Rise and Resist

The organization was formed a 501(c)(4) advocacy group, commonly referred to as a “dark money” group, but Rise and Resist also operates a charitable 501(c)(3) sister organization, Rise and Resist Inc., housed within the A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, which contributed $14,588 to the Rise and Resist 501(c)(4) wing in 2023. ⁵

Background

Rise and Resist was formed in early 2017 by several left-of-center activists. Founding board members included Ivy Arce, Martin Quinn, Jamie Bauer, Jay W. Walker, and Stuart Waldman. ⁶ Arce and several other founding board members were longtime activists in the ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) coalition, a militant AIDS advocacy group prominent in the 1980s and 1990s. ⁷

Activities

In 2018, Rise and Resist organized a protest on Liberty Island at which one of its members was arrested for climbing the base of the Statue of Liberty while others unfurled a banner calling for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ⁸

Rise and Resist has staged weekly protests dubbed “Truth Tuesdays” outside the Manhattan headquarters of Fox News since 2018, accusing the network of being “an extremist right-wing disinformation machine.” ⁹

In March 2025, Rise and Resist participated in the “Tesla Takedown” a multi-city protest campaign targeting Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk, over the activities of the second Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). On March 3, eight members of Rise and Resist were arrested for trespassing at a Tesla dealership. ^{10 11} Rise and Resist previously offered “Tesla Takedown Tool Kit[s]” with printable fliers, posters, talking points, and resources for individuals and groups to use at Tesla protests. ¹² On March 30, 2025, former Wall Street Journal journalist Asra Nomani posted a thread on her X (formerly Twitter) profile which listed Rise and Resist among several nonprofit organizations and activist groups that were involved with planning and taking part in the protests against Tesla and Musk. ¹³

In June 2025, Rise and Resist participated in organizing or supporting protests branded under the “#NoKings” banner, a national day of demonstrations positioned as a defense of democratic norms against President Donald Trump. These events were part of a larger mobilization involving over 70 Democratic Party affiliates and allied organizations across at least 19 U.S. states and multiple international locations, according to publicly available event listings on Mobilize.us, a Democratic Party-aligned organizing platform. ^{14 15}

In January 2026, a coalition of organizations and nonprofits organized a protest in New York City titled “No Wars, No Kings, No ICE,” to demonstrate against the Second Trump Administration, U.S Military Action in Venezuela, and operations conducted by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These included the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) NYC, Rise and Resist, The People’s Forum, Federal Unionists Network, Jewish Voice for Peace NYC, Target Majority, Common Defense, Indivisible Brooklyn, Our Time, 50501, and the Brooklyn Resisters. Other groups that took part in similar protests in the city around January 2026 include the national DSA organization, the Revolutionary Internationalist Youth from the City University of New York, the International Communist League, Indivisible, and Refuse Fascism. ^{16 17}

Funding

Rise and Resist is registered as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit social welfare organization. It has no full-time employees and largely raises funds from small-dollar donations. In 2017, the group reported approximately $33,800 in revenue and $27,300 in expenses, with less than $50,000 in revenue during all subsequent years. ¹⁸ Rise and Resist also accepts tax-deductible donations through a fiscal sponsorship arrangement with the AJ Muste Memorial Institute, which contributed $14,588 to Rise and Resist’s 501(c)(4) wing during 2023, but labeled the donation as going to a 501(c)(3) charity. ⁵