Partnership Project Action Fund is a left-of-center environmentalist advocacy organization directly affiliated and controlled by the Partnership Project, a left-of-center environmentalist advocacy group that consists of a collaboration of some of the largest environmental groups. Partnership Project Action Fund is the lobbying arm of the Partnership Project and uses paid media, outreach, and research to help environmental organizations with messaging. Several left-of-center organizations fund Partnership Project Action Fund including Earthjustice, the NRDC Action Fund, and NEO Philanthropy Action Fund. The group also receives funding directly from the Partnership Project, which is the significantly larger arm of the two organizations. ¹

Memberships

Partnership Project Action Fund, along with other left-of-center organizations, is a member of Grantmakers for Southern Progress, a left-leaning social advocacy organization focused on the southern states of the U.S. ²

Activities

Partnership Project Action Fund, along with other left-of-center organizations, is a member of Grantmakers for Southern Progress, a left-leaning social advocacy organization focused on the southern states of the U.S. ³

Many of the group’s activities are not public-facing but centered around directing funds to other environmental organizations and providing fiscal sponsorship to groups and campaigns through both the Partnership Project and the Partnership Project Action Fund, lending either or both of the group’s respective 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status. ^{4 5}

The Partnership Project Action Fund operates the Climate Action Campaign to lobby for left-of-center environmental policy at the state and federal levels. The group calls itself a “coalition of a dozen major national environment, environmental justice, and public health groups, working together to drive ambitious, durable federal action based on science, to equitably address the climate crisis.” ⁶

The Climate Action Campaign called on President Joe Biden to unilaterally use executive authority under environmental laws including the Clean Air Act to advance “approximately 20 protections across federal agencies” with the goal of meeting “the President’s commitment to cut climate pollution in half by 2030, advance vital public health and environmental justice goals, and accelerate the transition to clean energy.” ⁶

The Partnership Project and Partnership Project Action Fund also assist with and provide case studies concerning get-out-the-vote campaigns conducted by environmental groups aimed at boosting Democratic candidates in U.S. elections. The group coordinated with Earthjustice Action to author a case study to measure Earthjustice’s 2022 GOTV campaign which “set out to mobilize voters during the 2022 midterm elections, persuade them to vote for pro-environment candidates in three key U.S. Senate races, and educate them on the connection between elected officials and environmental outcomes.” ⁷

Lobbying

In February 2021, Green Mountain Strategies, LLC began lobbying on behalf of Partnership Project Action Fund for “issues related to climate change in the stimulus package.” ⁸ In February 2021, AJW, Inc. began lobbying on behalf of Partnership Project Action Fund for “FY22 economic stimulus nominations related to environment/climate.” ⁹ In January 2021, Winn Strategies, LLC began lobbying on behalf of the Action Fund for “issues related to reducing air pollution, limiting CO2 emission and promoting clean energy.” ⁹

Grantmaking

Partnership Project Action Fund allocates money to various left-of-center organizations. In 2018, the organization allocated over $20,000 to Environmental Advocates of New York,¹⁰ a left-leaning environmental advocacy organization located in New York, while in 2017 it allocated $13,000. ¹¹  In 2017, grants included $298,436 to Environment America, a left-of-center environmental lobbying group; $44,513 to Environmental Defense Action Fund, a left-leaning group that uses political power for environmental advocacy; $593,090 to League of Conservation Voters, a far-left organization that promotes candidates who support environmentalist policies; and $55,620 to National Wildlife Federation,¹² a left-leaning environmentalist group. Since 2010, Partnership Project Action Fund has given a total of $2.5 million to the League of Conservation Voters. ¹³ From 2020 through 2023, the Partnership Project Action Fund had provided funds to Earthjustice Action, Environment America, League of Conservation Voters, Mi Familia Vota, and Virginia Organizing. ¹⁴ In 2017, Partnership Project Action Fund paid nearly $2.5 million to a marketing agency based in Washington, D.C., for its services. ¹⁵

Funding

Partnership Project Action Fund received a grant from Tides Advocacy, a social welfare organization that focuses on the creation, financing, and consultation of various left-of-center organizations, for $30,000 in 2019¹⁶ and $50,000 in 2018. ¹⁷

In 2016, Environmental Defense Fund, an environmentalist group focused on global warming and promoting a left-wing political agenda, allocated $150,000 to the Partnership Project Action Fund for “environmental rights.” ¹⁸

In 2009, Partnership Project Action Fund received $2.5 million from the Atlantic Philanthropies, formally a group of offshore organizations that funded 501(c)(4) left-leaning social advocacy groups for its “collaboration and activism for the environment.” ¹⁹

Other organizations that have funded the Partnership Project Action Fund Include the Federation of State Conservation Voter Leagues, Earthjustice Action, NEO Philanthropy Action Fund, NRDC Action Fund, Campion Advocacy Fund, Southern Environmental Law Center, Environmental Defense Action Fund, Nextgen Climate America, the Center for American Progress Action Fund, and Fund for a Better Future. ¹

In 2017, Partnership Project paid Partnership Project Action Fund $63,319 for use of shared facilities and $220,000 in grant contributions. ²⁰ In 2016, the grant contribution was $500,000. ²¹ In 2017, the Action Fund allocated $39,656 in grant money to Partnership Project for “program support.” ²¹

People

Alicia Kolar Prevost is the executive director of the Partnership Project and Partnership Project Action Fund, joining the organization in 2022. A lifelong Democratic operative and policy staffer, Prevost worked for the Democratic National Committee early in her career during the 2000 and 2004 Democratic National Conventions as well as state and local Democratic campaigns, and worked as an aide to Housing and Urban Development Secretary, and later New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) during the Clinton administration. ²² Immediately before joining the Partnership project, Prevost was the director of the voter study group for the Democracy Fund. She has also worked for the Environmental Defense Fund, and Climate Action Campaign DC. ²³

Benjamin Metcalf serves as the Partnership Project Action Fund’s chief operating officer,²⁴ as well as the COO of the Partnership Project²⁵ and is the highest paid employee, receiving $260,961 in total compensation. ²⁶

Eric Pica is a left-of-center environmental activist. He serves as the chair of the board of the Partnership Project and Partnership Project Action Fund and is the president of Friends of the Earth and its lobbying arm Friends of the Earth Action. Pica is also a board member of Democracy Initiative and was a former board member of the Safe Energy Communication Council and former chair of Green Group. ²⁷

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2. Members. Grantmakers for Southern Progress. Accessed June 11, 2021. https://g4sp.org/members/
3. Members. Grantmakers for Southern Progress. Accessed June 11, 2021. https://g4sp.org/members/
4. ^[1] “Who We Are.” Partnership Project. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://partnershipproject.org/who-we-are/#our-board
5. “Frequently Asked Questions.” Partnership Project. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://partnershipproject.org/frequently-asked-questions/
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11. Partnership Project Action Fund, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Schedule I, Part II. Accessed June 10, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/810606786/201911359349300646/full 
12. Partnership Project Action Fund, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Schedule I, Part II. Accessed June 9, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/810606786/201911359349300646/full 
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14. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Partnership Project Action Fund. 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/810606786/202303189349309860/full
15. Partnership Project Action Fund, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Part VII, Section B. Accessed June 9, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/810606786/201911359349300646/full 
16. Tides Advocacy, Return of Organization Exempt form Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Schedule I, Part II. Accessed June 10, 2021. https://tidesadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2019-Form-990-TA.pdf
17. Tides Advocacy, Return of Organization Exempt form Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Schedule I, Part II. Accessed June 10, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/943153687/201912829349300916/IRS990ScheduleI
18. Environmental Defense Action Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (990), 2016, Schedule I, Part II. Accessed June 11, 2021. https://www.edfaction.org/sites/edactionfund.org/files/FY17_EDAF_990.pdf
19. Grantees – Partnership Project Action Fund. The Atlantic Philanthropies. 2009. Accessed June 10, 2021. https://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/grantees/partnership-project-action-fund
20. Partnership Project Inc., Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Schedule I, Part II. Accessed June 10, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/522192070/05_2019_prefixes_51-53%2F522192070_201806_990_2019053016359686
21. Partnership Project Inc., Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2016, Schedule I, Part II. Accessed June 10, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/522192070/10_2018_prefixes_52-54%2F522192070_201706_990_2018102915846612
22. “Alicia Prevost.” American University School of Public Affairs. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.american.edu/spa/faculty/aprevost.cfm
23. “Alicia Kolar Prevost.” LinkedIn profile. Accessed November 25, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciaprevost/details/experience/
24. Partnership Project Action Fund, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Part XII, Section A. Accessed June 9, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/810606786/201911359349300646/full 
25. Partnership Project, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Schedule J, Part II. Accessed June 9, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/522192070/05_2019_prefixes_51-53%2F522192070_201806_990_2019053016359686
26. Partnership Project Action Fund, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2017, Park VII, Section A. Accessed June 9, 2021. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/810606786/201911359349300646/full 
27. Eric Pica – Our Team. Friends of the Earth. Accessed June 11, 2021. https://foe.org/about-us/our-team/