The State Power Fund (SPF) is left-of-center advocacy group founded in 2022 that promotes itself as an initiative for government-funded poverty relief and voter-mobilization efforts. The group initially received a $3 million grant in seed funding from the Rockefeller Foundation in 2021 while receiving funding from other left-of-center grantmaking foundations including the Ford Foundation and the North Star Fund. The group also operates a lobbying arm, the State Power Action Fund. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Background

The State Power Fund (SPF) was officially formed in 2022, but had received an initial $3 million grant in seed funding from the Rockefeller Foundation to “advance multiracial democracy.” The $3 million grant was described as part of the foundation’s U.S. economic opportunity funding area “toward the costs of organizing state-based revenue campaigns that bring together policy, labor and grassroots movements in order to change how communities are resourced through state and local budget processes.” ²

Activities

The State Power Fund (SPF) operates Organizing the Midwest, a voter initiative project which hosts an annual conference to develop strategies intended to increase voter turnout for the campaigns of Democratic candidates running for office in the Midwest region. The project argues that between 2022 and 2040, the group has “18 years to win the Midwest and decide the future of our democracy.” The SPF claims the United States will become a majority-minority country by 2040 and a “Multiracial Democracy or American Apartheid” by 2090.  ¹

Partner Organizations

Listed partner organizations of the State Power Fund (SPF) include Organizing Lab, State Revenue Alliance, We Make the Future, and State Power Accelerator. ⁶

Funding

The State Power Fund (SPF) initially received a $3 million grant in seed funding in 2021 from the Rockefeller Foundation, prior to its launch in 2022, intended to “advance multiracial democracy.” In 2024, SPF received $200,000 from the Ford Foundation for “[c]ore support to create a learning community for and experimentations with Independent Revenue Generation.” ^{4 7 2}

The State Power Fund has also received grants from left-of-center organizations including Policy Matters Ohio, ISAIAH, Center for Popular Democracy, Together Colorado, Indivisible Civics, Make the Road New York, and the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance. ⁷

Leadership

Doran Shrantz is the board chair of the State Power Fund (SPF). Prior to this, Shrantz was the executive director of left-of-center activist group ISAIAH as well as Faith in Minnesota. As of 2025, she was listed as a senior strategist at Community Building Strategies.  ^{8 9}

DaMero Cooper is the treasurer for the SPF. He is also the co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and a former national organizing director of BlackPAC. ^{10 11}

The SPF board also includes Andrea Mercado, president of New Florida Majority and Florida Rising Together;  ¹² Tram Nguyen, the co-executive director of New Virginia Majority and a partner at Democracy Partners;  ¹³ and Nse Ufot, the former CEO of the New Georgia Project and its affiliated Action Fund.  ¹⁴

1. “State Power Fund 2021 Annual Report.” State Power Fund. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://www.statepowerfund.org/_files/ugd/4ed02a_1c06cbf30b664d6cba91f11b74088223.pdf
2. “State Power Fund 2021.” Rockefeller Foundation. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/grants/state-power-fund-2021/
3. “Statewide Fund.” North Star Fund. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://northstarfund.org/about/statewide-fund/
4. “State Power Fund.” Ford Foundation. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/state-power-fund-148842/
5. “Homepage.” State Power Action Fund. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://www.statepoweractionfund.org/
6. “State Power Fund.” State Power Fund. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://www.statepowerfund.org/
7. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. State Power Fund. 2023. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/853982823/202423209349306697/full
8. “Interview: Doran Schrantz.” Forge Organizing. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://forgeorganizing.org/article/interview-doran-schrantz/
9. Doran Schrantz LinkedIn Profile. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/doranschrantz/
10. “Debriefing the 2022 Midterms: Hard Wins and Historic Threats.” Convergence Magazine. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://convergencemag.com/articles/debriefing-the-2022-midterms-hard-wins-and-historic-threats/
11. “Damareo Cooper.” Convergence Magazine. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://convergencemag.com/authors/damareo-cooper/
12. “Andrea Mercado.” Florida Rising. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://floridarising.org/andrea-mercado/
13. “Tram Nguyen.” LinkedIn. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tram-nguyen-4502b76/
14. “Days Before Election, Stacey Abrams’s ‘Poster Child’ Voter Registration Group Is in Turmoil.” Washington Free Beacon. Accessed September 10, 2025. https://freebeacon.com/elections/days-before-election-stacey-abramss-poster-child-voter-registration-group-is-in-turmoil/