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. ⁶ 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.” ⁶ 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. ⁷

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. ⁸

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.” ²

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. ¹ 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. ^{3 5 9}

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: YEAR TWO – LESSONS LEARNED, Aug. 2018, encouragecapital.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/The-Liquid-Assets-Project-Year-2-Lessons-Learned.pdf.
8. “Windward Fund – Water Funders Initiative.” Gates Family Foundation, gatesfamilyfoundation.org/grant/windward-fund-water-funders-initiative-2/.
9. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990) (multiple). New Venture Fund, Sixteen Thirty Fund, Hopewell Fund, Windward Fund. 2008-2018. Part VII. Section B (Independent Contractors)