The Civic Engagement Fund is a left-of-center advocacy organization headquartered in Washington D.C. which works as an incubator, creating other left of center organizations to advocate on a wide variety of topics. It is supported and funded by the New Venture Fund, a left-of-center advocacy philanthropy initiative managed by the consultancy Arabella Advisors, known for concealing the sources of its funding. ¹

The Civic Engagement Fund also supports research and analysis work in support of its overall left-of-center political mission, having commissioned and published a report on young third-party voters.

Purpose

The Civic Engagement Fund is a left-of-center advocacy organization, and project of the New Venture Fund, a of left-of-center grant-making organization which has been accused of serving as a “dark money” fund for concealing the identities of its donors. ^{2 3} The Civic Engagement Fund serves as an incubator for other left-wing and left-of-center organizations, such as Only Through Us, a left-wing advocacy group focused on supporting left-wing national security policies like closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and expanding immigration. ^{4 5}

The Civic Engagement Fund provides grants to “start-up” left-of-center organizations through several avenues. It provides workspace, similar to private sector incubators, from which their fledgling advocacy groups can operate. ⁶ It also offers direct funding through grants, offered to left-of-center advocacy groups. ⁷ It also recruits volunteers for work with them and their subsidiary organizations. ⁸

Outside of the incubator role, Civic Engagement Fund also works to provide survey data and accompanying analysis for use by left-of-center and left-wing advocacy groups. ⁹ In 2017, it published a report on youth who voted for third-party candidates in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. ¹⁰ The report aims to help Democratic Party candidates and activists target young, possible-swing voters. Alongside presenting data suggesting lack of youth enthusiasm for Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the report also included interviews and profiles from third-party youth voters.

Key Individuals

Andrea Hailey

Andrea Hailey, a board member for abortion-rights advocacy group NARAL Pro-Choice America, heads the Civic Engagement Fund. ¹¹ As head of the Civic Engagement Fund she has worked to provide support left-of-center causes.

Karen Finney

A former spokeswoman for the Democratic National Convention and current commentator for CNN, Karen Finney also currently holds a senior position at NARAL, as the vice chair of its board. ¹² She also was a senior spokesperson for Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign, where she worked to defend the candidate during her email scandal. ¹³

Meighan Stone

Meighan Stone is a board member for the Civic Engagement Fund. She also works as a senior fellow for women and foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. ¹⁴ She sits on the board of Indivisible, a left-of-center advocacy group co-founded by Ezra Levin, author of Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda. ¹⁵

Andy Kim

U.S. Representative Andy Kim (D-NJ) acts as an advisor to the Civic Engagement Fund. ¹⁶ Kim helped found RISE Stronger, a “Trump resistance” organization with far-left members. ^{17 18} He is listed as its founder on the Civic Engagement Fund website. ¹⁹

1. “Only Through US (Job Posting).” Idealist. Accessed February 22, 2019. Original URL: https://www.idealist.org/es/gobierno/f07082de106040f39fad8ae873905b0a-only-through-us-washington;

   Also available here: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2019/02/civic-engagement-fund-project-only-through-us.png

2. Markay, Lachlan. “Over 100 Left-Wing Groups Sourced to DC Dark Money Outfit.” Washington Free Beacon. Washington Free Beacon, October 22, 2015. https://freebeacon.com/issues/over-100-left-wing-groups-sourced-to-d-c-dark-money-outfit/.
3. “Only Through US.” Idealist. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://www.idealist.org/es/gobierno/f07082de106040f39fad8ae873905b0a-only-through-us-washington.
4. “Only Through US.” Only Through US. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://www.onlythroughus.org/.
5. “Only Through US.” Idealist. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://www.idealist.org/es/gobierno/f07082de106040f39fad8ae873905b0a-only-through-us-washington.
6. “Join.” Civic Engagement Fund. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://civicengagementfund.org/join.
7. “Join.” Civic Engagement Fund. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://civicengagementfund.org/join.
8. “Join.” Civic Engagement Fund. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://civicengagementfund.org/join.
9. “Home Page.” Civic Engagement Fund. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://civicengagementfund.org/.
10. “Home Page.” Civic Engagement Fund. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://civicengagementfund.org/.
11. “Board of Directors.” NARAL Pro-Choice America. Accessed January 5, 2020.  https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/about/board-of-directors/.
12. “Karen Finney.” GW School of Media & Public Affairs. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://smpa.gwu.edu/karen-finney.
13. Easton, Nina. “Meet the Woman Who Speaks for Hillary Clinton.” Fortune. Fortune, July 9, 2015. https://fortune.com/2015/05/27/karen-finney-hillary-clinton/.
14. “Meighan Stone.” Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://www.cfr.org/expert/meighan-stone.
15. Tolan, Casey. “Meet the Husband-Wife Duo Who Are Sparking a Liberal Tea Party Movement.” The Mercury News. The Mercury News, May 18, 2017. https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/05/13/anti-trump-indivisible-tea-party/.
16. “About CEF.” Civic Engagement Fund. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://civicengagementfund.org/read-me.
17. Catalini, Mike. “GOP Rep. MacArthur, Dem Challenger Kim Face off in Forum.” AP NEWS. Associated Press, July 31, 2018. https://apnews.com/7c722b7d005d4ed38d385a9f994025d8.
18. Levinsky, David. “The Facts behind Some of the Advertising in the MacArthur-Kim Contest.” Burlington County Times. Burlington County Times, October 21, 2018. https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/news/20181022/facts-behind-some-of-advertising-in-macarthur-kim-contest.
19. “About CEF.” Civic Engagement Fund. Accessed January 5, 2020. https://civicengagementfund.org/read-me.