United for a Fair Economy (UFE) is a left-of-center advocacy group based in Boston, Massachusetts which attempts to reduce economic inequality by lobbying for tax increases and increasing labor union privileges. UFE was cofounded by Chuck Collins, Felice Yeskel, and Mike Miller in 1995.

History

Early in his life, Chuck Collins, grandson of the founder of Oscar Mayer and heir to the family fortune, gave the totality of his inheritance away to foundations and organizations focused on the environment, peace, racial equality, and gay rights. In the following years, Collins became a strong proponent of the death tax.¹

In 1994, Collins and Felice Yeskel – who would go on to be the director of the Stonewall Center for gay and lesbian students at the University of Massachusetts until her passing in 2011 – created The Growing Divide, a liberal workshop aimed at teaching people about inequality. The workshop targeted labor unions, students, political groups, religious congregations, community organizers, and classrooms and attempted to create a space where people could learn about the income and wealth shift in America, its causes, its effects on the country, and strategies to have income be distributed more equally through a series of curriculum guides, charts, and games.²

After reaching several thousand people with The Growing Divide workshop, the pair would partner up with Mike Miller, a sociology professor at Boston College, to found Share the Wealth, the organization that would later be rebranded as United for a Fair Economy, an organization focused on putting the issue of economic inequality back on the public’s radar by creating a series of programs on the topic. Over the years as UFE and The Growing Divide expanded, more workshops began to be added including conferences on acknowledging white privilege and a school curriculum made for teachers with lesson plans and games to propagandize students.^{3 4}

In 2001, Collins transitioned from Executive Director to Program Director, handing over the reins to Meizhu Lui who would only hold the position until 2007. After leaving UFE, the organization would go two years without filling the position, transitioning between several interim Executive Directors during that time.⁵

Brian Miller was announced in 2009 as the much-delayed replacement for Lui. The former Executive Director of Tennesseans for Fair Taxation for 12 years would hold the position for less than five years before transitioning to Nonprofit VOTE to serve as Executive Director in 2013. ⁶

After Miller’s departure, Mike Lapham, the Director of the Responsible Wealth Program at UFE, and Jeanette Huezo, Popular Educator and former union organizer for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), were named as interim co-Executive Directors.

In 2014, it was announced that Huezo would take over the reins of UFE permanently as the executive director. ⁷

Political Activism

“State of the Dream”

State of the Dream, an annual report published by United for a Fair Economy, was first launched in 2004. Released yearly on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the reports attempt to draw attention to economic disparities between black and white Americans. The inaugural report argued that the necessary means to fix the income gap in America was a cut in military expenditures and an increase in taxes.⁸

Editions over the years have included reports backing a government-controlled, single-payer healthcare system, a reversal of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United free-speech ruling, and the establishment of federally funded trust funds for each newborn in America. UFE has also called for taxing capital gains and investments at the same rates as wage income.⁹

Recent News

In the Spring of 2017, United for a Fair Economy joined more than 70 liberal groups on April 15th in protesting Donald Trump, demanding that he release his tax returns. The protests which were organized by a website called TaxMarch.org took place in 44 states across the country.  ¹⁰

Among the other groups present for the protest were Demos, a group which is chaired by the daughter of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Media Matters for America, an organization run by a David Brock.  ¹¹

People

Jeannette Huezo is the executive director of the UFE. Huezo was a former union organizer for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and an Advisory Board member for the Center to Support Immigrant Organizing (CSIO). ¹²

Anne Price is the board chair for UFE. Price is also the co-founder and president of social justice group The Maven Collaborative. From 2011 to 2016 she served as the Program Director of the “Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative” project of legal group Insight Center for Community Economic Development. She then worked as president for Insight from 2016 to 2022. ^{13 14}

Funding

United for a Fair Economy does not disclose the entirety of its list of donors; however, it has admitted to receiving funding from several nonprofits including the Tides Foundation, a San Francisco-based fund that funnels hundreds of millions of dollars into progressive groups every year. ¹⁵

Other donors have included the Seattle Foundation; North Star Fund Inc.; Network for Good Inc.; Maine Initiative Inc.; Funding Exchange Inc.; East Bay Community Foundation; and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc. ¹⁶

1. French, Kimberly. “From Riches to Responsibility: Chuck Collins Defends the Estate Tax.” UU World Magazine. November 07, 2016. Accessed September 18, 2017. http://www.uuworld.org/articles/riches-responsibility.
2. “The Growing Divide Workshop.” United for a Fair Economy. Accessed September 18, 2017. http://www.faireconomy.org/resources/workshops/the_growing_divide_workshop.
3. “Changes We’ve Made.” United for a Fair Economy. 2014. Accessed September 15, 2017. http://www.faireconomy.org/history.
4. “The Growing Divide Workshop.” United for a Fair Economy. Accessed September 18, 2017. http://www.faireconomy.org/resources/workshops/the_growing_divide_workshop.
5. “Changes We’ve Made.” United for a Fair Economy. 2014. Accessed September 15, 2017. http://www.faireconomy.org/history.
6. “Nonprofit VOTE Names Brian Miller as New Executive Director – Nonprofit Vote.” Nonprofit VOTE. Accessed September 19, 2017. http://www.nonprofitvote.org/non-profit-vote-names-brian-miller-new-executive-director/.
7. “Board of Directors Appoints Jeanette Huezo Executive Director.” United for a Fair Economy. Accessed September 19, 2017. http://www.faireconomy.org/board_of_directors_appoints_jeannette_huezo_executive_director.
8. “State of the Dream: Economic Disparities in Black and White.” United for a Fair Economy. Accessed September 25, 2017. http://www.faireconomy.org/deam4.
9. “Reports.” United for a Fair Economy. Accessed September 26, 2017. http://www.faireconomy.org/reports.
10. “Join the Tax March.” Tax March. Accessed September 19, 2017. https://taxmarch.org/.
11. “More Than 70 Liberal Groups Partnered for Anti-Trump Tax Day Protests.” Washington Free Beacon. April 17, 2017. Accessed September 19, 2017. http://freebeacon.com/politics/70-liberal-groups-partnered-anti-trump-tax-day-protests/.
12. “Jeanette Huezo.” United for a Fair Economy. Accessed September 19.2017. http://www.faireconomy.org/jeanette_huezo.
13. “Anne Price.” LinkedIn, Accessed September 28, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-elaine-price-616a1737
14. “Anne Pierce.” United for a Fair Economy, Accessed September 28, 2023. https://www.faireconomy.org/board_anne_price
15. ‘Tides Foundation.” CitizenAudit.org. Accessed September 25, 2017. https://www.citizenaudit.org/organization/510198509/.
16. “United for a Fair Economy.” CitizenAudit.org. Accessed September 25, 2017. https://www.citizenaudit.org/organization/043286118/united-for-a-fair-economy-inc/.