The Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) is a left-leaning advocacy and labor union activist organization focusing on the San Diego, California, metropolitan area. [1] CPI is a member of various left-of-center coalitions including the Partnership for Working Families,[2] the Center for Popular Democracy,[3] [4]the Economic Policy Institute-affiliated Economic Analysis and Research Network,[5] and Rock the Vote. [6]
CPI has received grants from the Windward Fund, an environmentalist fiscal sponsor of dark money organizations controlled by Arabella Advisors,[7] George Soros’s Open Society Foundations,[8] Marguerite Casey Foundation,[9] California Endowment,[10] [11] the Nathan Cummings Foundation,[12] [13] and the Satterberg Foundation. [14] CPI also works with SEIU 221 to shift San Diego’s budget priorities in favor of labor unions. [15]
CPI Executive Director and Board President Kyra R. Greene[16] has said that “more policing is not the route to public safety,” has criticized the mayor of San Diego’s decision to invest in policing as “not race-neutral,”[17] and has written on Twitter that “only women and people of color should run for office for the sake of our democracy.” [18]
History and Leadership
Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) was founded in 1997 to shape policy in the San Diego, California, metropolitan area. [19]
Kyra R. Greene is CPI’s executive director and board president. [20] Previously she taught courses on economic inequality and race at San Diego State University[21] and worked as a diversity coordinator at Stanford University. [22]
In 2021, Greene supported declaring racism a “public health crisis” in San Diego County and said the county has a “long history of white supremacist organizing and activity. [23] In 2020, Greene said on Twitter that “only women and people of color should run for office for the sake of our democracy”[24] and she wrote a letter saying “more policing is not the route to public safety” and the mayor of San Diego’s decision to invest in policing is “not race-neutral.” [25]
Green is the board chair of the left-of-center Partnership for Working Families and works on the board of various left-of-center organizations including the San Diego Social Equity Collaborative, League of Conservation Voters San Diego, and Engage San Diego. [26]
Activities and Funding
CPI’s activities include producing research papers and policy proposals,[27] engagement with groups of left-of-center coalitions and networks,[28] and so-called leadership programs on “economic justice”[29] and local boards and commissions. [30]
CPI is a member of the left-of-center Partnership for Working Families,[31] a member of the left-of-center Center for Popular Democracy,[32] [33] a civic technology partner of the left-progressive Rock the Vote,[34] and affiliated with the Economic Policy Institute-affiliated Economic Analysis and Research Network and other San Diego-specific left-of-center organizations. [35]
San Diego Activism
CPI plays a leading role in several San Diego activist organizations. CPI organizes A Community Coalition for Responsible Development (ACCORD), comprising of community organizing, labor union-aligned, and liberal religious organizations in San Diego. [36]
As a part of the San Diego Organizing Project’s “Invest in San Diego” program, CPI works alongside ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, ACCE Institute, Chicano Federation, Environmental Health Coalition, and Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, Partners for Progress, and SEIU 221 to shift San Diego’s budget priorities in favor of labor unions. [37]
CPI is the lead convener[38] of the Raise Up San Diego coalition, whose members include the SEIU-United Service Workers West, United Food and Commercial Workers, United Domestic Workers Alliance, and the Interfaith Worker Justice labor union-aligned organization. [39]
CPI leads the Community Schools Coalition with the goal of transforming schools in the San Diego Unified School District into so-called community schools. [40] Participating members include Association of Raza Educators, International Rescue Committee, Justice Overcoming Boundaries, San Diego 350, United Domestic Workers, and Urban League San Diego. [41]
CPI’s Community Budget Alliance aims to change San Diego’s budget and includes left-of-center and labor organizations such as ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, ACCE Institute, AFSCME Local 127, Environmental Health Coalition, Interfaith Worker Justice San Diego, Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA), Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest, San Diego 350, United Domestic Workers Local 3930, and others. [42]
CPI is also a member of left-wing activist organization Engage San Diego. Other partners in this group include abortion provider Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest, the left-of-center ACCE Institute, ACLU California, the left-wing Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, Environmental Health Coalition, and others. [43]
Funding
On April 28, 2020, CPI received a $205,265 loan from the Federal government’s coronavirus PPP program to support its payroll operations. [44] That same year, CPI received a $100,000 grant to support various groups as a part of San Diego Foundation’s COVID-19 Community Response Fund. [45]
In 2019, CPI reported total assets of $3,446,501, including $2,267,391 of revenue through contributions and grants in 2019. [46]
CPI has received numerous donations from major left-of-center foundations since at least 2012. In 2019, CPI received a $75,000 grant from the Windward Fund, an environmentalist fiscal sponsor of dark money organizations controlled by Arabella Advisors. [47] Recipients of these Windward Fund grants all are members and affiliates of the left-of-center Climate Justice Alliance, Partnership for Working Families, People’s Action, and EJ Forum. [48]
CPI received $225,000 in grants from the left-of-center California Endowment in 2019,[49] $225,000 in 2018, [50] and $227,500 in 2017. [51]
In 2019, CPI received a $50,000 grant from the San Diego Foundation, which is partnered with the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, to evaluate racial, gender, and socioeconomic diversity among elected and appointed water board members and to enhance diversity of voices in water decisions. [52]
In 2019, CPI received a Core Support Grant from the Satterberg Foundation valued at $500,000 over 5 years. [53] This grant is an increase from grants of $75,087[54] and $175,477[55] from the foundation in 2017 and 2016, respectively.
Also in 2019, the left-of-center Kresge Foundation issued a $100,000 grant to the Environmental Health Coalition which in turn used the grant to partner with CPI and other groups on climate projects. [56]
In 2018, CPI received a grant of $200,000 from the left-of-center California Wellness Foundation(CWF). [57] CWF also issued grants totaling $180,000 to CPI in 2015 for “advancement of equitable economic prosperity.” [58]
In 2017, CPI received a grant of $187,500 from the left-of-center Marguerite Casey Foundation. [59]
CPI was one of several San Diego-based organizations that was a part of $1.9 million grants from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations (OSF)[60] as a part of OSF’s Open Places Initiative in 2014. [61] [62] CPI was a part of a $100,000 grant from OSF in 2013. [63]
In the past, CPI has also received grants of $175,00 from the left-of-center Rosenberg Foundation,[64]$150,000 from the Marguerite Casey Foundation,[65] $300,000 from James Irvine Foundation,[66] and funding from the environmentalist The Nathan Cummings Foundation. [67] [68]