The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation is a charitable advocacy group that supports its parent Ballot Initiative Strategy Center’s efforts to advance left-of-center public policies through state-level ballot measures across the United States. ¹ It serves as an incubator for ballot measure campaigns and performs research to support its promoted ballot campaigns. ¹

Overview

The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation’s parent Ballot Initiative Strategy Center was created in 1996 by a coalition of left-of-center organizations led by People for the American Way, the advocacy group formed in 1981 by Hollywood television producer Norman Lear to oppose right-of-center social policies and political activism. ^{2  3} The foundation was formed as a charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 1999 to support BISC’s work creating, coordinating, and supporting ballot campaigns that advance left-of-center policies and priorities. ⁴

The two organizations have close ties to major labor unions, including the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the National Education Association (NEA), and the AFL-CIO. ⁵ In 2009, the AFL-CIO worked with BISC to “unify the labor movement in opposition” to right-to-work laws and other union accountability measures. ⁶

The BISC Foundation supports BISC’s invitation-only “Road Ahead” annual conference at which left-of-center activists, elected officials, and funders from across the country congregate to plan and coordinate upcoming ballot measure campaigns. ⁷ In 2024, BISC reported paying $359,441 to the ParkMGM Hotel in Las Vegas for that year’s Road Ahead conference, while the BISC Foundation reported spending $31,365 on its participation in the conference. ⁸

Leadership

The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation’s executive director is Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, a former staffer of Common Cause whom the organization describes as “the first queer woman of color to lead BISC.” ⁹ Figueredo is not compensated by the BISC Foundation for her work, but received a total of $253,544 in compensation from the principal Ballot Initiative Strategy Center 501(c)(4) advocacy group in 2024.  ^{8  10}

Figueredo took over in 2018 from Justine Sarver, a former Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California and ACLU of Northern California staffer who had worked as the Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration. ¹¹ After taking over, Figueredo received a New Executives Fund grant from the Open Society Foundations, the nonprofit foundation of billionaire left-of-center philanthropist George Soros. ¹²

Activism

One of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation’s primary roles is to serve as a creator and incubator of left-of-center ballot measure campaigns across the country, providing support to early-stage campaigns and connecting them to funders and partners. ¹³ The BISC Foundation performs research into both broad issues and specific campaign topics, using this research to identify opportunities to advance left-of-center policies through ballot campaigns. ¹⁴

In 2009, a group of right-of-center and libertarian organizations cited a BISC Foundation report in an amicus curiae brief supporting the Independence Institute’s unsuccessful effort to challenge Colorado’s campaign finance regulations decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. ¹⁵ The Cato Institute, the Wyoming Liberty Group, the Center for Competitive Politics (now the Institute for Free Speech), the Sam Adams Alliance, the Montana Policy Institute, and the Goldwater Institute cited the BISC Foundation’s report “A Buyer’s Guide to Ballot Measures: The Role of Money in 2002 Ballot Initiative Campaigns” to quantify the amount of money being spent by left-of-center organizations on Colorado ballot initiatives. ¹⁶

Finances

The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation’s revenues spiked sharply in 2023, reaching $5,414,662. That was the first year in which the Foundation had received more than $3 million in revenue. ¹⁷

In 2024, it reported $2,423,854 in revenue, $2,170,834 in expenses, and $5,500,368 in net assets. ¹⁷

Funders

Donors to the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation include the Ford Foundation, ¹⁸ the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, ¹⁹ the Open Society Foundations, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, ²⁰ the Irving Harris Foundation, ²¹ the Proteus Fund, the Alliance for Youth Organizing (AFYO), the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the Hopewell Fund, NEO Philanthropy, the Tides Center, the Tides Foundation, and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). ²²

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has invested heavily in promoting ballot measure processes across the states and opposing efforts to limit the ability of outside organizations such as BISC to bypass legislatures to drive policy changes in states. ^{19  23} The RWJF has referred to BISC as a partner in this strategy.  ¹⁹

The BISC Foundation also receives major donations from donor-advised fund providers, including the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, Donor Advised Charitable Giving, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), and the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund.  ²²

Grantmaking

The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation is not a major grantmaker, but it does occasionally make grants to organizations preparing to undertake or support ballot campaigns. These have included the Missouri Organizing and Voter Engagement Collaborative, the Maine People’s Resource Center, the Florida Alliance for Civic Engagement, the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest, Missouri Jobs With Justice, Mississippi Votes, Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), and Ohio Voice.  ¹⁷

1. “Home Page.” Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://biscfoundation.org/.
2. “Mission Overview.” People For the American Way. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.peoplefor.org/mission-overview.
3. “The BISC Mission.” Internet Archive WayBack Machine. Captured April 22, 1999. Accessed January 26, 2026. http://web.archive.org/web/19990422234830/http://ballot.org/background/home.htm.
4. “What We Do.” Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://ballot.org/what-we-do/.
5. Dellinger, James, and Karl Crow. “The Ballot Initiative Strategy Center: How It Promotes Big Labor’s Political Strategy.” Capital Research Center Labor Watch. April 2008. https://www.scribd.com/document/140833117/The-Ballot-Initiative-Strategy-Center-How-It-Promotes-Big-Labor-s-Political-Strategy.
6. “Resolution 2: A Historic Opportunity for the Labor Movement: Our Political Moment.” AFL-CIO, September 13, 2009. https://aflcio.org/resolution/historic-opportunity-labor-movement-our-political-moment.
7. “Road Ahead.” Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://ballot.org/road-ahead/.
8. “Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Inc.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/43411708.
9. “Who We Are.” Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://ballot.org/who-we-are/.
10. Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/43454684. [1]
11. Justine Sarver – President, Supernova Strategies | Linkedin. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/justine-sarver-7923b535/.
12. “Open Society Announces Winter 2019 New Executives Fund Recipients.” Open Society Foundations, October 31, 2019. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/newsroom/open-society-foundations-announce-winter-2019-new-executives-fund-recipients.
13. “Capacity Building for the Field.” Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://biscfoundation.org/project/tracking-analyzing/.
14. “Innovative Research.” Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://biscfoundation.org/project/ballot-measure-research/.
15. “Independence Institute, Petitioner v. Bernie Buescher, Colorado Secretary of State.” Supreme Court of the United States, September 2, 2009. https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=%2Fdocketfiles%2F09-265.htm.
16. “BRIEF OF THE CATO INSTITUTE, WYOMING LIBERTY GROUP, CENTER FOR COMPETITIVE POLITICS, SAM ADAMS ALLIANCE, MONTANA POLICY INSTITUTE AND GOLDWATER INSTITUTE SCHARF-NORTON CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL LITIGATION AS AMICI CURIAE IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER.” Cato Institute, 2009. https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/indep-inst_v_buescher.pdf.
17. “Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/43454684.
18. “146057 – Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation.” Ford Foundation, October 3, 2024. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/ballot-initiative-strategy-center-foundation-146057/.
19. DiLauro, Elizabeth. “How the Ballot Measure Process Strengthens Democracy and Health Equity.” RWJF, January 4, 2026. https://www.rwjf.org/en/insights/blog/2024/09/how-the-ballot-measure-process-strengthens-democracy-and-health-equity.html.
20. “Carnegie Corporation of New York Board Approves 51 Grants Totaling $26,225,000.” Carnegie Corporation of New York, March 11, 2024. https://www.carnegie.org/news/articles/carnegie-corporation-of-new-york-board-approves-51-grants-totaling-26225000/.
21. “Grantee List – Irving Harris.” Irving Harris Foundation, April 8, 2024. https://www.irvingharrisfdn.org/focus-areas/grantee-list/.
22. “IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search Results for EIN 04-3454684.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed January 26, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?q=04-3454684.
23. DiLauro, Elizabeth, Maya Schane, and Giridhar Mallya. “The Importance of Ballot Measure Access and Race-Conscious Policymaking.” Grantmakers In Health, September 15, 2025. https://www.gih.org/views-from-the-field/the-importance-of-ballot-measure-access-and-race-conscious-policymaking/.