Inclusive Economy Action Fund (Democracy Alliance)

IEAF began in 2015, using the left-of-center Sixteen Thirty Fund (1630 Fund) as its “fiscal sponsor. Sixty Thirty Fund has been criticized for engaging in the same type of “dark money” practices that left-of-center organizations, including IEAF, claim to oppose. ^{3 4} In 2016, IEAF reported $900,000 in revenue. ⁵

The Inclusive Economy Action Fund is affiliated with the Inclusive Economy Fund (IEF), a nonprofit charitable organization. IEF is fiscally sponsored by the Sixteen Thirty Fund’s sister nonprofit, the New Venture Fund, which has also been criticized for “dark money” practices. ⁶ IEAF and IEF share an advisory board which features many prominent Democratic donors and activists. ⁵

The IEAF and IEF projects appear to have ended in 2018. ⁷

Founding and History

IEAF began in 2015 as one of the Democracy Alliance’s 2020 State Funds. These funds were designed to support left-of-center causes in twelve states deemed important for left-progressive electoral and policy victories, including Florida, North Carolina, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Colorado, Minnesota, and Oregon. ^{8 5} After former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 presidential election, the Democracy Alliance focused its attention on state and local initiatives to promote left-of-center policy implementation. ⁹

IEAF uses the Sixteen Thirty Fund as its “fiscal sponsor,” making it difficult to track IEAF revenue sources. ^{3 5} Documents from the Democracy Alliance showed that IEAF raised $900,000 and administered the same amount in grants in 2016. ⁵

The website for Democracy Alliance does not have any information about IEF or IEAF after 2018, and the Alliance did not feature either project in its 2019 investment recommendations. ¹⁰

Political Activities

In 2016, both IEF and IEAF promoted state and federal campaigns to enact left-wing economic policies, including a $15 federal minimum wage. The Funds used a number of state-based allies to target legislation in ten states, most of which are presidential election swing states. ⁵

IEAF and IEF worked mostly in the west, partnering with left-of-center organizations including Raise Up Washington, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA), Organizers in the Land of Enchantment (OLÉ), and Together Colorado. The Funds also worked with the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, the AMOS Project, ISAIAH, and Take Action in the Midwest. Along the East Coast, the IEAF and IEF supported the Florida Institute for Reform and Empowerment (formerly F.I.R.E.), Organize Now, the Connecticut Working Families Organization, and the Maine People’s Alliance to advocate for left-of-center policy goals. ⁵

IEAF and IEF also supported the Hedge Clippers campaign in Florida, Minnesota, and Ohio. The Hedge Clippers campaign claims to oppose “dark money,” though it is supported by IEAF funding through the Sixteen Thirty Fund, an organization critics and observers have said employs “dark money.” ^{4 2 3}

IEAF and IEF determined grantmaking priorities based on the work of many Democracy Alliance-affiliated partner organizations. These include left-of-center think tanks and advocacy groups, such as Americans for Financial Reform, the Center for American Progress, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Demos, the Economic Policy Institute, National Employment Law Project, and the Roosevelt Institute. ²

Leadership

The shared IEAF and IEF advisory board includes several noted left-of-center activists and Democratic donors. The board includes activists like Peter Colavito, senior advisor to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Alan S. Davis, director of the WhyNot Initiative; Robert Master, spokesperson for Communication Workers of America (CWA); Michelle Ringuette, assistant to the president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT); and Damon Silvers, director of policy and special counsel to the AFL-CIO. ⁵

The IEAF and IEF board also includes a number of Democratic donors and philanthropists, including Democracy Alliance board member  David DesJardins; philanthropist and Democratic Party donor Nick Hanauer; Lisa Guide, associate director of the Rockefeller Family Fund; Eric Halperin, former senior advisor to the Open Society Foundations; and Matt Hollamby of the left-of-center Wyss Foundation. ⁵