The Organizing Group’s chief operating officer, Jenna Fullmer, is the executive director of the Accountability Project, though that information is not disclosed on the group’s tax return.8 Fullmer’s biography at Blue Compass Strategies, another liberal political consultancy with which she is affiliated, indicates she has worked on behalf of numerous labor unions and the union-funded left-progressive data outfit The Atlas Project.9

People

The three listed officers of the group are all liberal political consultants with ties to the labor union movement. Will Robinson, president of the Accountability Project, works for the New Media Firm and was named “Democratic Strategist of the Year” by the American Association of Political Consultants in 2012.10

Board secretary Rodell Mollineau is also a longtime Democratic consultant, having worked for former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and for American Bridge 21st Century, a liberal Super PAC in the David Brock network.11

 

References

  1. Nelsen, Maxford. “National SEIU behind Anti-Freedom Foundation Group,” June 12, 2020. https://www.freedomfoundation.com/labor/national-seiu-behind-anti-freedom-foundation-group/.
  2. Accountability Project, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, 2018, Schedule I
  3. Nelsen, Maxford. “National SEIU behind Anti-Freedom Foundation Group,” June 12, 2020. https://www.freedomfoundation.com/labor/national-seiu-behind-anti-freedom-foundation-group/.
  4. Service Employees International Union, Annual Report of a Labor Organization (Form LM-2), 2019, Schedule 16. https://olms.dol-esa.gov/query/orgReport.do?rptId=723903&rptForm=LM2Form
  5. Accountability Project, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Schedule L
  6. Gerhart, Ann. “Ground War.” The Washington Post. July 6, 2004. Accessed November 9, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2004/07/06/ground-war/f3811995-4fc2-4487-a151-7ca97f06185e/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ec95c71397c9
  7. Data compiled from annual reports of labor organizations filed with the Office of Labor-Management Standards. Queries conducted July 22, 2020.
  8. Nelsen, Maxford. “National SEIU behind Anti-Freedom Foundation Group,” June 12, 2020. https://www.freedomfoundation.com/labor/national-seiu-behind-anti-freedom-foundation-group/.
  9. “Jenna Fullmer.” Blue Compass Strategies. Accessed July 22, 2020. https://www.bluecompassstrategies.com/jenna-fullmer.
  10. Nelsen, Maxford. “National SEIU behind Anti-Freedom Foundation Group,” June 12, 2020. https://www.freedomfoundation.com/labor/national-seiu-behind-anti-freedom-foundation-group/.
  11. Nelsen, Maxford. “National SEIU behind Anti-Freedom Foundation Group,” June 12, 2020. https://www.freedomfoundation.com/labor/national-seiu-behind-anti-freedom-foundation-group/.

Directors, Employees & Supporters

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