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]