Non-profit

Liquid Assets Project

Formation:

2015

Type:

Environmentalist Grantmaking Organization

Project of:

Windward Fund

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The Liquid Assets Project is a left-leaning environmentalist grantmaking organization created in 2015 and a project of the Windward Fund, a charitable nonprofit managed by the Washington, D.C.-based consultancy Arabella Advisors. 1

Windward Fund is an environmentalist fiscal sponsor for several other left-of-center organizations including the Liquid Assets Project. 2 Arabella Advisors, a for-profit consulting firm, is the managing organization of Windward Fund. Arabella was founded in 2005 by Eric Kessler, a Clinton administration alumnus and long-time staffer at the League of Conservation Voters. 3 4 5

Background

The Liquid Assets Project funds municipal water infrastructure in the western United States. 6 The Project claims that federal, state, and local funding is too limited and that private investment is necessary to fill the gap in funding. 7 The Project seeks to incentivize municipalities by providing funding to upgrade water infrastructure to upgrade from “default “gray” infrastructure solution to a more environmentalist-friendly approach.” 8 When deciding which areas to fund water projects in, the Liquid Assets Project wrote in a 2018 report that it wishes to identify areas where investing in water infrastructure can also deliver environmental benefits. 9

Funding and Funding Organizations

The Windward Fund, the Liquid Assets Project’s parent organization, received a $100,000 grant from the Gates Family Foundation to support conducting due diligence on the development of the Liquid Assets project. 10

Windward Fund describes itself as a fiscal sponsor of “various ‘projects,’” such as the Liquid Assets Project, that focus on a range of environmental issues. Windward provides legal compliance, finance, and human-resources services to its projects, and additionally seeks to help its projects create greater impact through facilitating connections, providing access to information, and capacity building.” 11

Arabella Advisors is the managing organization of Windward Fund. Arabella is a for profit consulting firm that guides the strategy, advocacy, and management for high-dollar left-leaning nonprofits and individuals. 12 Arabella provides these clients with services that ease their operations and that enable them to enact policies focused on environmentalism and other left-of-center issues. The company was founded in 2005 by Eric Kessler, a Clinton administration alumnus and long-time staffer at the League of Conservation Voters. Between 2008 and 2018, Arabella’s nonprofits paid the company nearly $103 million in contracting and management services fees. 13 14 15

References

  1. “Conservation & Climate.” Arabella Advisors, www.arabellaadvisors.com/expertise/conservation-climate/.
  2. “Philanthropy Fellows Program: Building the Next Generation of Philanthropy Professionals” University of Maryland School of Public Policy Do Good Institute. Original URL: https://publicpolicy.umd.edu/sites/default/files/Windward%20Fund%20at%20Arabella%20Advisors.pdf.
  3. “Arabella Advisors.” Devex. Accessed May 29, 2020. https://www.devex.com/organizations/arabella-advisors-62136
  4. “Project Directory.” New Venture Fund. Accessed May 14, 2020. http://www.newventurefund.org/project-directory/
  5. “Our People.” Arabella Advisors. Accessed May 29, 2020. https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/company/our-people/
  6. The Liquid Assets Project: Impact-Focused Financing for Sustainable Municipal Water Infrastructure Solutions across the American West, waternow.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Elisa-Speranza_The-Liquid-Assets-Project.pdf.
  7. The Liquid Assets Project: Impact-Focused Financing for Sustainable Municipal Water Infrastructure Solutions across the American West, waternow.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Elisa-Speranza_The-Liquid-Assets-Project.pdf.
  8. The Liquid Assets Project: Impact-Focused Financing for Sustainable Municipal Water Infrastructure Solutions across the American West, waternow.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Elisa-Speranza_The-Liquid-Assets-Project.pdf.
  9. The Liquid Assets Project: YEAR TWO – LESSONS LEARNED, Aug. 2018, encouragecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/The-Liquid-Assets-Project-Year-2-Lessons-Learned.pdf.
  10. “Windward Fund – Water Funders Initiative.” Gates Family Foundation, gatesfamilyfoundation.org/grant/windward-fund-water-funders-initiative-2/.
  11.  “Philanthropy Fellows Program: Building the Next Generation of Philanthropy Professionals” University of Maryland School of Public Policy Do Good Institute. Original URL: https://publicpolicy.umd.edu/sites/default/files/Windward%20Fund%20at%20Arabella%20Advisors.pdf
  12. “Conservation & Climate.” Arabella Advisors, www.arabellaadvisors.com/expertise/conservation-climate/.
  13. “Arabella Advisors.” Devex. Accessed May 29, 2020. https://www.devex.com/organizations/arabella-advisors-62136
  14. “Our People.” Arabella Advisors. Accessed May 29, 2020. https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/company/our-people/
  15. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990) (multiple). New Venture FundSixteen Thirty FundHopewell FundWindward Fund. 2008-2018. Part VII. Section B (Independent Contractors)
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