The Solidago Foundation is a left-of-center grantmaking organization that provides funding to activism and advocacy organizations that support the Foundation’s positions. The Solidago Foundation has provided grants to organizations that support environmentalist regulations, increased government spending, increased unionization, and left-of-center social policies on issues including race and immigration. ¹

Businessman and radio station owner Joseph Rosenmiller and his son David Rosenmiller founded the Solidago Foundation. ² David Rosenmiller sat on the Solidago Foundation board for many years and today holds an advisory position with the organization, in addition to working on a number of left-wing social justice causes. ³

Background

The Solidago Foundation’s tax documents state that it was formed in 2005, though the organization’s website states that the Foundation was created in 1996. ^{4 5} Businessman and radio station owner Joseph Rosenmiller and his son David Rosenmiller founded the Solidago Foundation. ² David Rosenmiller sat on the Solidago Foundation board for many years and today holds an advisory position with the organization, in addition to working on a number of left-wing social justice causes. ³

Grantmaking

The Solidago Foundation provides grants to a variety of left-of-center organizations that support increased government spending, environmentalist regulations, increased unionization, and left-progressive social policy. ¹

The Solidago Foundation has supported organized-labor-aligned organizations. In 2018, the Foundation gave $150,000 to the Democracy at Work Institute, $85,000 to the Centro de Trabajadores, and $80,000 to the Chicago Workers Collaborative. The Foundation made a number of smaller grants to pro-union organizations including the Adelante Alabama Worker Center, the Centro de los Derechos, Centro Presente, the Chinese Progressive Association (San Francisco), the San Francisco Day Labor Program, and Community Labor United. The Solidago Foundation donated $5,000 to the controversial Chinese Progressive Association (Boston), an organization known for its extremist-left leadership and association with Chinese communist organizations. ¹

The Solidago Foundation also provides funding for organizations that advocate for increased government entitlement spending and economic regulation. In 2018, the Foundation gave its single largest grant to the Center for Economic Democracy, providing the Center with $537,628 in funding. The Solidago Foundation also contributed to the Center for Civic Policy, Communities United for People, the ACCE Institute, the Conscious Voice Collaborative, the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, and the Environmental Health Coalition. The Foundation also gave grants to the Clean Air Coalition of Western New York and Communities for a Better Environment, left-of-center organizations that support increased environmentalist regulations. ¹

In 2018, the Solidago Foundation also made grants to a number of left-of-center racial and social policy organizations. The Foundation made its largest grants in this sector to the Center for Neighborhood Leadership ($200,000), the Council on American Islamic Relations of Minnesota ($77,500), and the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) ($40,000). Other notable grant recipients in this area include the Abolitionist Law Center, the left-wing Alliance for Global Justice, the Black Economic Justice Institute, the Connecticut Bail Fund, the Center for Transformative Action, and Civic Nation. ¹

Aside from donations to activist organizations, the Solidago Foundation provides funding to other left-of-center grantmaking organizations. In 2018, these included contributions to Confluence Philanthropy and the Environmental Grantmakers Association. The Foundation also supported government programming in 2018, giving $15,000 to the Behavioral Health System of Baltimore and $150,000 to the city and county of San Francisco. ¹

Advocacy

Election Administration

The Solidago Foundation is active in left-of-center politics. The Foundation condemned the January 6, 2021 riots at the United States Capitol Building, claiming that the protest was “rooted in white supremacist ideology.” ⁶ In response to the protest, the Foundation announced that it would spend all of its existing assets between 2021 and 2022 to support organizations that are active in election policy in order to oppose the implementation of voter integrity policies. ⁶

The Solidago Foundation has opposed voter integrity laws in Ohio, including efforts to remove individuals who fail to vote and fail to update their registration status from voter rolls after six years. ⁷ The Solidago Foundation has opposed these laws and framed its support for voter registration organizations as an effort to undo such election security laws. ⁷

Support for Janitorial Unions

The Solidago Foundation is one of the first organizations to support Labor Interventions for the 21st Century (LIFT), a left-of-center organization that provides financial support for organizations that seek to unionize employees. With support from the Solidago Foundation and LIFT, the Centro de Trabajadores successfully established the first metropolitan janitorial union in the country in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota region. ⁸

See Forward Fund

In 2006, the Solidago Foundation established the See Forward Fund, an independent grantmaking organization that supports organizations seeking to expand welfare spending and organizations that are active in promoting left-of-center policies on race. ⁵ The Solidago Foundation and See Forward Fund share the same president, Linda Stout. ⁹

Leadership

Linda Stout is the president of the Solidago Foundation. ¹⁰ She is also the executive director and founder of Spirit in Action, a left-of-center organization that advocates for left-of-center policies on race and opposes voter integrity laws. ¹¹ Prior to joining the Solidago Foundation, Stout was the executive director of the Peace Development Fund from 1995-1999. Prior to her role there, Stout was the executive director of Piedmont Peace Project. ¹⁰

1. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Solidago Foundation. Schedule I, Part II, Grants and Other assistance. 2018.
2. “Joseph Rosenmiller” Solidago Foundation. https://solidago.org/people/joseph-rosenmiller/
3. “David Rosenmiller” Solidago Foundation. https://solidago.org/people/david-rosenmiller/
4. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Solidago Foundation. Schedule I.
5. “History” Solidago Foundation. https://solidago.org/history/
6. Russell-Ciardi, Maggie. “Now is the Time” The Solidago Foundation. https://solidago.org/now-is-the-time/
7. “Ohio Organizing Collaborative” Solidago Foundation. https://solidago.org/ohio-organizing-collaborative/
8. “Center of Workers United in Struggle” The Solidago Foundation. https://solidago.org/center-of-workers-united-in-struggle/
9. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). See Forward Fund. Schedule I. 2018.
10. “Linda Stout” Solidago Foundation. https://solidago.org/people/linda-stout/
11. “About us” Spirit in Action. https://spiritinaction.net/about-us/