Alliance for Youth Action (AFYA) is a left-of-center advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., that registers young people to vote. Originally named the Bus Federation, the group is a network of roughly 19 organizations across the United States that promote left-of-center policies and candidates. It has a charitable sister organization, Alliance For Youth Organizing (AFYO). ¹

The group has received funding from left-of-center grantmakers including the Open Society Policy Center, Movement Voter Project, Tides Advocacy Fund, and Democracy Fund Voice. ²

History

Alliance For Youth Action (AFYA), originally named the Bus Federation Action Fund, and its sister organization, the Bus Federation Civic Fund, were founded in 2010 by Mathew Singer, then the chief executive officer of Forward Montana and formerly a communications director of the Progressive States Network. Since leaving AFYA in 2017, Singer has worked as a senior philanthropic advisor to the Movement Voter Project, a clearinghouse for donors to contribute to Democratic-aligned political groups and campaigns, and as a partner at left-leaning consulting group Impactual. ³

The group was originally headquartered in Portland, Oregon. In 2016, the group changed its name to the Alliance for Youth Action (AFYA) and moved to Washington, D.C. It received independent tax status in 2018. It advocated for assembling a national network of local affiliates and partners to advance left-of-center voting policies while encouraging a growth in left-of-center youth participating in the voting process. ⁴

Activities

During the 2024 election cycle, the Alliance for Youth Action (AFYA) spent $673,216 in independent expenditures, with $436,608 supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, $41,307 supporting the reelection campaign of U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and $195,301 supporting the campaign of then-U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) for the U.S. Senate. ⁵

AFYA launched programs to mobilize youth voters and activists in key swing states. Examples included the State Voices-affiliated activist training program New Deal for Organizing and group financial health monitoring service Network Health Assessments. ⁶

Membership

As of November 2024, Alliance for Youth Action (AFYA) claims to have member organizations in 18 states. These include Washington Bus, Next Up, the Asian Community Development Council, Poder in Action, New Era Colorado, Loud Light, MOVE Texas, Mississippi Votes, the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition, Engage Miami, the Florida Student Power Network, North Carolina Asian Americans Together, the New Hampshire Youth Movement, the Ohio Student Association, Chicago Votes, Detroit Action, Leaders Igniting Transformation, and the Minnesota Youth Collective. ⁷

Leadership

Staff

Dakota Hall is the executive director of the Alliance for Youth Action (AFYA), having held the position since November 2021. Prior to AFYA, Hall worked as the executive director of youth-led political organization Leaders Igniting Transformation from 2018 through 2021. In addition, he served in several positions with the Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope Inc. (MICAH) from 2015 through 2017 including the Organizer and later Project Director for its 53026 initiative. ⁸

Robyn Swirling is the chief of staff for AFYA, having held the position since December 2022. From January 2021 to December 2022, Swirling was the change management consultant at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). In 2016, Swirling founded and was the head of Works in Progress, a consulting group that advises left-wing organizations on how to reduce workplace harassment of women and LGBT people. Prior to this, Swirling worked for the National Education Association, the Action Network, Advocates for Youth, and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. ⁹

Keisha Barnard is the development director of AFYA, holding the role since March 2024. Barnard previously worked as the development and fundraising strategist for AFYA from November 2023 through March 2024. Prior to this, between May 2022 to May 2023, Barnard worked for left-of-center philanthropic consulting firm Arabella Advisors. Beforehand, Barnard worked at Leadership for Education Equity, a lobbying and advocacy group that trains and organizes Teach for America (TFA) alumni to promote increased government spending on schools in low-income neighborhoods. ¹⁰

Lillie Catlin is the senior advisor for capacity building with AFYA, serving in the role since November 2023. From July 2020 to December 2022, Catlin worked in several roles with Steyer network voter mobilization group NextGen America. During the 2020 election, Catlin worked for the presidential campaigns of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and former San Antonio Mayor and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro (D). Prior to this, Catlin worked for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. ¹¹

Rudy Garret has served as the vice president of capacity building for AFYA since September 2023. Previously, she was the co-executive director of voter mobilization group Chicago Votes. ¹²

Kenny Myers has served as the director of network capacity at AFYA since June 2019. From February 2016 to January 2019, Myers worked for left-of-center policy advocacy group Brass Tactics. ¹³

Board of Directors

Jonathan Paik is the chair of the board for AFYA. Paik works as the executive director of the Orange County Civic Engagement Table as well as the OC Action advocacy group. Paik previously held several positions with the Korean Resources Center from 2015 through 2019, including executive director from 2018 through 2019. ¹⁴

Kim Rogers is the vice-chair of the AFYA board. She formerly worked as the organizational specialist for campaigns and elections at the National Education Association (NEA) teachers union. ¹⁵

Other board members include employees of the Action Center on Race and the Economy, the Groundswell Action Fund, America Votes, FWD.us, the Elias Law Group, the Schusterman Family Philanthropies, the Tides Foundation, and the Emerson Collective. ¹⁶

Finances

In 2023, the Alliance for Youth Action (AFYA) reported $3,041,054 in revenue, $1,900,680 in expenses, and $2,471,399 in net assets. ¹⁷

In December 2023, George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) announced it was donating $50 million to several organizations for the purpose of increasing “nonpartisan civic engagement among women and young people.” AFYA is among the recipients of said donations. ¹⁸

Other left-of-center groups that donated to AFYA in 2023 donors include the Children’s Equity Fund, Democracy Fund Voice, the Groundswell Action Fund, the Inatai Foundation, the Movement Voter Project, the Service Employees International Union, Way to Win, WDN Action, and the Wellness Advocacy Fund. ⁶

From 2020 to 2024, AFYA received three grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation totaling $2.5 million. ¹⁹

From 2019 to 2022, AFYA received four grants from Democracy Fund Voice totaling $900,000. ²⁰

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2. “Alliance For Youth Action”. 2019 Annual Report. Page42. http://alliance4youth.wpengine.com/action/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2020/04/AYA_AnnualReport2019.pdf
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10. “Keisha Barnard.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/keishabarnard/.
11. “Lillie Catlin.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lillie-catlin/.
12. “Meet Our New Vice President of Capacity Building, Rudy Garrett!.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/meet-our-new-vice-president-capacity-building-rudy/.
13. “Kenny Myers.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenny-myers/.
14. “Jonathan Paik.” LinkedIn, Accessed April 3, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-paik-7a043b36
15. “Staff.” Alliance For Youth Action, Accessed April 3, 2024. https://allianceforyouthaction.org/about/staff-board/
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19. “Alliance for Youth Organizing.” MacArthur Foundation. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/alliance-for-youth-organizing-10115275/.
20. “Alliance for Youth Action.” Democracy Fund Voice. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://democracyfundvoice.org/democracy-done-right/.