Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan (EJAM) is a Detroit-based left-of-center economic and racial issue advocacy organization. EJAM has focused advocacy on economic issues such as raising minimum wage and race-related issues.

The organization and its leaders have close ties to the Democratic Party and its supported issues. Lacy Dawson, the executive director for the organization, previously worked for the Democratic National Committee and related projects. EJAM has received grants from numerous left-of-center and liberal organizations including the Ford Foundation, New Venture Fund, and the Sixteen Thirty Fund. ^{1 2 3}

EJAM Partners

Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan partners with left-of-center and liberal organizations. EJAM’s partners are largely focused on racial and economic issues centered around the city of Detroit. Notable of these partners are Detroit People’s Platform, a liberal race-advocacy organization focused on “Black liberation,” and the fight “against white supremacy.” ⁴ EJAM is also partners with Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network, a Unitarian Universalist religious organization that advocates for broadly liberal issues concerning LGBT rights, race-issues, and environmentalism. Other notable organizations listed as partners of EJAM include ROC Michigan, a union-aligned and supported labor-issue organization; the Ezekiel Project, a left-of-center organization focused on criminal justice overhaul; and Mothering Justice, a liberal racial-minority advocacy organization. ⁵

“Justice Reads!” Program

Justice Reads! is a program of suggested reading organized by Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan. Much of the literature in the Justice Reads! list is race-focused and pushes rhetoric regarding supposed systematic racism in the United States, “white fragility,” and anti-capitalism sentiments. Notable authors included in the list are Howard Zinn, a socialist American historian; Alicia Garza, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement who has been described as a “trained Marxist”; and Ta-Nehisi Coates, a journalist and author who stated that white presidents of the United States “made their way to high office through the passive power of whiteness—that bloody heirloom which cannot ensure mastery of all events but can conjure a tailwind for most of them.” ⁶

The Justice Reads! list also includes works by authors that are prominent members of the Democratic Party. Notably included in the list are works by Stacey Abrams, Democratic former Georgia state representative and failed gubernatorial candidate who has claimed that voting ID laws are inherently racist; and Frances Fox Piven, an outspoken Democratic Socialist who has supported a number of Democratic officials including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY); and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). ⁷

Leadership

DeWayne Wells is the executive director for Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan. Prior to joining EJAM, Wells worked as an accountant for various firms and in leadership for various soup kitchens in the Detroit area. ⁸

Lacy Dawson is the director of leadership and organizational development for EJAM. Dawson previously worked at Michigan Voices, a Michigan-based organization that pushes a leftist race-based agenda. She also worked for Organizing for America, a Democratic National Committee-backed project founded shortly after the inauguration of President Barack Obama that sought backing for his legislative agenda. ⁹ Dawson also worked as a voting rights program manager for the ACLU, one of the largest left-of-center civil rights organizations in the United States. ¹⁰ According to FEC individual contribution records, Dawson donated $452.75 in 2012 to Obama for America, the PAC associated with President Obama’s re-election campaign. ¹¹

Alicia Renee Farris is the chair of the board of directors for EJAM. Farris is the COO for Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, one of the largest workers’ centers in the United States. As a leader of ROC-MI, Farris has headed numerous state-wide campaigns, most notable of these being the organization’s 2019 initiative to raise the Michigan minimum wage to $12. ¹²

Grantmaking

Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan makes annual grants to organizations aligned with its left-of-center mission. Between 2017 and 2019, the organization made grants totaling $168,100 to ROC-MI, the Michigan state branch of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United; $116,100 to MOSES, a Michigan-based organization that trains religious leaders to push liberal policies; and $136,100 to Mothering Justice, an organization whose mission aims to make “BIPOC mothers a dominant voice in policy-making.” ^{13 14}

Financials

In 2019, Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan reported total revenue of $777,015, total expenses of $756,927, and total assets of $839,582. ¹⁵

EJAM has received large grants from a number of left-leaning and liberal organizations. A large portion of EJAM’s revenue comes from the Ford Foundation, one of the largest left-of-center grantmaking organizations in the United States. Since 2016, EJAM has received a total of $3,570,000 from the Ford Foundation. ¹⁶ Since 2017, the organization has also received grants totaling $400,000 from New Venture Fund, a large left-of-center grantmaking and fiscal sponsorship organization. ¹⁷ The organization also received $20,000 in 2020 from the Michigan Civic Action Fund, a fiscally sponsored program of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the lobbying “sister” of the New Venture Fund, both of which are administered by Arabella Advisors, a philanthropy consulting firm that caters to left-of-center clients based in Washington, D.C. ¹⁸

1. “Grants Database: Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan.” Ford Foundation. Accessed January 16, 2022. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/grants-database/grants-all?search=%26SearchText%3Deconomic%20justice%20alliance%20of%20michigan&page=NaN&minyear=2006&maxyear=2022
2. 2017-2019 IRS Returns of Organization Exempt from Income Tax: New Venture Fund. Part II: Grants.
3. 2020 IRS Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax: Michigan Civic Action Fund. Part II Grants.
4. “Detroit People’s Platform: About.” Detroit People’s Platform. Accessed December 7, 2021. https://www.detroitpeoplesplatform.org/about/
5. “Partner Organizations.” EJAM. Accessed December 10, 2021. https://mieconomicjustice.org/ejam-partners/
6. “The First White President.” Ta-Nehisi Coates. The Atlantic. Accessed January 16, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/the-first-white-president-ta-nehisi-coates/537909/
7. “Justice Reads!” EJAM. Accessed January 16, 2022. https://mieconomicjustice.org/justice-reads/
8. “Staff & Board: W. DeWayne Wells.” EJAM. Accessed January 16, 2022. https://mieconomicjustice.org/staff-board/
9. “Staff & Board: Lacy Dawson.” EJAM. Accessed January 16, 2022. https://mieconomicjustice.org/staff-board/
10. Linkedin User Profile: Lacy Dawson. Linkedin.com. Accessed January 16, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lacy-dawson-a9a0ba46/
11. Individual Contributions: Lacy Dawson. FEC.gov. Accessed January 16, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=lacy%20dawson
12. “Staff & Board: Alicia Renee Farris.” EJAM. Accessed January 16, 2022. https://mieconomicjustice.org/staff-board/
13. “About Mothering Justice.” Mothering Justice. Accesses January 16, 2022. https://www.motheringjustice.org/about
14. 2017-2019 IRS Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. EJAM. Part II: Grants.
15. 2019 IRS Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax: EJAM. Part I: Summary.
16. “Grants Database: Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan.” Ford Foundation. Accessed January 16, 2022. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/grants-database/grants-all?search=%26SearchText%3Deconomic%20justice%20alliance%20of%20michigan&page=NaN&minyear=2006&maxyear=2022
17. 2017-2019 IRS Returns of Organization Exempt from Income Tax: New Venture Fund. Part II: Grants.
18. 2020 IRS Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax: Michigan Civic Action Fund. Part II Grants.