The Michigan Student Power Alliance (MSPA) is a left-of-center “radical youth” student advocacy nonprofit. The group began as an informal coalition of student organizers known as the “Michigan Student Power Network,” and has since evolved through multiple structural changes. As of June 2025, the group claims to be the only youth-led statewide organization in Michigan focused on providing comprehensive training, mentorship, and paid organizing opportunities for students on college campuses and in communities throughout the state of Michigan. ¹

Programs

The Michigan Student Power Alliance has organized student summits, created voter guides during election seasons, supported short-term initiatives like “guerrilla gardening,” and led statewide issue campaigns in partnership with coalitions of liberal groups focused on engaging students and youth. ¹

Financials

In 2022, the Tides Foundation, a prominent left-of-center grant maker and key funding conduit for various left-wing nonprofit organizations, reported a $245,000 grant to the Michigan Student Power Alliance for “healthy individuals and communities.” ² In 2023, the Tides Foundation gave an additional $215,000 grant. ³ The Tides Foundation also gave grants of $10,000 in 2018, $10,000 in 2019, $35,000 in 2020, and $215,000 in 2023. ^{4 5 6 3}

In 2023, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors reported a $160,000 grant to the Michigan Student Power Alliance, and $10,000 the previous year. ^{7 8}

People

Emily Jones was as the executive director of the Michigan Student Power Alliance as of June 2025, a position she has held since June 2023. Previously, Jones worked as an organizing director with MSPA, a trainer at Michigan Student Power, a field manager at Clean Water Action, a public relations intern at Mt Pleasant Area Community Foundation, and a political organizer at Food and Water Watch. ⁹

Eleanor Aro was the People of Color Caucus coordinator for the Michigan Student Power Alliance as of 2025. ¹⁰ At the time, Aro was a student at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. ¹¹

Maria Sobrino was serving as the director of communication at the Michigan Student Power Alliance as of 2025, a position he had held since August 2022. Sobrino previously worked as editor-in-chief at OJEADA, a quarterly literary and arts publication. She was also editor-in-chief of Latinidad Magazine and vice president of Proyecto Avance. ¹²

1. Michigan Student Power Alliance. “What Is MSPA?” Accessed June 8, 2025. https://www.mistudentpower.org/what-is-mspa
2. The Tides Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. 2022. Schedule 1, part 2, line 1352.
3. The Tides Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. 2023. Schedule 1, part 2, line 1250.
4. The Tides Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. 2018. Schedule 1, part 2, line 1076.
5. The Tides Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. 2019. Schedule 1, part 2, line 782.
6. The Tides Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. 2020. Schedule 1, part 2, line 1218.
7. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. 2023. Schedule 1, part 2, line 746.
8. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. 2022. Schedule 1, part 2, line 662.
9. LinkedIn. “Emily Jones, CNP.” Accessed June 2, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-jones-cnp-626206183/
10. Michigan Student Power Alliance. “Our Team.” Accessed June 8, 2025. https://www.mistudentpower.org/our-team
11. LinkedIn. “Eleanor Aro.” Accessed June 2, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-aro-247b482ba/
12. LinkedIn. “Maria Sobrino.” Accessed June 8, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-sobrino-73101617a/