Unidos MN is an organization that focuses on issues related to immigration, Latino identity politics, and “climate justice.” The group asserts that it is a “Latine-led [sic] organization” that conducts leadership training for specific groups including “immigrant, youth, LGBTQ+, Indigenous, Black, disabled and women.” ¹

Unidos MN is connected to its sister organizations, Unidos MN Action and UNIDOS Minnesota Education Fund. Unidos MN Action’s activities include candidate endorsements and direct lobbying. UNIDOS Minnesota Education Fund claims to be nonpartisan, although its website celebrates Democratic victories including the “historic democratic trifecta in Minnesota,” and does not engage in lobbying, instead focusing on public education and policy research. ^{2 3}

Financials

Unidos MN reported revenues of $447,827 and assets of $840,588 in 2022. Total grants and contributions in 2022 were $401,366, up from $66,405 the previous year. ⁴

Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia (United Renters for Justice), a renter’s rights organization operating in Minneapolis which pushes for “democratically controlled” housing, tenant unions, and rent controls, donated $60,000 to Unidos MN in 2021. ^{5 6} All Hands on Deck Network, a “national progressive policy advocacy” organization, with revenues of $36,205,793 and assets of $19,537,251 in 2022, donated $50,000 to Unidos MN in 2022. ^{7 8}

Sixteen Thirty Fund, a left-of-center lobbying and advocacy organization which has been criticized for its “dark money” tactics of seeding progressive groups by utilizing pass-through fiscal sponsorship arrangements, donated $50,000 to Unidos MN in 2022 for “environmental programs.” ^{9 10}

Programs

Unidos MN is a “intersectional Latinx-based [sic] organization ready to build power for gender, racial, and economic justice.” ¹¹ Unidos MN pushes for policy positions related to immigration expansion and left-wing politics, such as driver’s licenses for illegal aliens, parole in place programs to avoid deportation of illegal aliens, a “climate justice” program known as the people’s climate and equity plan, and the activist training program PODER Fellowship. ^{12 13 14}

People’s Climate and Equity Plan

Unidos MN helped push for a $10 million “climate equity” fund in Minneapolis in 2023. Future goals of Unidos MN’s People’s Climate and Equity Plan include so-called “clean energy home pilots” in Minneapolis and Saint Paul; a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program to favor minority hiring for “green union jobs”; making every building in Minneapolis carbon-free by 2040; and carbon-free transportation. ¹⁵

PODER Fellows and Youth Action Summer Camp

The PODER Fellows program is a leadership training for young adults under 25-years-old. Fellows are given training in political activism, leadership, and a community-focused unity philosophy known as “lak’esh” which in Mayan means “you are my other me.” ¹⁶

We Choose Us Partnership

Unidos MN is one of the partner organizations listed on the We Choose Us website. We Choose Us is a coalition of left-of-center advocacy groups, unions, and groups pushing for “multiracial democracy” in the state of Minnesota. ^{17 18} Partner organizations include ISAIAH, a left-of-center faith-based group that organizes for progressive causes using churches in Minnesota, and associated with the Gamaliel Foundation founded by Saul Alinsky. ^{19 20}

In the 2023 Minnesota legislative session, We Choose Us pushed for policies such as voting rights restoration for convicted criminals, automatic voter registration, a permanent absentee voting list, and pre-registration for 16 and 17-year-olds. ²¹

People

As of 2024, Emilia Gonzales Avalos was the Executive Director of Unidos MN. She is a Bush Fellowship recipient, a program of the left-of-center Bush Foundation. She also works as executive director of Navigate MN, another Hispanic-focused left-wing group operating in Minnesota. ²²

1. “Unidos MN.” UNIDOS MN. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://unidos-mn.org/.
2. “Legal.” UNIDOS MN. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://unidos-mn.org/legal.
3. “Unidos MN.” UNIDOS MN. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://unidos-mn.org/.
4. “Unidos MN.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/unidos-mn,823888866/#form990s.
5. “Unidos MN.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/unidos-mn,823888866/#form990s.
6. “Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia- United Renters for Justice.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/inquilinxs-unidxs-por-justicia-united-renters-for,474987940/.
7. “All Hands on Deck Network.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/all-hands-on-deck-network,371697474/.
8. “Unidos MN.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/unidos-mn,823888866/#form990s.
9. Markay, Lachlan. “Over 100 Left-Wing Groups Sourced to DC Dark Money Outfit.” Washington Free Beacon, October 22, 2015. http://freebeacon.com/issues/over-100-left-wing-groups-sourced-to-d-c-dark-money-outfit/.
10. “Unidos MN.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/unidos-mn,823888866/#form990s.
11. “Our Story.” UNIDOS MN. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://unidos-mn.org/our-story.
12. “Driver’s Licenses for All.” UNIDOS MN. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://unidos-mn.org/licencias.
13. “Parole in Place.” UNIDOS MN. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://unidos-mn.org/parole-in-place-info.
14. “Climate Equity.” UNIDOS MN. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://unidos-mn.org/minneapolis-climate-equity.
15. “Climate Equity.” UNIDOS MN. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://unidos-mn.org/minneapolis-climate-equity.
16. “Platform.” UNIDOS MN. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://unidos-mn.org/platform.
17. “What Is We Choose Us?” We Choose Us. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.wechooseusmn.com/about-we-choose-us.
18. “Partners.” We Choose Us. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.wechooseusmn.com/partners.
19. “Partners.” We Choose Us. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.wechooseusmn.com/partners.
20. “Gamaliel Foundation, Form 990.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/362657863/202323489349301552/full.
21. “2023 Big Wins for Democracy.” We Choose Us. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.wechooseusmn.com/big-wins.
22. “Emilia Gonzalez Avalos.” Bush Foundation. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.bushfoundation.org/fellows/emilia-gonzalez-avalos.