State Voices is a left-of-center advocacy group founded in 2008. ¹ State Voices connects advocacy and activist organizations to each other so they can collaborate in “state tables” on mutual policy goals. ² The organizations it works with are typically left-of-center or environmentalist in nature.

Political Activities

Redistricting and the 2020 U.S. Census

An immediate goal for State Voices is to implement redistricting via changes to the 2020 U.S. Census. This includes taking measures to further account for minority groups, youth, and low-income individuals. ³ On its website, State Voices says that they are “also committed to ensuring fair redistricting so that boundaries are not manipulated to favor political parties.” ³ A claim that holds less water when considering that State Voices almost exclusively works with left-of-center organizations.

Funding

State Voices has received substantial funding from left-of-center foundations. These include the Bohemian Foundation, Open Society Institute (now the Open Society Foundations), Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation, Tides Foundation, and the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

The Bohemian Foundation gave $50,000 in 2012, the Open Society Foundations gave a combined $200,000 in 2008 and 2009, the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation gave $50,000 in 2013, the Tides Foundation gave a combined $190,000 in 2009 and 2012, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation gave a total $500,000 from 2014 to 2016. ⁴

* Indicates Multi-Year Grant ⁵

Leadership

Alexis Anderson-Reed began her tenure as executive director of State Voices on September 4^th, 2018. ⁶ Previously, Anderson-Reed served as the senior director of programs for State Voices before joining the Funders’ Committee For Civic Participation in 2016. ⁶ She is also on State Voices’ Board of Directors. ⁷

Miles Rapoport is the current chair of State Voices’ board of directors. ⁸ He is also a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, has headed the far-left think tank Demos, and served as Connecticut Secretary of State. ⁹

Board of Directors

Sue Van is a member of the State Voices board of directors, CEO of the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, and a Fund Steering Committee Member in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Civic Engagement Fund.

Rinku Sen is a member of the State Voices’ board of directors and a senior strategist at Race Forward. She formerly worked as executive director and publisher of Race Forward’s news site Colorlines. ¹⁰

Daayiah Bilal-Threats is the vice chair for State Voices’ board of directors, and the current special assistant to the executive director and senior advisor for strategic initiatives at the National Education Association. ^{11 12}

Tamieka Atkins is the board secretary for State Voices. ¹¹ She is also the current executive director for left-wing voter advocacy group ProGeorgia and the previous director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance’s Atlanta chapter. ¹³

Scott Anderson is the board treasurer for State Voices and the head of the Committee on States, a counterpart project of Democracy Alliance with the goal of coordinating donations to state-based progressive groups. ^{11 14}

Erin Dale Byrd is a member of the State Voices’ board of directors and the executive director of Partnership Funds, a collaborative of left-wing environmentalist fundraising groups, and its 501(c)(4) fundraising arm Partnership Action Fund. ^{11 15}

Gladys Washington is a member of the State Voices’ board of directors and the former deputy director for the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. ¹¹

Perry Rosenstein is a member of the State Voices’ board of directors and the co-founder of online media group Icebreaker. In addition, he was a co-founder of progressive pro-Bernie Sanders messaging group Hustle Inc. ^{11 16}

Beth Huang is a member of the State Voices’ board of directors and the director of voter advocacy group Massachusetts Voter Table. ^{11 17}

Karundi Williams is a member of the State Voices’ board of directors and the executive director of progressive organizer group Re:Power. ¹⁸

Alejandra Ruiz is a member of the State Voices’ board of directors and the executive director of the Youth Engagement Fund. ¹⁸

Jamal Watkins is a member of the State Voices’ board of directors and the vice president of civic engagement for civil rights group the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). ¹⁸

Tyler Nickerson is a member of the State Voices’ board of directors and the first vice president of Amalgamated Bank. In addition, he works as the senior director of programs at the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation. ¹⁸

1. “History.” State Voices. Accessed June 07, 2019. https://statevoices.org/about/history/.
2. “Who We Are.” State Voices. Accessed June 07, 2019. https://statevoices.org/about/who-we-are/.
3. “Civic Representation.” State Voices. March 15, 2018. Accessed June 07, 2019. https://statevoices.org/2016/10/20/civic-representation/.
4. State Voices. Accessed June 6, 2019. www.FoundationSearch.com
5. “2018 Post Election Report.” State Voices, Mar. 2019, statevoices.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Complete-SV-Post-Election-Report-2018-digital.pdf.
6. Tucker, Brianna. “State Voices Announces New Executive Director.” The Beat DC. August 14, 2018. Accessed June 07, 2019. https://www.thebeatdc.com/blog/2018/8/14/state-voices-announces-new-executive-director.
7. “Alexis Anderson-Reed.” State Voices. Accessed June 07, 2019. https://statevoices.org/staff/alexis-anderson-reed/.
8. “Board of Directors.” State Voices. Accessed June 07, 2019. https://statevoices.org/about/board/.
9. “Miles Rapoport.” Ash Center. Accessed June 07, 2019. https://ash.harvard.edu/people/miles-rapoport.
10. “Rinku Sen.” Facing Race: A National Conference. Accessed June 07, 2019. https://facingrace.raceforward.org/speaker/rinku-sen.
11. “About: Board of Directors.” State Voices. Accessed March 30, 2020. https://statevoices.org/about/board/
12. “Daaiyah Bilal-Threats. Relationship Science. Accessed March 30, 2020. https://relationshipscience.com/person/daaiyah-bilal-threats-181064850
13. “Tamieka Atkins.” Forward Together. Accessed March 30, 2020. https://forwardtogether.org/people/tamieka-atkins/
14. “The Committee on States.” Ballotpedia. Accessed March 30, 2020. https://ballotpedia.org/Committee_on_States
15. “Erin Dayle Byrd.” Non Profit Professionals (NPAG). Accessed March 30, 2020. https://nonprofitprofessionals.com/
16. “Perry Rosenstein.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 1, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/perry-rosenstein-9a76343/
17. Massachusetts Voter Table. Accessed April 1, 2020. http://mavotertable.org/
18. “Announcing New Members to the State Voices Board.” State Voices. Accessed April 1, 2020. https://statevoices.org/2020/03/26/announcing-new-board-members/