Common Power Future

The group has led several campaigns promoting mail-in voting and has supported left-of-center election administration policy through the Declaration of American Democracy coalition. Listed partners of the organization include the Democratic National Committee, SEIU 1199, the League of Women Voters, and NextGen America. ^{2 3}

Background and History

Common Power Future was founded in 2018 as an “all-volunteer” initiative and was formally organized as an organization in 2019 with several staff members. The organization states that it made a “hard pivot” at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to increase remote activism and volunteer opportunities including remote campaigns to register voters in targeted states and recruiting volunteers in Seattle to participate in remote get-out-the-vote and voter registration efforts throughout the nation. ³

Charles Douglas, a former brand manager at Starbucks founded the organization as Common Purpose. His wife Larcy Douglas also works for Common Power as the director of finance and the executive director of Common Power Future. ^{4 5 6}

In 2020, the organization changed its name from Common Purpose to Common Power, citing an alignment with the Black Lives Matter movement and a goal of rebranding the organization ahead of supporting Democratic candidates in the 2020 elections. ³

In 2023, Common Power executive director Charles Douglas wrote an article for the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Social Impact Review titled “Next Steps in Our Post-COVID Political World: A Blueprint for Blue-State Organizations.” In the piece, Douglas stated Common Power and its affiliated organizations’ commitment to electing Democratic candidates and flipping states and districts from Republican to Democratic control. Douglas stated that “political organizations headquartered in blue states owe it to fellow citizens to invest in red states and purple states.” He also urged Democrats in blue states to devote time and money to flipping state legislatures controlled by Republicans at the time, including North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Iowa. ⁶

Programs

Common Power Future operates a variety of left-of-center training programs and events as the educational arm of the broader Common Power organization. The group operates the Common Power Future Summer Academy that is designed to engage “college-aged students in learning about voting rights and voting history in America and leads to concrete participation in national civic fieldwork.” ⁷

The program also states that it offers opportunities to conduct local community organizing, learn about misinformation and disinformation, and boasts opportunities “including special sessions with professional athletes, up and coming journalists and even elected officials.” The program pays students a $1,000 stipend and the listing for program applications notes that undocumented students are eligible to apply. ⁷

The group also operates a “Campus Leads Program” that offers a 6-month internship to students to conduct organizing on campus and a “squads” program that creates small teams of organizers to conduct “impactful civic endeavors.” ⁸

Institute for Common Power

Common Power Future founded the Institute for Common Power, an organization dedicated to promoting voting access and left-of-center election administration policy. The institute’s website states that “Ensuring a vote for all is essential to dismantling systems of injustice and creating equitable healthcare, living wages, decent housing, affordable education, and so much more.” Further stating that “Voting has always been contested in America, and today this foundational democratic power is under assault–especially for communities of color.” ⁹

Political Activity

While Common Power Future is organized as a nonprofit educational organization, much of the organization’s work is centered around explicitly supporting Democratic candidates in competitive congressional and statewide elections. The organization has reported providing support to Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Kentucky as well as U.S. Senate candidates in Arizona and Nevada. The group also supported other Democratic state-level and congressional campaigns. ¹⁰

Common Power Future is organized as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) educational organization but its parent organization, Common Power is a 501(c)(4) lobbying and advocacy organization. While public tax and financial records exist for Common Power Future, Common Power was granted tax exempt status in February 2023 and no records were available for the organization as of December 2023. ^{1 11}

Political Action Committee

Common Power Future and Common Power also operate a political action committee called the Common Power PAC, which is organized as a hybrid PAC also known as a Carey Committee. The PAC reported spending $2.86 million during the 2020 election cycle and $3 million during the 2022 election cycle in support of Democratic campaigns. The PAC also spent a significant amount of its overall spending on administrative expenses. The PAC spent over half of its total expenditures from 2019 to 2020 on salaries, administrative expenses, and “unclassifiable” expenses. It also provided over $200,000 in salary to Common Power executive director Charles Douglas during that time frame. ^{12 13}

Affiliated Organizations

Common Power Future has listed several left-of-center advocacy groups and political organizations as state-level or national partners in its voter outreach efforts. The group has also listed the Democratic National Committee as a partner as well as state Democratic parties in states where it has helped Democratic candidates. Other partners listed by the organization include the League of Women Voters of Maine, Black PAC, NextGen America, New Virginia Majority, SEIU 1199, Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Florida Forward Action, Florida Rights and Restoration Coalition, the New Georgia Project, Indivisible, Mi Familia Vota, Move Texas, and the Harris County Democratic Party. ¹⁴

Declaration for American Democracy

Common Power is a member of the Declaration for American Democracy, a coalition of left-leaning activist groups that advocates for a series of governmental and electoral administration policy changes. The coalition supports Congressional legislation that would enact several left-leaning policy priorities surrounding elections including enacting automatic voter registration and placing restrictive regulations on political campaign-related speech acts. The organization is a project of Public Citizen Foundation, a left of center advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader. ¹⁵