The California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund (CLCV-EF) is a left-of-center environmentalist organization founded in 1996. The Fund works by engaging in political advocacy efforts and voter registration initiatives to support left-of-center causes. [1]
The CLCV-EF is strongly associated with the California League of Conservation Voters. While CLCV is an advocacy organization that can publicly endorse candidates and CLCV-EF is a charitable organization which cannot do so, the two organizations share office space, board members, and even paid employees. [2]
The CLCV Education Fund board includes CLCV president Glen Dake and is chaired by former Obama administration official Nancy Sutley. [3]
Activity
CLCV-EF was founded in 1996 to support CLCV’s political advocacy work. [4] The CLCV-EF’s cornerstone project is its voter outreach program, Green California. [5] CLCV-EF also spends a significant amount lobbying on behalf of legislation. [6] Green California and legislative lobbying expenses accounted for over half of CLCV-EF’s expenditures in 2018. [7] CLCV-EF spent an additional $99,063 on “community outreach” that year. [8]
Aside from its lobbying and voter engagement efforts, CLCV-EF has conducted extensive polling on environmental and political views in California. [9] CLCV-EF has been especially active in polling Latino communities in California, arguing that the polls will enable environmentalist legislation to be more targeted. [10]
Leadership
Nancy Sutley sits as the president and chair of CLCV-EF. [11] In 2009, she was appointed by the Obama administration as Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, a post she held until 2013. [12] In 2014, Sutley was appointed chief sustainability and economic development officer for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. [13]
Sean Arian is the vice chair of the board at CLCV-EF. [14] He is concurrently vice president of innovation and emerging technologies for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. [15] Arian previously worked as an advisor on economic development to former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D). [16] He is married to Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin. [17]
Glen Dake works as president of CLCV and sits on the board of the CLCV Education Fund. [18] A professional landscape architect, Dake is a former staffer for Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D). [19]
Financial Information
The CLCV Education Fund is incorporated as a charity and can accept tax-deductible donations, in contract to the CLCV, which is incorporated as an advocacy organization. [20] [21] The CLCV-EF is thereby more restricted in its political advocacy activity than CLCV itself. [22] Despite these regulatory differences, CLCV and CLCV-EF retain a close working relationship, sharing offices, board members, and employees between the two organizations. [23]
Between 2015 and 2018, the CLCV-EF received $215,000 in donations from the Energy Foundation, a “pass-through” organization that receives donations from left-of-center donors and distributes them to left-of-center advocacy organizations. [24] [25]