The Center for Civic Action (CCA) is a New Mexico-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting left-leaning candidates and promoting left-of-center policy positions including increasing spending on public schools. ^{1 2}

CCA is the sister group of the Center for Civic Policy (CCP), a left-of-center charitable group primarily focused on voter mobilization and policy advocacy. ³

Activities

The Center for Civic Action is a partner of the Progressive Voter’s Guide along with other left-of-center New Mexico groups including Equality New Mexico, the Working Families Party New Mexico, and Planned Parenthood Votes New Mexico. ⁴

In 2024, CCA contributed $1,000 to Gabrielle Begay’s (D) campaign for the New Mexico House of Representatives. ⁵ Also in 2024, CCA contributed $500 to Christopher Hudson’s (D) campaign for the New Mexico House of Representatives. ⁶

In 2023, CCA contributed $1,000 to Heather Berghmans’s (D) New Mexico Senate campaign. ⁷

In 2020, CCA was one of 275 organizations led by the Leadership Conference of Civil and Human Rights to sign a declaration to serve as a watchdog on the 2020 U.S. Census. ⁸

CCA supported the ballot supporting New Mexico’s Constitutional Amendment 1 in the 2022 election, which would permanently allocate 1.25 percent of the five-year average value of the state’s the Land Grant Permanent Fund toward early childhood education programs and public school funding. The amendment passed with support from over 70 percent of voters. ^{9 10}

In 2013, CCA donated $75,000 to the Native American Voter Alliance. ¹¹

Leadership

Oriana Sandoval has been the chief executive officer of the Center for Civic Action and Center for Civic Policy since April 2013, as well as the co-director of the Center for Civic Policy’s New Mexico Civic Engagement Table since 2015. Since 2011, she has also served as the founding executive director of New Mexico Vote Matters, which has registered over 21,000 voters. Earlier, Sandoval clerked at the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment where she researched climate change litigation, and worked at the Centro Legal de la Raza office in Oakland, California. ^{12 13 14}

Melanie Aranda is the chief operating officer and president of CCA, as well as a founding member and the COO of Center for Civic Policy. She is also a co-director of the New Mexico Civic Engagement Table. Earlier, Aranda served as vice president of Soltari, a left-wing political consulting firm based in Albuquerque. She has also been a small business owner for over a decade. ^{15 16 17}

Marshall Martinez is listed as the treasurer of CCA on the organization’s tax forms. She also works for Equality New Mexico, a left-of-center organization promoting LGBT interests and other left-of-center legislation. ^{18 19}

Lan Sena is the policy director of CCA. From 2020 to 2021, Sena served on the Albuquerque City Council. ^{20 21}

Funding

Donations to the Center for Civic Action go through ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising platform. ²²

In 2023, CCA received $51,000 from the North Fund, a nonprofit under the direction of Arabella Advisors, for “civil rights, social action, advocacy.” ²³ Also in 2023, CCA received $30,000 from Dreams in Action NM. ²⁴

In 2021, CCA received $75,000 from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, an organization administered by Arabella Advisors, for “environmental programs.” ²⁵

In 2013, CCA received $275,000 from NEO Philanthropy, a New York-based nonprofit that serves as a fiscal clearinghouse for left-of-center causes. ²⁶

In 2012, CCA received $400,000 from the Atlantic Philanthropies, a collection of overseas charities funded by late billionaire Chuck Feeney, for “interim immigration strategy.” ²⁷

1. “New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1, Land Grant Permanent Fund Distribution for Early Childhood Education Amendment (2022).” Ballotpedia. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/New_Mexico_Constitutional_Amendment_1,_Land_Grant_Permanent_Fund_Distribution_for_Early_Childhood_Education_Amendment_(2022).
2. “CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT #1 FOR EDUCATION.” Center for Civic Action. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://centerforcivicaction.com/early-ed/.
3. “Center for Civic Action Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/20779812/202441359349312809/full.
4. “About the Progressive Voters Guide.” Progressive Voters Guide. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://progressivevotersguide.com/newmexico/about.
5. Ogle, Juno. “Aiming to win today, candidates wage cash battles.” Silver City Daily Press. June 4, 2024. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://www.scdailypress.com/2024/06/04/aiming-win-today-candidates-wage-cash-battles/.
6. “Donor lookup.” Open Secrets. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?cand=hudson&order=desc&page=5&sort=D.
7. Horwath, Justin. “Senators throw support to embattled Ivey-Soto.” Source NM. May 24, 2024. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://sourcenm.com/2024/05/24/senators-throw-support-to-embattled-ivey-soto/.
8. “Civic Leaders’ Watchdog Coalition Keeping Census Data Safe and Confidential.” The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://civilrights.org/about/taskforces/censuspledge/.
9. ^[1] “New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1, Land Grant Permanent Fund Distribution for Early Childhood Education Amendment (2022).” Ballotpedia. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/New_Mexico_Constitutional_Amendment_1,_Land_Grant_Permanent_Fund_Distribution_for_Early_Childhood_Education_Amendment_(2022).
10. “CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT #1 FOR EDUCATION.” Center for Civic Action. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://centerforcivicaction.com/early-ed/.
11. “Grants: Center For Civic Action.” Open Secrets. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/political-nonprofits/grants?cycle=2013&id=020779812.
12. “Oriana Sandoval.” LinkedIn. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/oriana-sandoval-9797394/.
13. “Oriana Sandoval.” Center for Civic Policy. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://civicpolicy.com/oriana-sandoval-2/.
14. “New Mexico Working Families Announces Endorsement in First Congressional District.” Working Families Party. April 9, 2021. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://workingfamilies.org/2021/04/new-mexico-working-families-announces-endorsement-in-first-congressional-district/.
15. “Melanie Aranda.” Center for Civic Policy. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://civicpolicy.com/melanie-aranda-2/.
16. “Melanie Aranda.” LinkedIn. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-aranda-bb8b6415/.
17. “Center for Civic Action Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/20779812/202441359349312809/full.
18. ^[1] “Center for Civic Action Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/20779812/202441359349312809/full.
19. Clark, Carol A. “An Open Letter To New Mexico State Senate Leadership.” Los Alamos Daily Post. July 27, 2022. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://ladailypost.com/an-open-letter-to-new-mexico-state-senate-leadership/.
20. “Speakers.” FCCP. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://funderscommittee.swoogo.com/Register/4556680?page=5&per-page=16.
21. “Speaker Details.” FCCP. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://funderscommittee.swoogo.com/Register/speaker/1151052/lan-sena.
22. “Donate.” Center for Civic Action. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://centerforcivicaction.com/.
23. “North Fund Form 990.” Daily Caller. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/combinepdf.pdf.
24. “Dreams In Action Nm | 990 Report.” Instrumentl. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://www.instrumentl.com/990-report/dreams-in-action.
25. “Sixteen Thirty Fund.” ProPublica. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/264486735/202243119349300829/IRS990ScheduleI.
26. “Grants: NEO Philanthropy Action Fund.” Open Secrets. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/political-nonprofits/grants?id=800444461.
27. “Center for Civic Action.” The Atlantic Philanthropies. Accessed July 25, 2024. https://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/grantees/center-for-civic-action.