The Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) is a left-of-center political research and activist organization which was founded in 2002 and is based in Washington, D.C. The center conducts studies which support its advocacy for its favored economic and social policies, including wealth redistribution, fossil-fuel usage restrictions, and preferential treatment of minority groups backed by what the CPR describes as the “full force” of government. The center claims that disparities between groups are the result of structures of oppression in society and that the government must enforce equality of outcomes rather than simply ensuring equality of opportunity. ¹

The CPR receives funding from a large variety of left-leaning organizations, including fellow agenda-driven policy research organizations as well as more conventional grantmaking institutions, most notably the Open Society Foundations of billionaire activist financier George Soros. ²

Issue Areas

Opposing the use of conventional energy is one of the Center for Progressive Reform’s top priorities. The center ties its environmentalist agenda to its push for preferential treatment of minority groups, alleging that existing environmental policies perpetuate racism. The CPR also frames its lobbying for the government to target industries which use fossil fuels with increased regulation as a matter of “justice” for what it claims are society’s “marginalized” groups. ³ In addition, the center advocates for measures that would expand the influence of labor unions, also connecting this agenda to its broader push for environmentalism-driven restructuring of private industry. ⁴

General expansion of government regulation is another one of the CPR’s main lines of effort. The center claims that regulatory agencies need to be given more power with reduced checks against potential overreach. The CPR also supports changes to the judicial system that would make it easier to use court rulings for strengthening regulations. ⁵

CPR uses reports, testimony, presentations, and its scholar program to advance its agenda. It regularly issues these content types for federal and state issues. ⁶ Its scholar program is made up of 50 academics affiliated with various colleges and universities whom it says volunteer with the center to produce reports and other content. ⁷

Executive director Minor Sinclair was part of a panel in 2021 about the labor movement at a conference organized by the American Prospect, Open Society Foundations, and the Ford Foundation. ⁸

Leadership

Minor Sinclair became the executive director of the Center for Progressive Reform in February 2021. He previously directed an economics and employment law program at Oxfam America, the United States-based nonprofit arm of  the Oxfam International philanthropic and advocacy organization. Oxfam promotes a broad range of liberal policy objectives, including removing limits on immigration, restricting fossil fuel use, and empowering international institutions to override national governments. Sinclair holds an international development degree from Davidson College and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. ⁹

Brian Gumm joined the CPR as communications director in March 2016. He previously worked for the Center for Effective Government, a left-leaning watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Gumm holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental policy from Northland College and a law doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. ¹⁰

Financials

Between 2015 and 2020, the Center for Progressive Reform’s revenue fluctuated between $370,000 and just over $1.1 million. ¹¹

Since its launch in 2002, the CPR has received funding from more than a dozen prominent left-of-center grantmaking organizations. These include the Urban Institute, which similarly conducts research geared towards promoting liberal policies; the Energy Action Fund, a lobbying arm of the anti-conventional energy Energy Foundation; and the Public Welfare Foundation, which mainly funds campaigns for more lax criminal justice policies. ¹²  According to Forbes, the CPR has also received funding from the Tides Center, an arm of the Tides Nexus liberal grantmaking and activist cultivation collective, and the Soros Network. ¹³

1. “Who We Are.” Center for Progressive Reform. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://progressivereform.org/about/
2. “Funders.” Center for Progressive Reform. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://progressivereform.org/funders/
3. “Climate Justice.” Center for Progressive Reform. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://progressivereform.org/climate-justice/
4. “Public Protections.” Center for Progressive Reform. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://progressivereform.org/public-protections/
5. “Responsive Government.” Center for Progressive Reform. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://progressivereform.org/responsive-government/
6. Publications, Center for Progressive Reform. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://progressivereform.org/publications/
7. Member Scholars, Center for Progressive Reform. Accessed November 28, 2022.  https://progressivereform.org/member-scholars/
8. Monet Sinclair, “Labor Day 2021: This may be the best year for labor in a generation,” Center for Progressive Reform. September 6, 2021. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://progressivereform.org/cpr-blog/labor-day-2021-may-be-best-year-labor-generation/
9. “Minor Sinclair.” Center for Progressive Reform. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://progressivereform.org/person/minor-sinclair/
10. “Brian Gumm.” Center for Progressive Reform. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://progressivereform.org/person/brian-gumm/
11. “Center for Progressive Reform Inc.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/352182224
12.  “Funders.” Center for Progressive Reform. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://progressivereform.org/funders/
13. Daniel Fisher. “Soros Makes The Kochs Look Like Political Skinflints.” Forbes. September 3, 2010. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2010/09/03/soros-makes-the-kochs-look-like-political-skinflints