Americans for Financial Reform (AFR)

The coalition consists of left-of-center groups, including the AARP; the Economic Policy Institute; unions like the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); dozens of state-level Public Interest Network-affiliated “PIRG” groups; the NAACP; Color of Change; and MoveOn.org Political Action.⁵

Background

Americans for Financial Reform’s (AFR) mission is to change the financial and banking industries through greater regulatory oversight and other goals. It played a key role in developing and pushing passage of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2010 in partnership with now-Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).⁴

The organization advocates against bailouts of large financial institutions “too big to fail,” for regulations on executive compensation and financial industry transparency, for bans on certain short-term loan products, and “meaningful limits” on the involvement of the financial sector on legislative and regulatory oversight of the financial and banking industries.³

AFR has on its website a statement that expresses its support for the far-left ideology of “antiracism,” in which it declares: ⁶

We believe this requires combating white supremacy, which continues to do unspeakable violence and harm to people who are Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian, and of color… Our society was founded on racist institutions and systems. We recognize that unless we are intentionally making our work anti-racist, it is not… From Wall Street’s history of financing and profiting from enslavement to predatory financial rules, systems, and products that target, exclude, trap, and extract wealth from borrowers of color today, Wall Street and American capitalism have relied on and weaponized white supremacy to benefit a wealthy white elite. Issues of finance and the economy cannot be extricated from issues of race and racial justice. ⁶

Activities

The left-of-center funders group Democracy Alliance highlighted Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) for its efforts to sustain the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against conservative opposition to it under the Trump administration.⁷

Former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), the former Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, said in a 2018 speech to a coalition event organized by AFR that the group was “one of the main reasons we secured Wall Street Reform” in 2010. ⁸ His colleague, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), the former Obama administration Special Advisor for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, spoke at the same event. ⁹

In June 2025, AFR participated in organizing or supporting protests branded under the “#NoKings” banner, a national day of demonstrations positioned as a defense of democratic norms against President Donald Trump. These events were part of a larger mobilization involving over 70 Democratic Party affiliates and allied organizations across at least 19 U.S. states and multiple international locations, according to publicly available event listings on Mobilize.us, a Democratic Party-aligned organizing platform.  ^{10 11}

In March 2026, AFR supported a proposal to impose a wealth tax on those with a net worth of over $50 million and to use the money collected to fund numerous social programs. ¹²

In March 2026, AFR opposed a proposal to allow cryptocurrency and private equity investments into 401(k) plans. Oscar Valdes Viera, senior policy analyst at AFR, warned that “opening 401(k)s to these products risks turning workers’ retirement savings into a Ponzi-like scheme that throws a lifeline to an industry scrambling for fresh cash.” ¹³

In April 2026, AFR supported proposed legislation by U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) that would tax investment income the same as earned income. ¹⁴

In May 2026, AFR opposed pro-cryptocurrency legislation called the CLARITY Act. The group wrote in a letter criticizing the bill’s lack of ethics provisions, contending, “A bill without strong ethics provisions elevates the dangers of cheating consumers and investors, distorting and destabilizing financial markets, hindering competition, eroding longstanding investor protection laws, and making a mockery of regulatory enforcement.” ¹⁵

In May 2026, AFR opposed attempts by the second Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigrants using the banking system. “This order will push millions of people out of the banking system they rely on to borrow, save, and build their economic lives and force front-line staff at banks and credit unions across the country to serve as de facto immigration enforcement agents,” said Tom Feltner, the associate director of consumer policy at AFR. “Abusing the trust between people and their financial institutions will shatter the integrity of the very banking system this executive order falsely claims to protect.” The group also claimed that the rules would force illegal immigrants into the shadow banking system. ¹⁶

Controversy

Joseph “Jose” Alcoff, a former Americans for Financial Reform organizer, was identified by right-leaning news outlets as “Jose Martin,” the pseudonymous leader of the Antifa-aligned “direct action” group Smash Racism DC in late 2018. ^{17 18} Alcoff had met with government officials, most prominently former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau head Richard Cordray, as a representative of AFR. ¹⁹

Alcoff would later be identified by two U.S. Marines who were attacked by an Antifa mob in Philadelphia as having participated in the attack; he was charged with assault, among other offenses.²⁰ Alcoff initially pleaded not guilty, and in June 2022, he pled guilty to low-level charges related to the attack and served no jail time. ²¹ When asked if AFR had fired Alcoff after his alleged involvement in Antifa was exposed, an AFR spokesperson said, “As of December, Mr. Alcoff no longer works for AFR.”^{22 23}

Sister Groups

Americans for Financial Reform (AFR) has two sister groups. Americans for Financial Reform Activism Fund was founded by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and is a 501(c)(4) organization, while the Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization.^{7 24}

Leadership

Lisa Donner is the co-executive director of Americans for Financial Reform (AFR). Donner has previously worked as a union organizer with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), for the defunct left-wing group ACORN, and co-led the Center for Working Families.²⁵

Ericka Taylor is the co-executive director of AFR. She previously worked with the AFR as the acting Chief of Staff as well as the Director of Popular Education. Prior to AFR, she was a co-director of DC Working Families Party, a program officer with the Public Welfare Foundation and a southeast regional program coordinator for YouthAction. Taylor has also served in positions with Organizing Neighborhood Equity DC (ONE DC), the DC chapter of the defunct ACORN, and the Tenants and Workers Support Committee. As of 2025, Taylor sits on the board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. She previously sat on the boards of the National Organizers Alliance, the Progressive Technology Project, YouthAction, the Western States Center, the National Priorities Project, La Clínica del Pueblo, and Jews United for Justice. ²⁶