The Black Voters Matter Fund (also styled Black Voters Matter) is a left-of-center political advocacy organization founded by activists LaTosha Brown and Clifford Albright that opposes voter identification laws and aims at increasing voter turnout in the Black community. ¹

The Fund’s charitable counterpart is the BVM Capacity Building Institute. ^{2 3}

Background

The Black Voters Matter Fund was formed as a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization in January 2018 by LaTosha Brown and Cliff Albright in East Point, Georgia. ⁴  The aims of the fund are, among other things, to increase voter registration within the Black community; oppose laws designed to minimize voter fraud, such as voter identification laws; and advocate for legislation that would restore the right to vote for convicted felons. Additionally, the fund also makes expenditures in support of ideologically aligned political candidates. ⁵

Activities

On August 6, 2020, the anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act, Clifford Albright, the fund’s executive director, published a statement advocating for giving convicted felons the right to vote, describing existing laws which do not allow such people to participate in elections as a “vestige of slavery.” ⁶

On August 12, 2020, the fund’s cofounders, LaTosha Brown and Clifford Albright congratulated Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) on her selection to be former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate in the 2020 presidential election. ⁷

In connection with Juneteenth 2022, a commemoration of the emancipation of slaves following the Civil War made a federal holiday by President Joe Biden in 2021, the fund is promoting and sponsoring policy-oriented rallies that will take place on that day, such as the “Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly & Moral March on Washington” in Washington, D.C. ⁸

BVM Capacity Building Institute

The BVM Capacity Building Institute is the charitable counterpart to the Black Voters Matter Fund. Like the Fund, the Institute was cofounded by Latosha Brown and Clifford Albright in East Point, Georgia, in 2018. The Institute’s board consists of Baye Adolfo-Wilson, an attorney with Rainone Coughlin Minchello and former Democratic deputy mayor of Newark, New Jersey; Tarana Burke, whom the Institute’s website describes as a “Founder/Thought Leader” of the Me Too movement; and Rukia Lumumba, founder of the People’s Advocacy Institute, a Mississippi-based left-progressive organization, and co-creator of the Electoral Justice Project, a left-progressive organization focused on race- and election-related issues. ^{9 10}

Funding/Financials

The Black Voters Matter Fund is one of several groups that has received grant money from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations as part of its $150 million racial justice initiative announced on July 13, 2020. ¹¹

According to its 2020 900 form, the Black Voters Matter Fund reported a revenue of $10,221,359, expenses at $12,994,572, and total Assets at $2,328,733. ¹³

A listing of the organization’s 990 forms, from 2018 through 2022, are below:

• 2018 990 Form
• 2019 990 Form
• 2020 990 Form
• 2021 990 Form
• 2022 990 Form

People

LaTosha Brown

LaTosha Brown, one the Black Voters Matter Fund’s cofounders, is listed on the fund’s tax return as the organization’s ‘Chief Doer.’ Aside from working with the fund, LaTosha coordinates the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium, a grantmaking organization focused on race and gender issues supported by the NoVo Foundation. Brown is also the founder and CEO of Trusthspeaks Consulting, a left-progressive for-profit organization that offers media and advocacy consulting. Notably, in her speaking engagements, Brown discusses racial issues from a far-left point-of-view, advocating for the redistributing of wealth as a form of reparations for Black Americans. ^{14 15}

Formerly, LaTosha was the founding director of Grantmakers for Southern Progress, a left-progressive philanthropic network, and a founding executive director of Rockefeller Philanthropic Advisors’ Gulf Coast Fund, a regional grantmaking project. ¹⁶

Clifford Albright

Before cofounding the fund, Clifford Albright was an instructor of African-American studies. Aside from working with the fund, Albright hosts “Race Matters” on WRFG 89.3 FM in Atlanta, Georgia, a weekly hour-long radio show focused on race issues. ^{17 18}

1.  “Our Purpose.” Black Voters Matter Fund. Accessed August 31, 2020. https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/our-purpose/
2. About.” Capacity Building Institute. Accessed August 31, 2020. https://www.bvmcapacitybuilding.org/about
3. BVM Capacity Building Institute Inc. Form 990. 2018. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/823835203/09_2019_prefixes_81-83%2F823835203_201812_990_2019092716696889
4. Black Voters Matter Fund Inc. Form 990. 2018. https://pp-990.s3.amazonaws.com/01_2020_prefixes_81-81/813625061_201812_990O_2020012317057754.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA266MJEJYTM5WAG5Y%2F20200902%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200902T002600Z&X-Amz-Expires=1800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=ae662344364d65b3e0dd1a5e1da1c495e9fcc07cf47e69ee3790aa291340163c
5. “Our Purpose.” Black Voters Matter Fund. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/our-purpose/
6. Albright, Cliff. “We Have the Power to Make the Voting Rights Act Better | Statement by Cliff Albright.” Black Voters Matter. August 6, 2020. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/news/we-have-the-power-to-make-the-voting-rights-act-better-statement-by-cliff-albright/
7. “Statement from Cliff Albright on Kamala Harris and VP Selection.” Black Voters Matter. August 12, 2020. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/news/statement-from-cliff-albright-on-kamala-harris-and-vp-selection-2/
8. “Upcoming Juneteenth Events.” Black Voters Matter Fund. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/juneteenth-2022/
9. “About.” Capacity Building Institute. Accessed August 31, 2020. https://www.bvmcapacitybuilding.org/about
10. BVM Capacity Building Institute Inc. Form 990. 2018. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/823835203/09_2019_prefixes_81-83%2F823835203_201812_990_2019092716696889
11. Herndon, Astead W. “George Soros’s Foundation Pours $220 Million Into Racial Equality Push.” The New York Times. July 13, 2020. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/13/us/politics/george-soros-racial-justice-organizations.html

13. According to its 2022 990 form, the group reported a revenue of $3,388,748, expenses of $4,583,715, and total assets of $506,571. ¹² Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Black Voters Matter Fund. 2022. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/813625061/202420169349301417/full

14. “Home.” Truth Speaks Consulting. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://www.truthspeaksconsulting.com/.
15. “Latosha Brown.” Keppler Speakers. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://www.kepplerspeakers.com/speakers/latosha-brown.
16. “About.” Capacity Building Institute. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://www.bvmcapacitybuilding.org/about
17. “Race Matters with Cliff Albright.” AudioBoom. Accessed June 13, 2022.

    https://audioboom.com/channel/racematters

18. “July 28: Get Out the Vote: The History of Voting Rights and Mobilizing Black Voters with Cliff Albright.” Harvard Graduate School of Education: Making Caring Common Project. Accessed June 13, 2022. https://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/whats-new/mobilizing-black-voters-cliff-albright