Pipeline Fund

The Fund was launched with assistance from political consultancy Civitas Public Affairs ¹ and is fiscally sponsored by the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a nonprofit managed by philanthropic consulting firm Arabella Advisors. ²

Background

In 2018, political consultancy Civitas Public Affairs organized the Pipeline Initiative, a program to increase the number of low-income and racial and ethnic minority candidates in U.S. elections. The Pipeline Initiative consisted of three organizations: the Pipeline Fund, the Pipeline Education Fund, and the Pipeline Initiative. ¹

According to the Pipeline Fund, the demographics of elected officials in the United States do not match the demographics of the general population. According to its database on elected officials, which it claims is the “largest, most comprehensive, robust, and collaborative database” on the domain in the U.S., the U.S. general population is 50 percent working class compared to two percent of U.S. Congress, racial minorities are 39 percent of the population compared to 11 percent of elected officials, and women are more than 50 percent of the population compared to 27 percent of U.S. Congress. Additionally, the Fund claims that conservatives win 70 percent of local elections unopposed. ^{3 4}

The Fund’s database was built in collaboration with Catalist, BallotReady, and Civitech. ⁵

As of 2025, the organization has announced plans to expand its operations to 21 states, including both traditionally blue and red states, aiming to recruit and support thousands of candidates for local office. ⁶ According to a story by the New York Times, the effort is about “identifying candidates for these races and connecting them with state and national organizations for funding and support.” ⁷

Activities

2022 Candidate Survey

In 2022, the Pipeline Fund released a survey of 1,383 American political candidates with observations and recommendations for increasing recruitment from minority groups. The survey found that first-time candidates tended to be younger and disproportionately Black, but that the ongoing deficit of racial minority candidates is partially attributed to a lack of outreach from political parties and organizations. The Fund called for more resources to support racial minority and female candidates, including to help them “maintain their emotional health and wellbeing” throughout campaigns, especially against harassment from political opponents. ⁸

Leadership

Denise Feriozzi is a co-founder of the Pipeline Fund and has worked as its executive director since January 2024. At its founding, Feriozzi was a principal at Civitas Public Affairs and previously worked at EMILY’s List, a national committee member of the Pipeline Fund, for over seven years, ending her time as deputy executive director. Earlier, Feriozzi worked as executive director of Common Sense Virginia and on then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) 2008 presidential campaign. ⁹

Krithika Harish is a co-founder of the Fund and sits on its board, as well as on the board of Inseparable, a group that advocates for more government funding for mental health care that Harish also co-founded. Harish is a senior program officer at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies. From 2017 to 2022, Harish worked as a senior associate at Civitas Public Affairs. ^{10 11}

Nilofar Ganjaie has worked as the national political director at the Fund since July 2022 after working as the deputy executive director at the National Iranian American Council. Earlier, Ganjaie worked on Democratic campaigns for four years, including for the Washington Senate Democratic Campaign, a campaign to support King County Proposition 1 to increase property taxes, and Claire Wilson’s (D) successful campaign for Washington state Senate. Ganjaie also worked for Planned Parenthood for four years. ¹²

Partners

As of March 2024, the Pipeline Fund’s national committee consists of 14 organizations, including EMILY’s List, the National Democratic Training Committee, the National Center for Transgender Equality Action Fund, the Latino Victory Fund, and the Blue Leadership Collaborative. ¹³

As of March 2024, the Pipeline Fund’s state steering committee also consists of 14 organizations in 14 states, including One America Votes, Wisconsin Progress, Annie’s List, the Oregon Futures Lab, 603 Forward, Native People’s Action, and Lead Ohio. ¹³

Funding

In March 2023, the Democracy Fund Voice approved a $75,000 grant to the Pipeline Fund to support their State and Local Candidate Research Project. ¹⁴