Michigan Voices

Michigan Voices is a left-leaning voter mobilization group that coordinates the efforts of other left-leaning activist groups in Michigan. The group is part of the nationwide coalition State Voices, which organizes state-based political advocacy groups. 1 It works with organizations such as the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan, and American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. 2

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3)
Website: www.michiganvoices.org
Location: Detroit, MI View on map
Tax ID: 83-0612165
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $6,205,801 Revenue: $10,899,011 Expenses: $8,508,253

Contents

    Overview

    Michigan Voices coordinates and supports the work of left-progressive Michigan-based political advocacy groups, including groups that focus on abortion, the environment, social issues, economics, voting, immigration, housing and education. It refers to these groups as “table partners.” 2

    One of these organizations is the Detroit Branch of the NAACP, 2 a civil rights organization that focuses on criminal justice, education, voting, and other issues relating to black and other racial minorities. 3 Michigan Voices also works with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan — the state affiliate associated with Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund — to further pro-abortion political action. 4 Another organization that is a Michigan Voices’ table partner is the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. It is a non-profit political advocacy organization that was established in 1959 as the Michigan branch of the American Civil Liberties Union. 5

    Because Michigan Voices has gross receipts of less than $50,000 annually, it does not file a Form 990 with the IRS. 6

    People

    Sommer Foster is the co-executive director and chief operating officer of Michigan Voices. 7 She was elected to the Canton Township Board Trustees, worked for For Our Future Action Fund, was the director of policy and outreach at Equality Michigan, and was elected to the Canton Public Library Board of Trustees as vice-chair. She is the chair and founding member of the Beloved Community Plymouth Canton, a left-leaning group that works to mobilize political and civic engagement among ethnic and racial minorities. Foster also worked for U.S. Rep. David Curson (D-MI), state Rep. Dian Slavens (D-Canton Township), and interned for Obama for America. 8

    Tameka Ramsey is the co-executive director and CEO of Michigan Voices. Tameka worked as the interim director of Michigan Voices before becoming co-director of the organization. Prior to Michigan Voices, Tameka co-founded left-progressive social policy organization Pontiac Policy Council. 7

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $6,205,801 $10,899,011 $8,508,253 View
    2023 $3,634,418 $3,144,768 $2,768,802 View
    2022 $3,346,793 $6,618,319 $5,021,691 View
    2021 $1,745,937 $3,376,079 $1,716,017 View

    Revenue Detail

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    • Number of Employees: 21

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Sommer FosterEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR$136,604

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $22,816,993
    • Number of Grants: 105
    • Number of Funders: 57

    Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $2,315,0002024 Michigan Civic Education FundPROGRAM SUPPORT
    $1,526,8832021 State VoicesPUBLIC EDUCATION AND NONPARTISAN CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
    $1,318,5002024 Tides FoundationHEALTHY INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES
    $1,050,0002022 Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc.GENERAL
    $1,009,3832022 The Susan Thompson Buffett FoundationPROJECT SUPPORT
    $600,0002024 Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc.CIVIL RIGHTS, SOCIAL ACTION & ADVOCACY, CIVIL RIGHTS, SOCIAL ACTION & ADVOCACY
    $600,0002024 Promote the Vote Fund IncPROGRAM SUPPORT
    $550,0002023 Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc.GENERAL
    $543,0002022 State VoicesPUBLIC EDUCATION AND NONPARTISAN CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
    $503,1182025 The Susan Thompson Buffett FoundationGENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
    $500,0002024 Community Foundation for Southeast MichiganVOTER EDUCATION/REGISTRATION
    $500,0002024 NEO PhilanthropyProgram Grant
    $500,0002024 Silicon Valley Community Foundation
    $500,0002022 The David and Lucile Packard Foundationto support outreach and organizing in Michigan on abortion, especially those conflicted on the issue
    $486,0002022 Michigan Civic Education FundPROGRAM SUPPORT
    $474,3232024 State VoicesPUBLIC EDUCATION AND NONPARTISAN CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
    $450,0002022 NEO PhilanthropyProgram Grant
    $446,8002024 Voter Registration Project Education FundVOTER REGISTRATION
    $411,9142022 Tides FoundationHEALTHY INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES
    $323,1322022 Voter Registration Project Education FundVOTER REGISTRATION
    $314,5722024 Voter Registration ProjectVOTER REGISTRATION
    $300,0002024 Silicon Valley Community Foundation
    $300,0002023 NEO PhilanthropyProgram Grant
    $300,0002023 We the People MiProgram Support
    $300,0002023 Wellspring Philanthropic Fund IncGENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

    All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $6,625,975
    • Number of Grants: 117
    • Number of Recipients: 66

    Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $500,0002022 PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MICHIGANVOTER ENGAGEMENT
    $349,5022021 Michigan Organizing ProjectREDISTRICTING ELECTION PROTECTION
    $331,3372022 Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice NetworkREDISTRICTING ELECTION
    $300,4202024 Detroit Change InitiativeGOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $276,6002024 North Flint Neighborhood Action Council IncELECTION PROTECTION GOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $262,0002024 Arab Community Center for Economic & Social Services (ACCESS)ELECTION PROTECTION GOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $252,7002024 Michigan Organizing ProjectELECTION PROTECTION GOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $206,9762022 Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote – MichiganREDISTRICTING ELECTION
    $178,1332024 Non-Profit Enterprise at Work, Inc.GOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $175,3002024 The Proactive Project IncELECTION PROTECTION GOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $150,0002024 Glpa-Lead Education FundREPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
    $143,6222024 DETROIT HISPANIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONELECTION PROTECTION GOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $130,3332024 Society for Humanistic Judaism Humanistic JudaismGOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $121,7502022 The Proactive Project IncELECTION PROTECTION
    $117,0002024 Emgage FoundationELECTION PROTECTION GOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $106,5272022 Detroit Change InitiativeREDISTRICTING ELECTION
    $105,0002024 Equality MichiganELECTION PROTECTION GOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $104,0002024 Warriors on Wheels of Metropolitan DetroitELECTION PROTECTION GOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $99,4062024 A Philip Randolph Institute Detroit DownriverVOTER REGISTRATION
    $87,5002022 LGBT DetroitREDISTRICTING ELECTION
    $79,0002024 Michigan Disability Rights CoalitionGOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $70,5002024 Count Mi Vote Education FundVOTER REGISTRATION
    $70,4002024 MICHIGAN LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUNDGOTV VOTER REGISTRATION
    $69,5002022 A Philip Randolph Institute Detroit DownriverREDISTRICTING ELECTION
    $69,1002024 Thou Art Embrace the RockGOTV VOTER REGISTRATION

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    Contact Us

    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. “Michigan.” Voices For Power. Accessed September 22, 2020. https://voicesforpower.statevoices.org/states/michigan/.
    2. “TABLE PARTNERS.” Mivoices. Accessed September 17, 2021. https://www.michiganvoices.org/table-partners.
    3. “Advocacy — Detroit Branch NAACP.” Detroit Branch NAACP. Accessed September 17, 2021. https://www.detroitnaacp.org/civil-rights.
    4. “About Us | Planned Parenthood Advocates of Michigan.” Plannedparenthoodmi. Accessed September 17, 2021. https://www.miplannedparenthood.org/about-us.
    5. “ACLU of Michigan Foundation.” Charity Navigator – Your Guide To Intelligent Giving. Last modified August 2, 2021. https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/237243421.
    6. Michigan Voices. IRS.gov. Accessed September 28, 2021. https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/detailsPage?ein=830612165&name=Michigan%20Voices&city=Detroit&state=MI&countryAbbr=US&dba=&type=CHARITIES,%20DETERMINATIONLETTERS,%20EPOSTCARD&orgTags=CHARITIES&orgTags=DETERMINATIONLETTERS&orgTags=EPOSTCARD
    7. “Michigan Voice: Doing the Work Mid-Year Newsletter.” Michigan Voice. Last modified October 2020. https://7efc41c8-7f4e-4173-a1be-9c233f23b811.filesusr.com/ugd/0a00d2_eff61cfaa0874925812a58949965befc.pdf.
    8. “Sommer Foster Joins Michigan Voices to Build BIPOC Political Power.” State Voices. Last modified October 22, 2020. https://www.statevoices.org/2020/03/18/summer-foster-joins-michigan-voices-to-build-bipoc-political-power/.