The State Power Fund (SPF) is a nonprofit formed in 2022 focused on government-funded poverty relief and voter mobilization. Its leadership consists of numerous left-wing activists with histories of racial-policy advocacy.

Leadership

Doran Schrantz

Doran Schrantz is the chair of the State Power Fund’s board. She is the executive director of ISAIAH and Faith in Minnesota, two groups that recruit activists from religious organizations for left-of-center causes. ¹ In a 2022 interview, Schrantz advocated for building the strength of ethnic and racial minorities within the Democratic Party to achieve “a multiracial, democratic, pluralistic state” opposed by “increasingly reactionary, white politics.” ²

DaMero Cooper

DaMero Cooper is the treasurer of the SPF. Cooper is the co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, the former national organizing director of BlackPAC, and the former executive director of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. In a 2022 interview, Cooper compared recent Republican electoral-administration efforts to the racist electoral push to remove Black individuals from office in the aftermath of the Reconstruction era during the 19th century. ^{3 4}

Andrea Mercado

Andrew Mercado is a director at the SPF. Mercado is the president of New Florida Majority and Florida Rising Together, co-founder of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the chair of We Belong Together, and the head of Mujeres Unidas y Activas. ⁵

Tram Nguyen

Tram Nguyen is a director at the SPF. Nguyen is co-executive director of New Virginia Majority, a partner at the for-profit Democracy Partners, and a former minority health advisor to the Virginia Department of Health. ⁶

Nse Ufot

Nse Ufot is the former chief executive officer of the New Georgia Project (NGP) and the New Georgia Project Action Fund, the voter-turnout groups created by Georgia Democratic politician Stacey Abrams. ⁷ In October 2022, Ufot left the New Georgia Project. ⁸

Funding

In 2021, the State Power Fund received $3 million from the Rockefeller Foundation. ⁹

Partners

The State Power Fund lists We Make the Future, WI Race Class Narrative, and Organizing the Midwest as partner organizations. ¹⁰

1. ^[1] “Doran Schrantz.” The Forge. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://forgeorganizing.org/author/doran-schrantz.
2. Pateriya, Deepak. “An Interview With Doran Schrantz.” The Forge. June 3, 2022. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://forgeorganizing.org/article/interview-doran-schrantz.
3.  Cooper, DeMareo; Cotton, Kendra; Hanson, Matthew; Podhorzer, Michael; MacLean, Nancy. “Debriefing the 2022 Midterms: Hard Wins and Historic Threats.” Convergence. December 15, 2022. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://convergencemag.com/articles/debriefing-the-2022-midterms-hard-wins-and-historic-threats/.
4. “DaMero Cooper.” Convergence. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://convergencemag.com/authors/damareo-cooper/.
5. “Andrea Mercado.” Florida Rising. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://floridarising.org/andrea-mercado/.
6. “Tram Nguyen.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tram-nguyen-4502b76/.
7. “Nse Ufot.” LinkedIn Accessed March 23, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ns%C3%A9-ufot-b0b7b73b/.
8. Simonson, Joseph; Kerr, Andrew. “Days Before Election, Stacey Abrams’s ‘Poster Child’ Voter Registration Group is in turmoil.” Free Beacon. November 4, 2022. Accessed March 24, 2023. https://freebeacon.com/elections/days-before-election-stacey-abramss-poster-child-voter-registration-group-is-in-turmoil/.
9. “State Power Fund.” Rockefeller Foundation. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/grant/state-power-fund-2021/.
10. “Featured Partners.” State Power Fund. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://www.statepowerfund.org/partners.