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Non-profit

Center for Global Policy Solutions

Website:

globalpolicysolutions.org/
Location:

Washington, DC, United States
Tax ID:

45-4856194
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2017):

Revenue: $2,578,311
Expenses: $2,383,913
Assets: $117,373
Formation:

2012
President and Founder:

Maya Rockeymoore Cummings

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Center for Global Policy Solutions is a left-of-center nonprofit founded by Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, the former chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, a candidate for U.S. Representative in the special election to fill the seat for the 7th District, and widow of U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD). 1 The group organizes left-leaning initiatives in education, economic security, community health, and “digital inclusion.”

In 2019, CGPS came under fire for alleged violations of IRS rules. The conservative National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) filed an IRS complaint alleging that Rockeymoore Cummings used the Center for Global Policy Solutions to benefit her for-profit consulting corporation, Global Policy Services, and her personal interests.

History

Center for Global Policy Solutions was founded in 2012. 2 The group has since focused on issues in economic security, health, and education for vulnerable populations, using an “intersectional” framework. 3

The group advocates for left-of-center policies to support women, people of color, children, the elderly, and low-income populations by combatting inequality, launching what CGPS calls the “inclusion revolution.” 4 CGPS works through stakeholder advocacy in crafting government policy, civic engagement programs, and research designed to analyze the impact of policy through the lens of race, class, gender, ethnicity, geography, and age. 5 As of 2019, CGPS has focused these initiatives into five primary projects: community health equity, digital inclusion, community engagement, closing the racial wealth gap, leadership development in the health field, and “modernizing” Social Security. 6

Activity

CGPS activity is divided into four main project groups: economic security, digital inclusion, education, and community health. 7 In each of these groups, CGPS funds and organizes research papers and policy briefings, organizes direct community action, and leads advocacy initiatives. 8

Digital Inclusion

The digital inclusion initiative appeared in 2016 with the launch of the Advancing Data Equity, Leadership, Policy, Health, and Innovation (ADELPHI) Project, funded by Google. 9 CGPS designed the ADELPHI Project with the idea of using data to craft responses to problems in health, education, civic engagement, and economics. 10

The ADELPHI coalition boasts several prominent figures from the political left, including National Organization of Women (NOW) official Terry O’Neill, Color of Change leader Rashad Robinson, and Taylor Moore of the Center for Democracy and Technology. 11 Though CGPS launched the ADELPHI Project in 2016, its website does not list any accomplishments of the program, nor have any public news outlets reported on the project.

Economic Advocacy

CGPS advocates for a range of left-of-center economic policies and has led research on the racial wealth gap, Social Security, and retirement. 12

The Racial Wealth Gap Initiative is one of CGPS’s largest programs, managed in collaboration with the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. 13 The initiative was funded by the Ford Foundation before the Foundation severed ties with CGPS in 2016, and it is unclear who funds the program today. 14 The initiative is home to the Experts of Color Network (ECON), a group of over 200 leaders of color from across the United States. 15

In September 2016, ECON released a comprehensive list of left-of-center policy agendas designed to close the racial wealth gap. 16 Such policies include the labor union-demanded federal minimum wage of $15 per hour, creating a federal “jobs guarantee,” and providing financial services through a federal government-run institution. 17 More radically, the proposal recommends creating an “American CommonWealth Fund” which would “distribute money from federal assets to everyone who has a Social Security number,” with no restrictions on how such money is later used. 18 The agenda also argues for an increase of the capital gains tax to 45 percent, the creation of universal matched retirement accounts managed by the federal government, and an increase of the federal estate tax. 19

CGPS also supports left-of-center retirement policies, founding the Commission to Modernize Social Security in 2011. 20  CGPS Social Security policies include lifting the cap on wages while flattening benefits for high earners, increasing the payroll tax by 20 percent over 20 years, and provides benefits to those who do not work for caregiving purposes. 21 CGPS also runs the Strengthening American Voices for Economic and Retirement Security (SAVERS) Program to increase national understanding of retirement security. 22

In addition to managing specific initiatives, CGPS officials have criticized the Trump administration’s budget as “a mean-spirited and immoral attempt to demonize America’s poor.” 23

Education

CGPS supports a wide range of left-of-center education policies, including large scale student-debt forgiveness, the elimination of performance-based indicators for universities to receive federal funding, and universal pre-kindergarten education. 24 CGPS does not have any ongoing education initiatives as of 2019.

Health

Much of CGPS health advocacy has centered around opposing Republican health care initiatives, arguing in 2017 that the Republican-backed Senate health bill is an “unconscionable physical and financial assault on American families.” 25 Rockeymoore Cummings wrote several op-eds opposing the Republican House and Senate health bills in 2017, calling them “a form of class warfare and a gross bastardization of the family values the GOP once claimed to possess.” 26

Allies Reaching for Community Health Equity (ARCHE) is the central program of CGPS’s health initiatives, started with a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 27 The program is designed to advance left-of-center public health strategies to mitigate disparities between various racial, ethnic, and social groups. 28

In addition to ARCHE, CGPS organizes the Changing Health through Innovative Leadership Development (CHILD) program, a communications initiative designed to work against the childhood obesity epidemic in communities of color. 29 The initiative aims to increase awareness of the issue and guide policymakers in generating solutions. 30 CGPS also serves as the national program office for the Leadership for Health Communities program, organized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to bring together six policymaker organizations across multiple levels of government to target childhood obesity. 31 The program has six policy priorities, including restricting “unhealthy” food marketing, increasing access to affordable foods, and improving school nutrition. 32 The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation stopped supporting CGPS financially in 2017. 33

The Kansas Health Foundation once funded the Community Engagement Initiative, a CGPS program targeted at supporting Kansas residents in communities with elevated health risks to implement policy to lead to healthier communities, improve health outcomes, and increase healthy living. 34 The Kansas Health Foundation stopped providing funding to CGPS in 2017, and it is unclear whether the program is ongoing. 35

IRS Complaint

On May 20, 2019, the conservative National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) against CGPS. 36 The complaint alleged that CGPS director Maya Rockeymoore Cummings and her late husband, U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) were privately benefiting off of charitable contributions to the CGPS intended to fight childhood obesity, including millions of dollars in grant funding and a million-dollar contract from the General Services Administration. 37 The complaint also alleged that millions of dollars in donations from high-profile organizations came from organizations with interests before the  House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which Congressman Cummings then led, potentially buying the organizations special treatment. 38

The NLPC complaint focused on impropriety related to Rockeymoore Cummings’s for-profit consulting firm, Global Policy Solutions, LLC. 39 According to the complaint, Cummings violated IRS code because the operations of Global Policy Solutions were “indistinguishable” from those of CGPS, with the two entities sharing an office, telephones, and employees. 40 Cummings allegedly repeatedly refused to provide financial disclosure forms for CGPS when asked for them by three different organizations, in violation of IRS rules. 41

In June, an audit of CGPS’s financial records revealed that CGPS had paid Global Policy Solutions LLC over $250,000 in “management fees” from 2013 to 2015, in addition to a cost-sharing agreement between the two companies in which CGPS paid Global Policy Solutions LLC for its use of equipment and personnel. 42 NLPC investigator Tom Anderson argued that such an agreement was “self-dealing,” claiming that the activity is not allowed by the IRS. 43 That same month, the NLPC amended its original complaint, claiming that Cummings had been unlawfully compensated by her charity for “professional fees” in her capacity as director and sole principal of her LLC. 44

Later in June, Rep. Cummings was accused of using his congressional position to the benefit of his wife, after calling AARP, one of Global Policy Solutions’ clients, to testify on pharmaceutical prices before the House Oversight Committee. 45 One month later, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust requested that Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh (D) investigate the financial relationship between CGPS and Global Policy Solutions. 46

Cummings continued to deny all allegations in announcing her congressional bid in November 2019, following the death of her husband. 47 In December 2019, the Washington Post published an expose on the relationship between CGPS and Global Policy Solutions, recounting the conflict and detailing more accounting complaints against CGPS. 48

People and Funding

The Center for Global Policy Solutions receives all of its funding from various grants and public contributions, reporting nearly $1.5 million in revenue in 2016. 49

In recent years, several large donors have stopped contributing to CGPS. The Ford Foundation stopped providing funding to the organization in 2016. 50 One year later, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CGPS’s former largest funder, stopped providing the charity with grants after a series of accounting errors, but did not attribute its severing of the relationship to the errors. 51 That same year, the Kansas Health Foundation ended its relationship with CGPS after concerns over how its contributions were being spent. 52 Rockeymoore Cummings reportedly had to pay several hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover CGPS debts. 53

Maya Rockeymoore Cummings serves as the director of the Center for Global Policy Solutions. 54 Cummings is the former chair of the Maryland Democratic Party and once ran for Governor of the state. 55 In November 2019, Cummings announced a campaign for her late husband’s former seat. 56

Several notable left-of-center figures serve on the CGPS board of directors, including Robert “Bob” Borosage, founder of the progressive strategy outfit Institute for America’s Future, and James Carr, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP).

References

  1. Victor, Daniel. “Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, Widow of Elijah Cummings, Will Run for Congress.” The New York Times. The New York Times, November 12, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/us/politics/maya-rockeymoore-cummings-congress.html.
  2. “Center for Global Policy Solutions.” guidestar.org. Accessed January 23, 2020. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/45-4856194.
  3. “Who We Are.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/about-us.
  4. “Who We Are.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/about-us.
  5. “Who We Are.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/about-us.
  6. “Our Work.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/ourwork/.
  7. “Home.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/.
  8. “Who We Are.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/about-us.
  9. “Press Release for the ADELPHI Project on Big Data.” Center for Global Policy Solutions, December 15, 2016. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/press-release-adelphi-project-big-data/.
  10. “Digital Inclusion.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/programs/digital-inclusion/.
  11. “ADELPHI Members.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/adelphi-members/.
  12. “Economic Security Archives.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/topics/economic-security/.
  13. “Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/programs/closing-the-racial-wealth-gap-initiative/.
  14. Thompson, Steve. “Sloppy Accounting, Funding Debts: A Look at Maya Rockeymoore Cummings’s Charity.” The Washington Post, December 22, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/sloppy-accounting-funding-debts-a-look-at-rockeymoore-cummingss-charity/2019/12/19/3a9a6d7a-1ba0-11ea-87f7-f2e91143c60d_story.html.
  15. “Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/programs/closing-the-racial-wealth-gap-initiative/.
  16. “Policy Agenda to Close the Racial Wealth Gap.” Center for Global Policy Solutions, September 2016. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/report/policy-agenda-close-racial-wealth-gap/.
  17. “Policy Agenda to Close the Racial Wealth Gap.” Center for Global Policy Solutions, September 2016. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/report/policy-agenda-close-racial-wealth-gap/.
  18. “Policy Agenda to Close the Racial Wealth Gap.” Center for Global Policy Solutions, September 2016. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/report/policy-agenda-close-racial-wealth-gap/.
  19. “Policy Agenda to Close the Racial Wealth Gap.” Center for Global Policy Solutions, September 2016. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/report/policy-agenda-close-racial-wealth-gap/.
  20. “The Commission to Modernize Social Security.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/programs/cmss/.
  21. “Policy Agenda to Close the Racial Wealth Gap.” Center for Global Policy Solutions, September 2016. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/report/policy-agenda-close-racial-wealth-gap/.
  22. “Strengthening American Voices for Economic and Retirement Security (SAVERS).” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/programs/savers/.
  23. “New York Amsterdam News: Trump Budget Takes Away from Those in Most Need.” Center for Global Policy Solutions, June 2, 2017. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/new-york-amsterdam-news-trump-budget-takes-away-need/.
  24. “Policy Agenda to Close the Racial Wealth Gap.” Center for Global Policy Solutions, September 2016. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/report/policy-agenda-close-racial-wealth-gap/.
  25. “CGPS President: GOP Senate Health Care Bill an Unconscionable Physical and Financial

    Assault on American Families.” Center for Global Policy Solutions, June 26, 2017. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/gophealthbill/.

  26. Rockeymoore, Maya. “Poor Women of Color Set to Lose Big under TrumpCare.” TheHill, June 26, 2017. http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/339496-poor-women-of-color-set-to-lose-big-under-trumpcare.
  27. “Allies for Reaching Community Health Equity (ARCHE).” Center for Global Policy

    Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/programs/allies-reaching-community-health-equity-arche/.

  28. “Allies for Reaching Community Health Equity (ARCHE).” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/programs/allies-reaching-community-health-equity-arche/.
  29. “Changing Health through Innovative Leadership Development (CHILD).” Center for Global

    Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/programs/changing-health-through-innovative-leadership-development-child/.

  30. “Changing Health through Innovative Leadership Development (CHILD).” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/programs/changing-health-through-innovative-leadership-development-child/.
  31. “Leadership for Healthy Communities.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/programs/lhc/.
  32. “Leadership for Healthy Communities.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/programs/lhc/.
  33. Thompson, Steve. “Sloppy Accounting, Funding Debts: A Look at Maya Rockeymoore Cummings’s Charity.” The Washington Post, December 22, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/sloppy-accounting-funding-debts-a-look-at-rockeymoore-cummingss-charity/2019/12/19/3a9a6d7a-1ba0-11ea-87f7-f2e91143c60d_story.html.
  34. “Community Engagement Initiative.” Center for Global Policy Solutions. Accessed January 23, 2020. http://globalpolicysolutions.org/programs/community-engagement-initiative/.
  35. Thompson, Steve. “Sloppy Accounting, Funding Debts: A Look at Maya Rockeymoore Cummings’s Charity.” The Washington Post, December 22, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/sloppy-accounting-funding-debts-a-look-at-rockeymoore-cummingss-charity/2019/12/19/3a9a6d7a-1ba0-11ea-87f7-f2e91143c60d_story.html.
  36. Flaherty, Peter. “IRS Complaint Filed Against Wife of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).”

    National Legal & Policy Center, May 20, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/05/20/irs-complaint-filed-against-wife-of-rep-elijah-cummings-d-md/.

  37. Flaherty, Peter. “IRS Complaint Filed Against Wife of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).”

    National Legal & Policy Center, May 20, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/05/20/irs-complaint-filed-against-wife-of-rep-elijah-cummings-d-md/.

  38. Flaherty, Peter. “Rep. Cummings Wife Still Illegally Withholding Nonprofit Tax Return.” National Legal & Policy Center, May 31, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/05/31/rep-cummings-wife-still-illegally-withholding-nonprofit-tax-return/.
  39. Flaherty, Peter. “IRS Complaint Filed Against Wife of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).” National Legal & Policy Center, May 20, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/05/20/irs-complaint-filed-against-wife-of-rep-elijah-cummings-d-md/.
  40. Flaherty, Peter. “IRS Complaint Filed Against Wife of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).” National Legal & Policy Center, May 20, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/05/20/irs-complaint-filed-against-wife-of-rep-elijah-cummings-d-md/.
  41. Flaherty, Peter. “Rep. Cummings Wife Still Illegally Withholding Nonprofit Tax Return.” National Legal & Policy Center, May 31, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/05/31/rep-cummings-wife-still-illegally-withholding-nonprofit-tax-return/.
  42. Flaherty, Peter. “Nonprofit Documents Confirm Self-Dealing by Rep. Cummings Wife.” National Legal & Policy Center, June 6, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/06/06/nonprofit-documents-confirm-self-dealing-by-rep-cummings-wife/.
  43. Flaherty, Peter. “Nonprofit Documents Confirm Self-Dealing by Rep. Cummings Wife.” National Legal & Policy Center, June 6, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/06/06/nonprofit-documents-confirm-self-dealing-by-rep-cummings-wife/.
  44. Flaherty, Peter. “IRS Complaint: Cummings Wife Paid Twice For Same Work.” National Legal & Policy Center, June 7, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/06/07/irs-complaint-cummings-wife-paid-twice-for-same-work/.
  45. Saavedra, Ryan. “Democrat Cummings Brings Wife’s Clients Before His Committee,

    Including AARP.” The Daily Wire. The Daily Wire, June 12, 2019. https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-elijah-cummings-brings-his-wifes-clients-ryan-saavedra.

  46. Goodman, Alana. “Charity Run by Wife of Elijah Cummings Incurs New Ethics Complaint.” Washington Examiner, July 16, 2019. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/charity-run-by-wife-of-elijah-cummings-incurs-new-ethics-complaint.
  47. NLPC Staff. “Cummings Announces Congressional Bid; Denies Improprieties With Nonprofit.” National Legal & Policy Center, November 14, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/11/12/cummings-announces-congressional-bid-denies-improprieties-with-nonprofit/.
  48. Thompson, Steve. “Sloppy Accounting, Funding Debts: A Look at Maya Rockeymoore Cummings’s Charity.” The Washington Post, December 22, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/sloppy-accounting-funding-debts-a-look-at-rockeymoore-cummingss-charity/2019/12/19/3a9a6d7a-1ba0-11ea-87f7-f2e91143c60d_story.html.
  49. “Center for Global Policy Solutions.” Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, Form 990. 2016. Part I, Line 12. https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2016/454/856/2016-454856194-0ea37a40-9.pdf
  50. Thompson, Steve. “Sloppy Accounting, Funding Debts: A Look at Maya Rockeymoore Cummings’s Charity.” The Washington Post, December 22, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/sloppy-accounting-funding-debts-a-look-at-rockeymoore-cummingss-charity/2019/12/19/3a9a6d7a-1ba0-11ea-87f7-f2e91143c60d_story.html.
  51. Thompson, Steve. “Sloppy Accounting, Funding Debts: A Look at Maya Rockeymoore Cummings’s Charity.” The Washington Post, December 22, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/sloppy-accounting-funding-debts-a-look-at-rockeymoore-cummingss-charity/2019/12/19/3a9a6d7a-1ba0-11ea-87f7-f2e91143c60d_story.html.
  52. Thompson, Steve. “Sloppy Accounting, Funding Debts: A Look at Maya Rockeymoore Cummings’s Charity.” The Washington Post, December 22, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/sloppy-accounting-funding-debts-a-look-at-rockeymoore-cummingss-charity/2019/12/19/3a9a6d7a-1ba0-11ea-87f7-f2e91143c60d_story.html.
  53. Thompson, Steve. “Sloppy Accounting, Funding Debts: A Look at Maya Rockeymoore Cummings’s Charity.” The Washington Post, December 22, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/sloppy-accounting-funding-debts-a-look-at-rockeymoore-cummingss-charity/2019/12/19/3a9a6d7a-1ba0-11ea-87f7-f2e91143c60d_story.html.
  54. Flaherty, Peter. “IRS Complaint Filed Against Wife of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).”

    National Legal & Policy Center, May 20, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/05/20/irs-complaint-filed-against-wife-of-rep-elijah-cummings-d-md/.

  55. Flaherty, Peter. “IRS Complaint Filed Against Wife of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).” National Legal & Policy Center, May 20, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/05/20/irs-complaint-filed-against-wife-of-rep-elijah-cummings-d-md/.
  56. NLPC Staff. “Cummings Announces Congressional Bid; Denies Improprieties With Nonprofit.” National Legal & Policy Center, November 14, 2019. https://nlpc.org/2019/11/12/cummings-announces-congressional-bid-denies-improprieties-with-nonprofit/.

Directors, Employees & Supporters

  1. Robert Borosage
    Board Member
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: August 1, 2012

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2017 Dec Form 990 $2,578,311 $2,383,913 $117,373 $264,107 N $2,578,311 $0 $0 $78,180 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $1,489,209 $1,623,497 $580,969 $922,101 N $1,489,209 $0 $0 $152,238 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990EZ $0 $0 $1 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $1,859,976 $1,967,843 $746,706 $570,996 N $1,859,976 $0 $0 $145,253 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $1,677,141 $1,393,564 $693,184 $409,607 N $1,677,141 $0 $0 $0 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990EZ $1,000 $0 $1,000 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 PDF

    Center for Global Policy Solutions

    1300 L Street NW Suite 975
    Washington, DC 20005
    United States