ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund

Background

The ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund was established in 2012. The fund advocates for left-leaning policies on federal, state and local issues. ¹ Its associated lobbying arm, ProgressNow New Mexico, is a state-level affiliate of ProgressNow, a national left-leaning communications campaign. ²

The fund advocates left-leaning policy in areas including abortion access, environmental issues, increasing voter participation, and combatting disinformation. ³

According to IRS filings, the ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund has a mailing list of 100,000 emails.  ⁴

Related Organizations

ProgressNow is a left-leaning advocacy organization with which both ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund and the related nonprofit ProgressNow New Mexico are affiliated. It was founded in 2003 as the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network. ⁵

ProgressNow New Mexico is the lobbying and electoral arm of the ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund; the organizations share employees and an address. ^{6 7 8} ProgressNow New Mexico’s campaigns are focused on abortion access, environmental issues, and left wing voter guides. ^{9 10}

According to ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund’s tax return, the organization is related to the Center for Civic Policy, a left-leaning advocacy group whose issues include voting rights and environmental issues. ^{6 11} Oriana Sandoval, the chief executive officer of the Center for Civic Policy and the lobbying and advocacy group Center for Civic Action, is the chair of the board of ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund. ¹² Additionally, the organizations share an address. ^{13 7}

The New Mexico Political Report is a news site that is hosted by the ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund. The Report focuses on abortion access, environmentalism, and local politics, and also lists the same address as the fund on its Facebook page. ^{14 15 16}

Dreams in Action NM is a lobbying and advocacy group that also lists the same address as the fund on its IRS forms. The organization works to increase the civic engagement of groups including immigrants, LGBT individuals, and women. Its website is owned and operated by the Center for Civic Policy, according to its privacy policy. ^{17 18}

Activities

In 2024, the ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund signed onto a letter urging both U.S. Senators from New Mexico to co-sponsor legislation proposed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that would investigate Israel over potential violations of humanitarian law following its retaliatory operations against Hamas after the October 7, 2023 attack against Israel. ¹⁹

In 2017, the Foundation to Promote Open Society granted $49,800 to the ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund to establish a “Hate Watch” desk at the New Mexico Political Report, a news site focused on abortion access and environmental issues that shares an address with the fund. ²⁰

Funding

The ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund has received money from left-of-center groups, including the New Venture Fund, the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, and the Foundation to Promote Open Society. ^{21 22 23 20}

In 2024, Democracy Fund announced that it would give ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund $300,000 over two years for “their work to center justice for systemically excluded communities through partnerships, trusted digital communications, and issue-based and civic engagement campaigns.” ²⁴

Leadership

Staff

Alissa Barnes is the executive director of ProgressNow New Mexico and the ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund. Previously, Barnes worked for Roadrunner Food Bank, a food distribution center in New Mexico. ²⁵

Board

Oriana Sandoval is the chair of the board of the ProgressNow New Mexico Education Fund and is the chief executive officer at the Center for Civic Policy and the Center for Civic Action. Sandoval has been the co-director of the New Mexico Civic Engagement Table since 2015. Previously, Sandoval worked at the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment as a clerk researching litigation on climate change issues. In 2011, Oriana served as the founding executive director of New Mexico Vote Matters (NMVM). ¹²