The Native Organizers Alliance (NOA) is a left-of-center Native American activist group fiscally sponsored by Alliance for a Just Society, a part of left-wing community organizing group People’s Action. ^[1] NOA is a participating member of the left-of-center Climate Justice Alliance^[2] and a member of the left-wing Movement Voter Project’s “Native Voter Fund.” ^[3] The group is heavily funded by left-of-center interests, including the Tides Nexus and NoVo Foundation.

NOA participates in anti-pipeline activism and get-out-the-vote efforts. In a March 2021 statement on “indigenous sacred places and cultural protections,” NOA calls for “the United States to engage in a Truth and Reconciliation process” for its treatment of Native Americans. ^[4] After Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, left-of-center CNN commentator Van Jones praised NOA and other Native American groups as “responsible” for Biden’s win. ^[5]

Former national vice chair of the Communist Party USA Judith LeBlanc is NOA’s director. ^[6][7]

Organization and Leadership

NOA is fiscally sponsored by the Alliance for a Just Society. ^[8]  It has conducted annual four-day organizing sessions for Native American community organizers^[9] with Alliance for a Just Society since at least 2014. ^[10]

Former national vice chair of the Communist Party USA Judith LeBlanc is NOA’s director. ^[11] LeBlanc sits on the board of left-of-center Native American activism group NDN Collective^[12] and on the board of the Emergent Fund,^[13] a project of the center-left Proteus Fund.  She is on the advisory council of the left-of-center activism group IllumiNative^[14] and was a 2019 Fellow of the left-of-center Roddenberry Foundation. ^[15] LeBlanc spoke in opposition to then-President Donald Trump at the January 21, 2017, Women’s March^[16] and participated in the anti-pipeline activism at Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. ^[17]

Activities

Native Organizers Alliance is fiscally sponsored by the left-of-center Alliance for a Just Society,^[18] a part of the left-wing consortium of community organization groups, People’s Action. NOA routes its public donations through ActBlue^[19] and is a member of the left-wing Movement Voter Project’s “Native Voter Fund.” ^[20]

NOA was active in the 2020 Census and 2020 and 2018^[21] election cycles. ^[22] NOA partnered with Native Votes, holding virtual town halls to mobilize Native American voters ahead of the presidential election^[23] and co-sponsored two presidential forums in conjunction with left-of-center Four Directions^[24] and other Native American activist organizations. ^{[25] [26]}

After Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election, left-of-center CNN commentator Van Jones praised NOA and other Native American groups, saying they were “responsible” for Biden’s win. ^[27]

NOA endorsed Deb Haaland for confirmation as Secretary of the Interior in 2021 and NOA co-sponsored an online petition in support of her nomination with environmental activist organization 350.org. ^[28] NOA’s website thanks Sierra Club supporters for their support of Haaland’s confirmation. ^[29]

In January 2021, NOA was named as one of the organizations that will play a role in the development of the University of Michigan’s Research for Indigenous Social Action and Equity Center. This center is funded by a $5 million Just Futures Grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. ^[30]

Funding

NOA has received donations from a number of left-of-center organizations. NOA received $40,000 from the Hidden Leaf Foundation in 2020. ^[31] In 2019, NOA received a $45,000 grant from the Tides Center, $25,000 from the Whitman Institute, and $50,000 from the Libra Foundation. ^[32]

In 2018, the left-of-center People’s Action Institute paid $391,930 of program expenses and disbursed a $40,000 grant in support of NOA. ^[33] In the same year, NOA received a $10,000 grant from the left-leaning Rainforest Action Network to support efforts to stop the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline,^[34] $75,000 from left-of-center Novo Foundation through a grant to the People’s Action Institute,^[35] and $1,000 from the left-of-center First Nations Development Institute. ^[36]

Environmentalist advocacy group Solutions Project issued a grant of $35,000 to People’s Action for a “fighter fund grant” to NOA in 2017. ^[37]

Related Organizations

Native Organizers Alliance Action Fund is the 501(c)(4) sister organization to Native Organizers Alliance. ^[38]