Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE) is a left-of-center fiscal sponsor of start-up organizations which promote climate-change advocacy and radical-left views of America’s justice system and culture. Its mission is to provide back-office support for groups that it funds. As of February 6th, 2020, it had provided financial and logistical assistance to about 200 groups. ¹

Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs has taken substantial funding from left-of-center institutional grantmakers including the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Sierra Club Foundation, and the California Endowment. ²

History

According to records from the California State Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General, Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE) was initially formed in 1987 in the state of Delaware under the name “American-Soviet Film Initiative.” The records claim that the non-profit was created to, “promote educational and cultural exchanges among citizens of the US and citizens of the then-Soviet Union through films and television programs.” ³  According to tax records, the organization changed its name to Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE) in the mid-1990’s, where its certificate indicated its new mission was to, “promote educational and cultural exchanges between citizens of the US and other countries.” ³

Primarily, funding goes to organizations that promote animal rights, left-wing views on race and gender, and environmentalist alarmism. It provides three distinct types of logistical support with its grants:⁴

• Fiscal sponsorship to get groups officially recognized as non-profits to avoid taxes, apply for grants, and raise donor money more easily. ^{5 6}
• Organizational compliance to assist with filing IRS forms, procuring an annual audit, and providing legal and tax consultation in other areas of need.
• Administrative support such as insurance management, handling tax receipts, and providing internal policies on matters such as sexual conduct.

Fiscal sponsorship is SEE’s major form of getting involved with its start-ups. ⁴

Grant Samples

Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE’s)’ donations went to a variety of groups in 2023, including  $75,000 to Alliance for Global Justice, a left-of-center fiscal sponsor funded by large grant making organizations such as the  Open Society Foundations, Tides Foundation, and Arca Foundation; ^{7 8} $15,000 to Black and Pink Inc, a radical intersectional anarchist group that advocates for the abolition of criminal courts and prisons; ^{7 9} and SEE’s largest donation in 2023 was $257,000 to Native Movement, a Native American advocacy organization that promotes left-of-center views on gender, environmentalism, and social justice. ^{7 10}

One of the many groups on SEE’s website which it indicates has its backing is We Re-Member. The group’s mission is to tie slavery to modern America’s racial challenges, and it describes America as a place of “transparent white supremacy and rising fascism.”  ¹¹

Another group on SEE’s website is the California Environmental Justice Coalition. The group is described as being “in resistance against environmental racism and injustice.” ¹²

Transforming Communities Initiative

One of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEEs)’ projects is its Transforming Communities Initiative. Launched in 2018, the Initiative had ground funding from a number of left-of-center organizations including George Soros’s Open Society Foundations. Its premise is that most criminal justice reform is aimed at jails, prisons, courts, and police. While the Initiative largely puts the blame for criminalization on police and the justice system, as opposed to lawbreakers, its purpose is to bring together individuals who want to help criminals and those impacted by criminals recover from the effects of violence and illegal behavior. ¹³

Funding

According to its 2023 tax return, Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE) had revenues of $87.4 million and expenses of $78 million, and SEE’s net assets totaled $82,923,545. ⁷

SEE has received funding from numerous left-of-center environmentalist groups, including $840,000 from Earthjustice in 2023, $950,000 from the Union of Concerned Scientists in 2021, $728,750 from the Natural Resources Defense Council in 2023, and $600,000 from the Windward Fund in 2022. ^{14 15 16 17}

Leadership

Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE) founder Andrew Beath also founded EarthWays Foundation and other environmental groups. Initially working part-time as a real estate developer, Beath also serves on a number of boards for apolitical and partisan groups. ¹⁸

Jennifer Hoffman serves as CEO of the organization, while sitting on a number of boards and advisory committees. She is the cosponsor of a quarterly gathering of regional non-profit sponsors in California. ¹⁹

1. Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, Mission & Purpose, Accessed February 6, 2025. http://saveourplanet.org/about-see/mission-purpose/
2.  Data compiled by FoundationSearch.com subscription service, a project of Metasoft Systems, Inc., from forms filed with the IRS. Queries conducted February 25, 2020.
3. Collier, Dillon, Erica Hernandez, Joshua Saunders, and Sean Talbot. “What we know about the Wren Collective.” KSAT.com, January 31, 2024. https://www.ksat.com/news/ksat-investigates/2024/01/31/what-we-know-about-the-wren-collective/
4. Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, Core Services, Accessed February 06, 2020. http://saveourplanet.org/about-see/core-services/
5. Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, What is fiscal sponsorship?, Accessed February 06, 2020. http://saveourplanet.org/about-see/what-is-fiscal-sponsorship/
6. National Network of Fiscal Sponsors, “10 questions potential projects should ask a fiscal sponsor,” Accessed February 06, 2020. http://www.fiscalsponsors.org/pages/10-questions-potential-projects-should-ask-fiscal-sponsor
7. “Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs Inc, 2023 Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/954116679/202413209349325786/full.
8. Data compiled by Foundationsearch.com subscription service, a project of Metasoft Systems, Inc. from forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Queries conducted December 14, 2017.
9. “Our Story.” Black and Pink. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://www.blackandpink.org/about/#history.
10. “Native Movement.” Native Movement. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://www.nativemovement.org/.
11. Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, We Re-Member, Accessed February 06, 2020. http://saveourplanet.org/projects/we-re-member/
12. Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, California Environmental Justice Coalition (CEJC), Accessed February 06, 2020. http://saveourplanet.org/projects/california-environmental-justice-coalition-cejc/
13. Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, The Transformative Communities Initiative, Accessed February 06, 2020. http://saveourplanet.org/p2pfund/
14. “Union of Concerned Scientists Inc, Form 990, Schedule I – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/42535767/202332269349302778/IRS990ScheduleI.
15. “Earthjustice, Form 990, Schedule I – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/941730465/202431349349307018/IRS990ScheduleI
16. “Natural Resources Defense Council, Form 990, Schedule I – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/42535767/202332269349302778/IRS990ScheduleI
17. “Windward Fund, Form 990, Schedule I – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/473522162/202323149349302457/IRS990ScheduleI
18. Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, “Our Board,” Accessed February 06, 2020. http://saveourplanet.org/about-see/our-team/our-board/
19. Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, “Our Staff,” Accessed February 06, 2020. http://saveourplanet.org/about-see/our-team/our-staff/