Founded in 2011, Citizen Engagement Lab (CEL) Education Fund is a left-of-center California-based nonprofit that specializes in creating subsidiary left-of-center advocacy and coalition interest groups through a practice known as fiscal sponsorship. CEL Education Fund is the 501(c)(3) affiliate of Citizen Engagement Laboratory and provides fiscal sponsorship and organizational management training to far-left organizations, including 18 Million Rising, CultureStrike, and Sierra Club Foundation’s Climate Parents Action Fund. [1][2]
Background
Established in 2011, CEL Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor that assists and works alongside its 501(c)(4) affiliate, Citizen Engagement Laboratory, to incubate far-left advocacy organizations. It provides fiscal sponsorship and training to politically-aligned “tech-savvy” organizations, to turn them into political change agents. [3] In early 2019, it was announced that CEL Education Fund and CultureStrike would soon merge into a single organization, known as the Center for Cultural Power. [4][5]
Activities
Through its self-proclaimed “Powerful Communities” initiative, the CEL Education Fund bestows direct financial support and organizational leadership training to progressive organizations of all sizes—but with a particular focus on start-ups. [6] As a financial contributor to Citizen Engagement Laboratory and other groups that “align” with its far-left agenda, the organization pumps out millions of dollars each year. According to the group’s 2016 tax filing, it gave its affiliated Citizen Engagement Laboratory more than $1 million during 2016. [7] The Citizen Engagement Laboratory, in turn, uses this money to cover administrative expenses, including all salaries and benefits afforded to its employees. [8]
There are at least three other groups currently sponsored by CEL Education Fund, they include 18MillionRising, CultureStrike, and Climate Parents Education Fund, a project of left-wing environmental group Sierra Club Foundation. [9] In 2016, CEL Education Fund gave almost $100,000 to Sierra Club Foundation, in support of the Climate Parents Education Fund. [10] the radical feminist and pro-abortion group UltraViolet Education Fund received the largest sum from CEL Education Fund in 2016 at over $2.6 million. [11]
Funding
During the 2016 calendar year, CEL Education Fund reported over $8.5 million in total revenue. Program service fees were responsible for approximately 80 percent of its total revenue, while grants and contributions accounted for the remaining 20 percent. [12]
Since 2011, it has received substantial sums of money from the following organizations: [13]
| Citizen Engagement Lab Education Fund: Top Grantors | |
|---|---|
| Total Grants (2011-2019) | |
| Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation | $4,500,029 |
| John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation | $1,501,000 |
| Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program | $875,000 |
| Schmidt Family Foundation | $750,000 |
| Fidelity Investment Charitable Gift Fund | $1,180,000 |
| Open Society Foundations | $1,320,000 |
| Rockefeller Brothers Fund | $382,000 |
| Silicon Valley Community Foundation | $275,000 |
| William and Flora Hewlett Foundation | $1,040,000 |
| James Irvine Foundation | $200,000 |
| Doris Duke Charitable Foundation | $100,000 |
Leadership
Although CEL Education Fund claims to be independently operated, its leadership is appointed by Citizen Engagement Laboratory. [14] Sitting on the board of directors is board treasurer William Wimsatt and Jenifer Fernandez Ancona. [15] Prior to serving on the board of directors, Ancona worked at the Citizen Engagement Laboratory. [16]
According to its latest tax filing, CEL Education Fund has 79 paid employees. Jacqueline “Jackie” Mahendra is president of the organization, taking over for Ian Inaba in May 2016. [17] CEL Education Fund executives and top-level managers are paid more than $100,000 per year, with Mahendra earning approximately $200,000. [18]
Affiliated Organizations
CEL Education Fund is the 501(c)(3) affiliate of Citizen Engagement Laboratory, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit founded in 2008. [19]