The New Hampshire Youth Movement (NHYM) is a left-of-center youth organization that promotes far-left policies and candidates for election. ¹

It is a grantee of the Tides Center, Rural Democracy Initiative, and Fund to Build Grassroots Power. ^{2 3 4}

Alissandra Rodriguez Murray was the “wellness and culture” director for the organization before becoming a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Hillsborough 20, after the elections of November 8, 2022. ^{5 6}

Background

The New Hampshire Youth Movement (NHYM) is a left-of-center youth activist organization that promotes far-left policies and candidates for election. The organization aims to “transform” the United States’ “political system” and place “bold progressive leaders” in power. ⁷

NHYM states that it has a four-point strategy to achieve its goal. It aims to grow its movement by providing “political education,” helping “progressive leaders” gain traction in elections to then “strategically engage” in said elections to help NYHM “gain power.” Once a NHYM candidate is in power, the candidate will advance legislation that supports the organization’s left-wing agenda, including legislation that prioritizes left-of-center positions on education, healthcare, and housing, and opposing “racist police departments” and conventional energy subsidies. ⁸

The organization also states one of its strategies is to “polarize the public around progressive issues” by creating “moral protests that force people to choose a side.” ⁹

Funding

There is little financial information on the New Hampshire Youth Movement, however; according to the organization’s 990-EZ tax return form in 2020, NHYM had a total revenue of $40,015 in 2020, all of which came from contributions, gifts, and grants. Its total expenses amounted to $26,759, with just over $11,500 being spent on independent contractors. ¹⁰

The New Hampshire Youth Movement was listed as a May 2022 grantee of the Healthy Democracy Fund, a program of the Tides Center that prioritizes grantmaking to left-of-center political advocacy organizations. ¹¹

The Tides Center is a left-of-center nonprofit created to manage the fiscal sponsorship services of its “sister” organization, the Tides Foundation. Both groups are part of the Tides Nexus of pass-through and fiscal sponsorship nonprofits based in San Francisco, California.

The Fund to Build Grassroots Power is a New York City-based left-of-center donor fund that gives money to environmentalist organizations. The New Hampshire Youth Movement received $90,000 from the Fund in 2021, and another $120,000 in 2022. ¹²

Rural Democracy Initiative (RDI) is a left-of-center coalition of rural organizations and aligned funders that build left-of-center civic and political infrastructure in small towns to influence public opinion, elections, and redistricting. RDI includes the social welfare group Rural Victory Fund and the left-of-center charitable advocacy group Heartland Fund. The Heartland Fund and Rural Victory Fund approved $3.4 million in grants to left-of-center organizations in the middle of 2022, one of which was the New Hampshire Youth Movement. ^{13 14 15}

The Women Donors Network Action is the 501(c)(4) advocacy arm of the Women Donors Network, a left-of-center donor networking group for female advocacy funders. Women Donors Network Action states it has contributed more than $24 million in grants since 2017. The New Hampshire Youth Movement is listed as a grantee of the organization, which also notes that NHYM received a grant in October 2022 to create a “progressive base” of young people to increase left-of-center political power at the municipal level. ^{16 17}

Affiliated Organizations

The New Hampshire Youth Movement is a member of Declaration for American Democracy, a coalition of left-leaning activist groups that advocates for a series of governmental and electoral administration policy changes. The coalition supports proposed legislation that would enact several left-leaning policy priorities surrounding elections including enacting automatic voter registration and placing restrictive regulations on political campaign-related speech acts. ^{18 19}

Political Activities

Support of Bernie Sanders

The New Hampshire Youth Movement is listed as a partner of the Sunrise Movement, a left-of-center environmentalist advocacy organization founded in 2017. The group endorses left-of-center Democratic Party candidates for public office and organizes alongside other activist organizations to support expansive and radical environmentalist legislation it terms a “Green New Deal.” ²⁰

During the 2020 presidential election, the Sunrise Movement and NHYM created a 6-month political organizer program which led to training “hundreds” of volunteers to canvass for the Democratic primary campaign of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) across New Hampshire. According to Sunrise, the organizations’ work culminated with more than 12,000 “young people” pledging to vote for Sanders. ²¹

Medicare-for-All

The New Hampshire Youth Movement officially endorsed the 2021 Medicare-for-all (often styled “Medicare for All” or “Medicare for all”) bill. The bill is a proposed policy to create a government-run “single-payer” socialist healthcare system in the United States by expanding the existing Medicare program from covering primarily older individuals to covering all citizens. ²²

Defund the Police

The organization has also called for the defunding of local police in 2021. It posted on Instagram a poster calling for the defunding of New Hampshire’s local police forces, claiming that departments were “hoarding” resources and funding. ²³

People

Alissandra Rodriguez Murray is a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, representing Hillsborough 20. Murray, who ran as a member of the Democratic Party, won the election on November 8, 2022. Murray was the “wellness and culture” director for the New Hampshire Youth Movement from July 2020 until September 2022. ^{24 25}

1. “Our Plan To Win.” NHYM. July 15, 2021. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.nhyouthmovement.org/our-plan-to-win/.
2. “Healthy Democracy Fund Grantees.” Tides. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.tides.org/healthy-democracy-fund-grantees/.
3. “Grants From RDI Support Rural Leaders to Mobilize Voters Ahead of 2022 Elections.” Rural Democracy Initiative. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://ruraldemocracyinitiative.org/july2022-grantmaking.
4. “Who We Support — Fund to Build Grassroots Power.” Fund to Build Grassroots Power. March 6, 2019. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.buildgrassrootspower.org/who-we-support.
5. “NH Elections Database » Candidate Profile….” NH Elections Database. March 6, 2023. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://electiondatabase.nhpr.org/candidates/view/Candace-Moulton.
6. “Alissandra Murray.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alissandra-rodr%C3%ADguez-murray-aa46b1231/.
7. “Our Plan To Win.” NHYM. July 15, 2021. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.nhyouthmovement.org/our-plan-to-win/.
8. “Our Plan To Win.” NHYM. July 15, 2021. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.nhyouthmovement.org/our-plan-to-win/.
9. “Our Plan To Win.” NHYM. July 15, 2021. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.nhyouthmovement.org/our-plan-to-win/.
10. New Hampshire Youth Movement 990-EZ Form 2020.” ProPublica. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/841846306/05_2021_prefixes_83-84%2F841846306_202012_990EO_2021052418183962.
11. “Healthy Democracy Fund Grantees.” Tides. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.tides.org/healthy-democracy-fund-grantees/.
12. “Who We Support — Fund to Build Grassroots Power.” Fund to Build Grassroots Power. March 6, 2019. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.buildgrassrootspower.org/who-we-support.
13. “Grants From RDI Support Rural Leaders to Mobilize Voters Ahead of 2022 Elections.” Rural Democracy Initiative. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://ruraldemocracyinitiative.org/july2022-grantmaking.
14. “Invest in a Winning Rural Network.” Rural Democracy Initiative. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://ruraldemocracyinitiative.org/rural-network.
15. “Fund Rural Organizing.” Rural Democracy Initiative. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://ruraldemocracyinitiative.org/fund-rural-organizing.
16. “Impact — WDN Action.” WDN Action. March 6, 2017. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.wdnaction.org/impact.
17. Rickles, Mary. “Fall Grants Update — WDN Action.” October 1, 2021. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.wdnaction.org/news/grant-updates-fall2021
18. “Declaration for American Democracy | A Coalition of 240+ Member Organizations working together to make the promise of democracy real for all of us..” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://dfadcoalition.org/.
19. “About.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://dfadcoalition.org/about/.
20. “About The Sunrise Movement.” Sunrise Movement. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.sunrisemovement.org/about/.
21. Paris. “With 12,000 New Hampshire youth pledged to vote on Green New Deal, Sunrise Movement and New Hampshire Youth Movement sustain surge in youth turnout and help deliver victory for Sanders.” Sunrise Movement. February 12, 2020. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.sunrisemovement.org/movement-updates/with-12-000-new-hampshire-youth-pledged-to-vote-on-green-new-deal-sunrise-movement-and-new-6a8f98ec6b72/.
22. “Medicare For All Act Of 2021 Endorsements.” Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://jayapal.house.gov/medicare-for-all-act-of-2021-endorsements/.
23. ^[1] “New Hampshire Youth Movement – Defund the Police.” Instagram. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.instagram.com/p/COOSjeGn7bx/.
24. “NH Elections Database » Candidate Profile….” NH Elections Database. March 6, 2023. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://electiondatabase.nhpr.org/candidates/view/Candace-Moulton.
25. “Alissandra Murray.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 6, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alissandra-rodr%C3%ADguez-murray-aa46b1231/.