The Mosaic Cooperative is a “Black trans-led cooperative” that advocates for transgender interests in the state of Maryland and across the D.C., Maryland, and northern Virginia (DMV) metro area. ¹

The organization is a fiscally sponsored project of the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ), an organizing group that provides “fiscal sponsorship” to groups advocating numerous foreign and domestic far-left and radical-left causes, and is also a member of the New Economy Coalition, formerly known as the “New Economic Institute,” a network of more than 180 nonprofit organizations that support left-of-center economic goals. ^{2 3 4 5}

August K. Clayton, the founder of Mosaic Cooperative, has worked at several left-of-center organizations including Advocates for Youth, the National Center for Transgender Equality, BYP100, Borealis Philanthropy, and Humanity United. ^{6 7}

Background

The Mosaic Cooperative is a “Black trans-led cooperative” that advocates for transgender interests in the state of Maryland and across the D.C., Maryland, and northern Virginia (DMV) metro area. The organization claimed in 2023, according to Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, that it aimed to “dismantle the conditions” that keep Black transgender individuals from receiving “adequate healthcare,” housing, employment, and protection from “interpersonal and state violence.” ^{1 2 8}

According to the organization’s website, as of July 2025, Mosaic Cooperative aims to “acquire, steward” and be in a “right relationship with the land” by 2032, which includes growing its own produce and organizing resources for Black transgender individuals. ¹⁰

Mosaic Cooperative notes on its website that it is a fiscally sponsored project of the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ), an organizing group that provides “fiscal sponsorship” to groups advocating numerous foreign and domestic far-left and radical-left causes, including eliminating the State of Israel. AfGJ arose from the Nicaragua Network, an organization which supported the communist-aligned Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. ^{2 3 11 12}

Affiliated Organizations

The Mosaic Cooperative is listed as a member of the New Economy Coalition, formerly known as the “New Economic Institute,” a network of more than 180 nonprofit organizations that support left-wing economic goals. The New Economy Coalition coordinates the activities of its members to produce best practices and advance its goals through activism and community organization. ^{4 5}

People

August K. Clayton is the founder of Mosaic Cooperative, and a proponent of Black Radical Tradition. Clayton was a member of the board of directors from October 2020 to October 2023 at Advocates for Youth, a left-of-center advocacy group that focus on topics such as youth sexual health, youth reproductive health, sexual violence, racial issues, and LGBT issues in both the United States and the “Global South,” a term referring to less economically developed nations. ^{6 7 13}

Clayton was also a development associate at the National Center for Transgender Equality from December 2020 until April 2022. The National Center for Transgender Equality was a left-of-center group that advocated for policies and culture favorable to transgender people and other gender-nonconforming people. The organization merged with the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund in 2024 to create Advocates for Trans Equality. ^{7 14}

Clayton was also a development associate at BYP100, a nonprofit organization that campaigns for far-left policy on racial issues, from June 2021 until August 2023, when he became a development coordinator, a role he kept until March 2024. Clayton was also an advisory committee member at Borealis Philanthropy from April 2023 until May 2025. Borealis Philanthropy is a left-of-center philanthropic intermediary that has supported the creation, provided operational expertise, and staffed 299 groups since its founding in 2014. Borealis is deeply involved in identity-interest advocacy and organizing; it is perhaps most notable for partnering with the Black Lives Matter movement. ^{7 15}

Clayton also became the manager of racial justice and equity at Humanity United in March 2024, a position he holds as of July 2025. Humanity United is a left-of-center private grantmaking foundation founded in 2001 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam as a part of their philanthropic, “social welfare,” and lobbying network. It became an independent entity in 2008 and was established as a private foundation in 2016, at which time it ceased its lobbying and legal advocacy activities. ^{7 16 17}

Funding

Mosaic Cooperative received $28,000 in 2025 from the Climate Justice Alliance (CJA), a left-of-center climate activism coalition based in Berkeley, California, that unites 95 environmental activist groups across the United States in pursuit of radical environmentalism. CJA argues for a Marxist-based environmentalist revolution to replace what it considers to be an extractive and exploitative economy with one based on weather-dependent energy and so-called social justice. ^{18 19}

1. “Pillars — Mosaic Cooperative.” Mosaic Cooperative. March 21, 2025. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://www.mosaic-cooperative.org/pillars-of-mosaic.
2. “Mosaic Cooperative.” March 4, 2032. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://www.mosaic-cooperative.org/.
3. Hogberg, David. “Communists Funding the Resistance: The Alliance for Global Justice.” Capital Research Center August 29, 2017. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://capitalresearch.org/article/communists-funding-the-resistance-the-alliance-for-global-justice/.
4. “Member Directory.” New Economy Coalition. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://neweconomy.net/member-directory/.
5. “Mosaic Cooperative.” New Economy Coalition. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://neweconomy.net/organization/mosaic-cooperative/.
6. Sirvent, Roberto. “Mosaic: An Interview with August K. Clayton.” Black Agenda Report. August 23, 2023. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://www.blackagendareport.com/mosaic-interview-august-k-clayton.
7. “August K. Clayton – Experience.” LinkedIn. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/augustkclayton/details/experience/.
8. “Mosaic Website – 2023.” Internet Archive. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20230920074025/https:/www.mosaicfundingnetwork.org/.
10. “Mosaic Cooperative.” March 4, 2032. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://www.mosaic-cooperative.org/.[/note]

    Mosaic Cooperative claims on its website that Black transgender men “need space to transcend patriarchal masculinity,” in order to go into “organized networks of care.” ⁹ “Pillars — Mosaic Cooperative.” Mosaic Cooperative. March 21, 2025. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://www.mosaic-cooperative.org/pillars-of-mosaic.

11. “Alliance for Global Justice – ngomonitor.” Ngomonitor – Making NGOs Accountable. August 17, 2024. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://ngo-monitor.org/funder/alliance-for-global-justice/.
12. “Nicaragua.” Alliance for Global Justice. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://afgj.org/nicaragua.
13. “Our Legacy.” Advocates for Youth. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://www.advocatesforyouth.org/about/our-legacy/.
14. “About Us.” Advocates for Trans Equality. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://transequality.org/about-us.
15. Press, Associated. “Black Lives Matter partners with charity in a sign of growth.” LA Times. September 6, 2016. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-black-lives-matter-charity-20160906-snap-story.html.
16. “Thank You.” Humanity United. November 21, 2018. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://humanityunited.org/perspectives/thank-you_blog/.
17. “About Us.” Humanity United. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://humanityunited.org/about-us/.
18. Olivia. “Climate Justice Alliance Awards $170,000 through its Black Caucus Regranting Program to Black-led Member Organizations.” Climate Justice Alliance. February 20, 2025. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://climatejusticealliance.org/cjablackcaucusawards140ktoblack-ledorgs/.
19. “About.” Climate Justice Alliance. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://climatejusticealliance.org/about/.