Social Security Works Education Fund is the charitable affiliate of Social Security Works, an organization that advocates for left-of-center policy reforms related to Social Security.

Activities

Social Security Works Education Fund fiscally sponsors Masks for America, an initiative that funds, acquires, and delivers N95 masks to healthcare workers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. ¹ A GoFundMe fundraiser created in March 2020, in which Social Security Works serves as a partner, had raised more than $167,000 as of October 2020. ²

Social Security Works Education Fund has also served as the publisher for a handful of books promoting left-of-center perspectives, including Angry Tías: Cruelty and Compassion on the U. S. -Mexico Border,³Fat Cat: The Steve Mnuchin Story,⁴ and The Mueller Papers. ⁵

Finance

The organization’s tax returns for 2018 reported more than $743,000 in total revenue and over $1,000,000 in expenses, leaving the organization with a negative fund balance of about -$37,000. ⁶

The Social Security Works Education Fund is a grantee of Tides, a left-of-center grantmaking organization. ⁷ The organization is also a grantee of The Retirement Research Foundation and received a $80,000 grant in 2015⁸ and an additional $80,000 grant in 2017 for the purpose of training the elderly as advocates for Social Security. ⁹

Leadership

Social Security Works co-founder Eric Kingson serves as the chair of the board of the Social Security Works Education Fund. He is a professor of social work at Syracuse University¹⁰ and served on the advisory committee to the Social Security Administration’s transition team after volunteering on President Barack Obama’s campaign’s advisory committee on retirement security policy. ¹¹

Richard Arenberg is a member of the organization’s board of directors and currently serves as the interim director of the A. Alfred Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy at Brown University. Previously, Arenberg had a long career on Capitol Hill working for a number of Democratic members of Congress including former U.S. Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and George Mitchell (D-ME). ¹²

1. “Mission.” Masks For America: Protect our Frontline Heroes. Accessed October 21, 2020. https://www.masks4america.org/mission.
2. “Masks For America: Protect Our Frontline Heroes, Organized by Masks For America.” Gofundme.com. March 28, 2020. Accessed October 21, 2020. https://www.gofundme.com/f/masks4america.
3. Tyx, Daniel Blue. “Angry Tas: Cruelty and Compassion on the U. S. -Mexico Border.” Google Books. Social Security Works Education Fund, April 10, 2019. https://books.google.com/books/about/Angry_T%C3%ADas.html?id=IGOtxAEACAAJ.
4. Burns, Rebecca and Dayen, David. “Fat Cat: The Steve Mnuchin Story.” Google Books. Social Security Works Education Fund, December 6, 2018. https://books.google.com/books/about/Fat_Cat.html?id=7GKRvwEACAAJ.
5. Grim, Ryan. “The Mueller Papers.” Bookdepository.com. Social Security Works Education Fund, March 4, 2019. https://www.bookdepository.com/Mueller-Papers-Ryan-Grim/9781947492318?ref=grid-view.
6. Social Security Works Education Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Part I Summary
7. “Social Security Works Education Fund.” Tides, September 3, 2017. https://www.tides.org/project/grantee/social-security-works-education-fund/.
8. “2015 Grants.” RRF Foundation for Aging, March 24, 2020. http://www.rrf.org/about-us/grant-history/2015-grants/.
9. “2017 Grants.” RRF Foundation for Aging, March 24, 2020. https://www.rrf.org/about-us/grant-history/2017-grants/.
10. “Eric Kingson.” Kingson, Eric – Falk College – Syracuse University. Syracuse University. Accessed October 22, 2020. https://falk.syr.edu/people/kingson-eric/.
11. “Eric Kingson.” Kingson, Eric – Falk College – Syracuse University. Syracuse University. Accessed October 22, 2020. https://falk.syr.edu/people/kingson-eric/.
12. “Richard A Arenberg.” Researchers@Brown. Accessed October 22, 2020. https://vivo.brown.edu/display/rarenber.