The Groundwork Collaborative is a left-of-center activist group with a particular focus on economic issues. It is a fiscally-sponsored project of the New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) arm of the Arabella Advisors “dark money” network of liberal pass-through funding organizations. ¹ The organization was launched in 2018 to promote left-wing economic policies. ²

Policy Positions

As for key public policy issues, the organization lists claims the economy must be “built by workers,” seeming to support organized labor; focuses on all races, ethnicities, genders and orientation; and an “uncorrupted government, free from the capture of wealthy interest,” which implies support for campaign finance restrictions. ³

The Groundwork Collaborative took a transparently opportunistic approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Janelle Jones, a managing director for the group, told the New York Times: “This is truly a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Policymakers need to focus on restructuring our economy in a way that rebalances power toward workers.” ⁴

Leadership

Michael Linden is the executive director. He previously worked as managing director of policy and research for the Hub Project. He was also previously an advisor to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, (D-WA). Before joining Murray’s staff he was the managing director for economic policy at the Center for American Progress, a Democratic Party establishment-aligned think tank. ⁵

Angela Hanks is the deputy executive director. She has written for New York Times, Washington Post, and The Atlantic and is a regular contributor to Forbes.com. She previously worked as director of workforce development policy at the Center for American Progress, and senior federal policy analyst at the National Skills Coalition. She also formerly worked for the Democratic staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform committee and was a legislative assistant to former U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD). ⁶

Janelle Jones is the managing director for policy and research. She previously worked at the labor union-aligned think tank Economic Policy Institute, the left-wing Center for Economic Policy Research, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. ⁷

Sapna Mehta is the director of policy and research for the organization after previously working at the Main Street Alliance and the office of the New York City Comptroller. ⁸

Claire Guzdar is the director of campaigns and partnerships. She was previously the associated director of the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress. Before that, she was a lobbyist at NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice. ⁹

Hugo Castro is the director of operations. He previously worked at the Democracy Fund. ¹⁰

1. Hayden R. Ludwig. “Big Money in Dark Shadows: Arabella Advisors’ Half-billion-dollar ‘Dark Money’ Network.” Capital Research Center (DarkMoneyATM.org). https://darkmoneyatm.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/CRC_Arabella-Advisors-Dark-Money_small.pdf
2. Idealist. Accessed May 1, 2020. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/e9c63ab4d6e54afcb84542037150d205-the-groundwork-collaborative-washington?redirected-from-listing=true
3. About Us. Groundwork Collaborative. Accessed May 1, 2020.  https://groundworkcollaborative.org/about-groundwork/
4. Miller, Claire. “Could the Pandemic Wind Up Fixing What’s Broken About Work in America?” The New York Times. April 10, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/upshot/coronavirus-future-work-america.html
5. Meet Us. Groundwork Collaborative. https://groundworkcollaborative.org/meet-us/
6. Meet Us. Groundwork Collaborative. https://groundworkcollaborative.org/meet-us/
7. Meet Us. Groundwork Collaborative. https://groundworkcollaborative.org/meet-us/
8. Meet Us. Groundwork Collaborative. https://groundworkcollaborative.org/meet-us/
9. Meet Us. Groundwork Collaborative. https://groundworkcollaborative.org/meet-us/
10. Meet Us. Groundwork Collaborative. https://groundworkcollaborative.org/meet-us/