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Civic Action Fund

Website:

civicaction.fund
Type:

Voter Mobilization Group
Project of:

Sixteen Thirty Fund
Status:

Defuct

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The Civic Action Fund was a left-of-center voter mobilization group and a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a left-of-center electoral advocacy nonprofit managed by the for-profit consulting firm Arabella Advisors. The Civic Action Fund operated in 2020 in 12 separate battleground states with the stated goal of getting “low-propensity voters” to become “lifelong voters.” 1

Several staff and advisors with the Civic Action Fund had associations with Democratic politicians and left-of-center advocacy groups, 2 including former U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), the David Brock-founded super PAC American Bridge, and former President Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. 3

As of December 2022, the Civic Action Fund has stated it has closed their operations. On its website, a message reads, “With great pride in contributing to record voter turnout rates in the 2020 election, Civic Action Fund has wound down its operation and closed.” 4

Background

The Civic Action Fund was a project financially sponsored by the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based left-of-center organization that began in 2018 promoting Democratic Party candidates across the country. 5 The Civic Action Fund operated in a dozen politically contested states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. 1

The organization worked with left-wing politicians and organizations at the local level for get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts. It focused on contacting, “low propensity voters” from left-of-center constituencies to turn them out into reliable voters for left-of-center candidates and ballot propositions.” 1

The group worked with similar organizations at the local level to increase focus on voter turnout among left-of-center groups historically unlikely to vote. It also provided year-round funding to organizations at the local level while listing the Alliance for Youth Action as a partner organization. 1

In 2018, the Civic Action Fund contributed $300,000 to support the campaign for Amendment 4 in Florida to restore the voting rights of convicted felons. The group’s donation constituted 1.2 percent of all funds donated to the campaign, with other top donors including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, and the League of Conservation Voters. The measure passed with almost 65 percent of the vote. 6 7

During the 2020 election, the group was active in 14 states, including the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. 8

As of December 2022, the Civic Action Fund has stated it has closed down their operations. On its website, a message reads, “With great pride in contributing to record voter turnout rates in the 2020 election, Civic Action Fund has wound down its operation and closed.” 4

People

Staff

Ashley Spillane was the executive director of the Civic Action Fund. Spillane previously worked for voter turnout groups including Rock the Vote, the Atlas Project, and Democratic GAIN. 9 In 2016, Spillane became the president of Impactful, a “social impact consulting firm.” 2

Rodell Mollineau was the communications director of Civic Action Fund and was previously a political consultant for the Democratic Party.  From 2011 through 2014, Mollineau led the David Brock-founded political committee American Bridge 21st Century; prior to joining Brock he worked as an aide to former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D). 3 In 2014, Mollineau founded Protagonist Strategies, a political consulting firm, which he owns as of May 2025. In 2015, Mollineau co-founded and became a partner at Rokk Solutions, a “bipartisan public affairs firm.” 10

Matt Singer was the program director of Civic Action Fund. Singer is the founder of National Voter Registration Day and the former executive director of the Alliance for Youth Organizing (formerly known as Bus Federation Civic Fund). 11 Since 2017, Singer has worked as a partner at Impactful, the firm at which former Civic Action Fund executive director Ashley Spillane works as president. From 2017 to 2018, Singer was a senior philanthropic advisor to the Movement Voter Project. 12

Advisors

Jessica Byrd is the founder of consulting firm Three Point Strategies. Previously involved with political campaigns in 43 states,  Byrd has previously worked for contraceptive advocacy group Emily’s List and for the 2008 Presidential campaign of Barack Obama and the campaign’s successor group Organizing for Action. In 2023, Byrd founded the Black Campaign School. 13

Rebecca Lambe is a political consultant who worked for former Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and several Democratic Party-aligned committees with ties to Reid. 9

Mike Podhorzer is the assistant to the president for strategic research at the AFL-CIO, the country’s largest federation of labor unions. He is also the chairman of Catalist and the Analyst Institute. 9

Emmy Ruiz is a Democratic Party political operative. In 2016, she was the Nevada and Colorado state directors for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. she has also worked for the Democratic National Committee, then-U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), and the Texas state-level pro-abortion political committee Annie’s List. 14 From 2021 to January 2025, Ruiz worked as a staffer in President Joe Biden’s administration. 15

Cristina Uribe was previously the treasurer for Arabella-managed nonprofit the North Fund. She has also worked for the National Education Association, EMILY’s List, and the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. 9

Paul Dunn is a Democratic political consultant; during the 2018 elections, he worked for Pro-Democratic Party Super PAC Senate Majority PAC.  16

Funding

In 2020, the Civic Action Fund received $45 million from Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay and  left-of-center donor, who donated $62.1 million that year to 501(c)(4) “social welfare” electoral-advocacy and lobbying organizations that year. 17 Omidyar explained his donation by stating he was “supporting local voter outreach and engagement of young people and people of color.” 8 According to Politico, “another four donors gave [the Civic Action Fund] between $10 million and $20 million, and 27 more gave between $1 million and $5.3 million.” 18

In 2019, the Civic Action Fund received $7 million from Omidyar, who donated $17,507,109 million that year to 501(c)(4) organizations that year. 19

Partners

The Civic Action Fund listed the Movement Cooperative and America Votes as “partners” on its website. 20

References

  1. “About Us.” Civic Action Fund. Archived from the original October 27, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201027230655/https://civicaction.fund/#about
  2. “Ashley Spillane.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-spillane/.
  3. “Rodell Mollineau.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 9, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodell-mollineau-0898776/
  4.  Civic Action Fund, Archived from the original June 11, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220611232622/https://www.civicaction.fund/
  5.  Sixteen Thirty Fund. Open Corporates. Accessed January 4, 2020. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_dc/EXTUID_2696217
  6. Morse, Michael. “The Future of Felon Disenfranchisement Reform: Evidence from the Campaign to Restore Voting Rights in Florida.” UPenn. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1288&context=faculty_articles.
  7. “Florida Amendment 4, Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative (2018).” Ballotpedia. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Amendment_4,_Voting_Rights_Restoration_for_Felons_Initiative_(2018).
  8. Schmad, Robert. “This Liberal Donor Pushes Left-Leaning Groups to Fund Efforts to Turn Out Voters.” The Daily Signal. May 9, 2024. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/05/09/liberal-donor-organizes-coalition-to-fund-voter-mobilization/.
  9. Our Team & Advisors. Accessed January 4, 2020. https://civicaction.fund/our-team/
  10. “Rodell Mollineau.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodell-mollineau-0898776/.
  11. “Steering Committee.” National Voter Registration Day, November 21, 2019. https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/about/steering-committee-2/
  12. “Matt Singer.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattsinger7/.
  13. “Jessica Byrd.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-byrd-5084a238/
  14. Mccaskill, Nolan D. “Harris Hires Ex-Clinton Aide Ruiz and Several Other Women of Color.” POLITICO, February 20, 2019. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/20/kamala-harris-2020-staff-1176679.
  15. “Emmy Ruiz.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmyruiz/.
  16. Burns, Alexander. “To Take the Senate, Democratic Group Will Spend Big in Red States.” The New York Times. The New York Times, July 26, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/us/politics/democrats-senate-midterms.html
  17. “Teddy Schleifer.” X. May 13, 2025. Accessed May 26, 2025. https://x.com/teddyschleifer/status/1922419879644135919?s=46&t=jI5pta-LqWTQoagVEw7hsA.
  18. Bland, Scott. “Liberal ‘dark-money’ behemoth funneled more than $400M in 2020.” Politico. November 17, 2021. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/17/dark-money-sixteen-thirty-fund-522781
  19. “Omidyar Family 501 (c)(4) Disclosures Archive (2019-2023).” The Omidyar Group. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://www.omidyargroup.com/pov/2010/04/06/omidyar-family-disclosures-archive/.
  20. “Our Partners.” Civic Action Fund. Accessed May 27, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20201107031215/https://civicaction.fund/.
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