The Hub Project

The Hub Project is run by former Democratic Party staffer Jessica Floyd. ^{4 5}

Background

The Hub Project is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a left-of-center lobbying and advocacy group that was managed by Arabella Advisors, a D.C.-based consulting firm. ⁶

The Hub Project establishes coalitions that work on media strategies for national and local advocacy campaigns, including on projects for foundations, for-profit businesses, and social entrepreneurs.  ⁷

Additionally, the group conducts research and polling, managed digital campaigns, and provides email, social media, and video production services. The group says it draws press attention through earned and paid media and writing op-eds. ⁷

According to its website, as of 2025 the Hub Project’s focus areas include promoting an “equitable” economy, exposing “conservative policies,” and promoting statehood for Washington, D.C. ^{8 9}

Activities

In 2018, the Hub Project reportedly spent $30 million to push Republican members of Congress to pass left-of-center Healthcare policies. According to a New York Times report, during the 2018 midterm elections. the Hub Project reportedly spent money from its parent organization the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which had reportedly spent $141 million during the midterm cycle. ^{10 2}

During the 2018 election, the Hub Project created state affiliates such as Keep Iowa Healthy, New Jersey for a Better Future and North Carolinians for a Fair Economy, all of which were fronts for the Sixteen Thirty Fund and did not publicly reveal their donors. The Hub Project used these local affiliates to recruit volunteers and run advertising against Republican members of Congress. ¹¹

Arkadi Gerney, the group’s founder and former executive director, said in 2018 that the Hub Project is was a “test case” for a larger Democratic political strategy to focus on GOP members of Congress instead of targeting President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. ¹¹ The group began by targeting five GOP House members in the summer of 2017. It then expanded to 19 members in 2018. ¹¹

The Hub Project is also affiliated with a super PAC called Change Now, which bankrolled negative ads against several House Republicans in 2018. Change Now reported getting $1.75 million from the League of Conservation Voters, an environmental lobby group. ¹¹

During the 2020 presidential election, the Hub Project donated to Opportunity Wisconsin, a left-of-center advocacy group that pushed Republican voters to vote against then-President Donald Trump through messaging about economic policies passed during the first Trump Administration.  ¹

Leadership

The founder and former executive director of the Hub Project is Arkadi Gerney. He previously worked at the Center for American Progress (CAP) before founding and leading Hub Project, until he stepped down in 2022. ^{10 5}

Jessica Floyd is the executive director of the Hub Project as of 2025, being appointed to the role in January 2023 following Gerney. Before becoming executive director, she worked at the Hub Project as the managing director for campaigns. Prior to this, she worked as a staffer for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was the president of American Bridge PAC, a senior account manager at the Incite Agency, the campaign manager for then-Rep. Ron Barber’s (D-AZ), the director of community outreach for then-Tucson mayor Jonathan Rothschild (D), and the political director for former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). ^{5 4}

Several staff members for the Hub Project went on to work for the Biden administration. These include Rosemary Enobakhare, who worked for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Obama administration before returning to the EPA under Biden; Maju Varghese, who was hired as director of the White House Military Office; and Janelle Jones, who became a chief economist for the U.S Department of Labor. ²

Controversies and Criticism

Illegal Election Intervention Complaint (2021)

In May 2021, right-of-center watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), alleging several organizations connected to Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss had violated the Federal Election Campaign Act. This included the Wyss Foundation, the Berger Action Fund, the New Venture Fund, and the Sixteen Thirty Fund (the parent organization of the Hub Project). ¹² According to APT, “Mr. Wyss indirectly funded federal electoral advocacy through his nonprofit organizations,” failing to set them up as political action committees (PACs), and “the intended recipient of these funds was ultimately a variety of organizations whose primary purpose is to engage in electoral advocacy.” ¹³

The complaint argued that the Wyss Foundation, Berger Action Fund, and New Venture Fund, failed to file a statement of organization with the FEC, despite Wyss contributing at least $56.5 million from the Wyss Foundation to the New Venture Fund and another $135 from the Berger Action Fund to the Sixteen Thirty Fund. The 501(c)(4) Sixteen Thirty Fund spent $30 million influencing the 2018 midterm elections in order to favor Democratic candidates, “thereby triggering classification as a political committee,” according to APT. ¹³

APT alleged that Wyss established the Hub Project in order “to avoid any connection with the sizeable election activities carried out by the Hub Project and Change Now,” a super PAC associated with the Hub Project. “Operating since 2015 without the requisite FEC filing,” APT wrote, “the Hub Project has been immune to any oversight and accountability despite significant spending in federal election.” The complaint further alleged that:

The Hub Project has served as a vehicle for the political spending of Mr. Wyss. This is demonstrated by the fact that Mr. Wyss has not publicly disclosed his role in founding the Hub Project. Neither his influence nor his financial support can be found anywhere on the group’s website. Rather, information regarding his involvement with the Hub Project was the result of ‘interviews with five people with knowledge of The Hub Project, an internal memo from another liberal group that was obtained by The New York Times.’ ¹⁴

Funding

As the Hub Project is a fiscally sponsored project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund. It does not disclose its budget or donors. ¹⁵

According to a 2015 proposal entitled “A Plan for the Development of a Communications Hub Supporting The Wyss Foundation’s Core Issue Areas” prepared for the Wyss Foundation by Civitas Public Affairs Group the foundation envisioned the creation of a “communications hub” meant to be established as an “independent organization with a fiscal sponsor” with the “flexibility to work across the spectrum of 501(c)(3), (h) election, and 501(c)(4) activities.” Though it did not name Arabella Advisors or its associated 501(c)(4) Sixteen Thirty Fund and 501(c)(3) New Venture Fund—the respective sponsors of the Hub Project and Hub Education and Engagement Fund—few fiscal sponsorship structures of such scope existed in 2015 to support such a project ¹⁶

This “hub” was designed to “drive measurable change” and achieve “significant wins.” Its “core objective” was “to dramatically shift the public debate and policy positions of core decision makers” by developing “research-based message frames,” ultimately “leading to implementation of policy solutions at the local, state, and federal level.” As a hub, these goals would be largely driven by allied left-wing organizations in coalition with the Hub Project, which would provide campaign aid, research, and political advertising. ¹⁶

The “hub” was intended to be overseen by an advisory board comprised of members of the Wyss Foundation team and a representative from a fiscal sponsor, though the document advocated for  distancing the “hub” from the Wyss Foundation. However, the document stated that the hub would provide “quarterly updates for The Wyss Foundation identifying benchmarks that have been reached, challenges faced, and recommendations necessary” for achieving its annual objectives ¹⁶

The initial budget for this hub was $2,212,760 in 2015, rising to $4,122,175 in 2016, and $4,347,196 in 2017. In 2017, $800,000 of this budget was to be set aside for “original news content” and “earned media,” another $786,500 for research and “digital data management,” and $865,000 for “paid media and “creative design” work. ¹⁶