New Virginia Majority Education Fund is a left-of-center activist group in Virginia. It is the partner organization the New Virginia Majority, and while each organization has its own website, much of the information on each is directly copied from the other. The group is focused on left-wing organizing and agitation around Virginia, utilizing smaller semi-autonomous groups that are more specifically focused on different demographic groups to promote radical-left economic and social policy in the state. ^[1]

Founding and History

The New Virginia Majority Education Fund was formed in 2010 as a 501(c)(3)  partner organization to the New Virginia Majority, an advocacy organization. New Virginia Majority was a state level off-shoot of Tenants and Workers United, a left-of-center organizing coalition based in the Washington, D.C. suburbs in Northern Virginia. Since its formation, the organization has trained thousands of left-of-center activists, organized rallies, and registered over 200,000 people to vote. The organization also trains poll monitors. ^[2]

Finances

In 2018, New Virginia Majority Education Fund had $3,489,936 in revenue, of which all came from contributions and grants. The organization reported $3,183,625 in expenses, of which over $2 million was allocated to salaries and benefits and $305,146 was allocated to grant making. The New Virginia Majority Education Fund ended the year with $866,033 in assets. ^[3]

Priority Issues

The New Virginia Majority Education Fund supports left-of-center environmentalist policy. The Fund has advocated for regulations on carbon emissions, promoted the Virginia Coastal Protection Act to increase regulation on the use of coastal lands, and pressured the Norfolk Southern energy company over its coal storage policies at Lambert Point. ^[4]

The New Virginia Majority Education Fund also supports left-wing economic policy. The group advocates for an increase in the minimum wage, the implementation of mandatory paid sick leave policies, regulation to close the alleged “gender wage gap,” and Medicaid expansion in Virginia. ^[5]

The New Majority Education Fund has supported left-of-center policies on criminal justice and immigration as well. The Fund has advocated for raising the threshold set for felony larceny, increasing law enforcement emphasis on addressing mental health issues, and mandating increased transparency and strict rules for law enforcement. ^[6] The Fund has also promoted left-of-center immigration policy, arguing that illegal immigrants living in Virginia should be able to get driver’s licenses and to access in-state tuition rates at public universities. ^[7]

Activist Hubs

The New Virginia Majority Education Fund uses a “hub” strategy to organize and promote its priority issues. These groups are organized based on history, culture, socioeconomic class, race, nationality, geography, and age. The hubs are semi-autonomous, though they receive financial support from the New Virginia Majority Education Fund. There are four hubs as of May 2021: Tenants and Workers United, the Virginia Student Power Network, the Virginia Black Organizing Collective, and the Asian American Pacific Islander Civic Engagement Collaborative. ^[8]

Tenants and Workers United is an independent charitable organization that focuses on organizing Latinos and immigrants. The organization is currently campaigning to remove funding for police in Alexandria schools. ^[9]

The Virginia Student Power Network is a student organization with chapters at six universities in Virginia. The group advocates in support of reestablishing the Virginia Education Loan Authority, an agency which would allow students to refinance student debt, mandate strict lending terms for student loans, and make illegal immigrants living in Virginia eligible for in-state tuition. ^[10]

The Virginia Black Organizing Collective is based in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and is involved in voter engagement in the African American community. The Collective also supports left-of-center policy on education, criminal justice, mental health, and gender issues. ^[11]

The Asian American Pacific Islander Civic Engagement Collaborative focuses on promoting left-of-center housing policy. The Collaborative has campaigned to cancel rent and halt tenant evictions in Arlington County, Virginia during the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[12]

Leadership and Staff

Jon Liss is the co-executive director and a board member at the New Virginia Majority Education Fund. He co-founded Tenants and Workers United in 1986, the organization from which New Virginia Majority and the New Virginia Majority Education Fund emerged. ^[13] Liss has been involved in political agitation and supports left-wing policies. Liss cofounded the State Power Caucus, a group of similar radical-left groups that promote left-wing politicians and argue that white nationalism is a major problem in the United States. ^[14]

Tram Nguyen is the other co-executive director of the New Majority Education Fund. She has been a left-of-center activist for decades and has been involved in immigrant organizing in the Gulf Coast Vietnamese community in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. ^[15]