Labor Innovations for the 21^st Century (also known as Lift Fund) is a left-of-center network of organizations that advocates for left-of-center labor policy in the United States. The organization was founded by Anna Fink, the executive director for the Amalgamated Bank Foundation. The foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)-controlled Amalgamated Bank. ¹

The Lift Fund is funded by several high-profile left-of-center grantmaking organizations and makes grants to and partners with many notable labor unions. Lift Fund is a project of the Solidago Foundation, a left-of-center grantmaking organization that supports a wide array of issues ranging from environmentalism to increased unionization. ³

Grantmaking

Lift Fund’s primary function is to fund smaller labor unions and pro-organized labor groups. The organization has made grants to labor unions including the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), SEIU, Unite Here, United Steelworkers (USW), and the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The organization has also made grants to pro-union organizations and worker centers, including Fuerza Laboral, a workers center in Rhode Island; ROC Minnesota, a pro-labor union advocacy organization; and Workers Center for Racial Justice, a Chicago-based left-of-center voter engagement organization. ⁴

Leadership

The Lift Fund was founded by Anna Fink, the executive director for Amalgamated Bank Foundation. Fink has close ties to several labor unions, most notably the AFL-CIO, where she worked as the advisor to then-AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka.⁵

1. “Lift Fund.” Solidago Foundation. Accessed July 22, 2021. https://solidago.org/partners/lift-fund/
3. “Donor Members.” Lift Fund. Accessed July 22, 2021. https://theliftfund.org/donor-members/[/note]

   Funding

   Lift Fund is funded by several left-of-center organizations and labor unions. The organization has received funding from the Ford Foundation, one of the largest left-of-center grantmaking organizations in the United States. The organization has also received funding from the Open Society Foundations, a large left-of-center grantmaking organization created and funded by liberal billionaire financier, George Soros. The Lift Fund has also received grants from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and a number of other left-of-center grantmaking entities. Lift Fund also receives substantial funding from labor unions, most notably the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest federation of labor unions in the United States. ² “Lift Fund: Our Grantees.” Lift Fund. Accessed July 27, 2021. https://theliftfund.org/our-grantees/

4. “Lift Fund: Our Grantees.” Lift Fund. Accessed July 27, 2021. https://theliftfund.org/our-grantees/
5. “Board Members: Anna Fink.” NELP. Accessed July 27, 2021. https://www.nelp.org/board-of-directors/anna-levine-fink/