League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF)

LWVEF and the League have received multiple millions in grants from major left-of-center donors, including the Craigslist Charitable Fund, the Turner Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and the MacArthur Foundation. ²

Background

The League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) is a 501(c)(3) organization and the education and fundraising arm of the League of Women Voters of the United States (abbreviated as LWV or “the League”) which is a 501(c)(4) organization that lobbies and advocates on a number of left-leaning issues. ³

Activities

During the 2020 elections, the League of Women Voters Education Fund implemented the COVID Elections Fund to mobilize up to 1 million voters and register an additional 500,000 new voters. The fund worked with elections officials ostensibly to “ensure safe and accessible voter options during the coronavirus pandemic.” ⁴

One of the goals of the LWVEF was “expanding registration and participation for the New American Majority (the growing demographic of voters that include Americans with limited incomes, communities of color, non-college youth, unmarried women, and new citizens).” ⁵

In August 2024, the LWVEF and Girl Scouts USA announced a two-year partnership to promote the Girl Scouts’ Promote the Vote program. According to LWVEF, “Through Promote the Vote, Girl Scout troops and League of Women Voters (LWV) volunteers can write letters, send texts and conduct outreach encouraging potential voters to go to the ballot box, which gives Girl Scouts the opportunity to get involved in the democratic process, even if they’re not of voting age.” ⁶

In April 2025, the LWVEF, the LWV of Arizona, NAACP, Hispanic Federation, OCA—Asian Pacific American Advocates, and Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote filed a lawsuit against the second Trump administration in response to an executive order that sought to make changes to federal elections including requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote and to require mail ballots be received by Election Day in order to count. The letter claimed the executive order violated the separation of powers and federal law. In October 2025, a federal district court in the District of Columbia granted a permanent injunction barring the Election Assistance Commission from implementing the executive order. ⁷

In November 2025, the LWVEF, the League of Women Voters, and several of its state and local chapters sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over its decision to ban the League from conducting voter registration drives at naturalization ceremonies. DHS had banned non-governmental groups from being present at the ceremonies but permitted state and local government officials to provide information and voter registration services. The plaintiffs alleged in court filings that “[t]he Ban discriminates — based on viewpoint, content, and the identity of the speaker — against speech promoting the right to vote for new citizens,” The U.S. government responded by alleging the ban was put in place because it was an “administrative burden” to determine how nonpartisan specific groups are. ⁸

Leadership

Dianna Wynn is the president of the League of Women Voters Education Fund, having been appointed in 2024. She first joined the board in 2022 as the League of Women Voters’ vice president. Prior to joining the national League’s board, she was president of League of Women Voters of Wake County in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is a former president of the ACLU of North Carolina. She works as a communications consultant who works with governments, nonprofits, and businesses. ⁹

Celina Stewart is the CEO of the League and the LWVEF, having been appointed in 2024.  She first joined the League in 2018 as its director of advocacy and litigation. Among the campaigns she oversaw as its director of advocacy was the group’s work on redistricting and the campaign to support getting rid of the Electoral College. Prior to joining the League, she was the director of philanthropy at FairVote. Prior to joining FairVote, she served as a staffer in the Michigan Legislature and served as legal counsel to then-Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D). She also worked as the executive director for the Congressional Black Caucus’s 21^st Century Council. ¹⁰

Funding

The Education Fund and various other League affiliates have received support from major liberal donors such as the Ford Foundation, George Soros’s Foundation to Promote Open Society, and the Tides Foundation. ¹¹

George Soros underwrites League activities through his two philanthropies, Open Society Foundations (formerly the Open Society Institute) which granted $1,578,020 between 1999 and 2015, and Foundation to Promote Open Society, which also granted $1,578,020 between 1999 and 2015. The Ford Foundation granted $1,075,000 between 1999 and 2015, and the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation granted $4,230,788 between 1998 and 2015. ¹¹

Other donors include the Carnegie Corporation of New York which granted $1,990,000 to the Education Fund between 2006 and 2024 for “democracy; ¹² the MacArthur Foundation, which granted the Education Fund $250,000 in 2012 to “support its Public Advocacy for Voter Protection Project”;¹³ and Pierre Omidyar’s Democracy Fund, which granted $250,000 in 2016 and $385,000 in 2018. ¹⁴

According to the LWVEF’s 2024 tax returns, the group had $8,019,007 in revenue, $9,809,446 in expenses, and $9,188,698 in net assets. The group received $75,000 in government grants. ¹⁵

The group spent $670,638 in advocacy and $440,570 for “external affairs.” ¹⁵

The group awarded $655,500 in grants to state and local League affiliates. ¹⁵