The Voter Registration Project Education Fund is the education wing of the Voter Registration Project, a left-of-center voter mobilization group which targets African-American, Hispanic, low-income, and other individuals considered likely to support left-progressive politics and the Democratic Party.

The Education Fund gives grants to other left-of-center nonprofit voter mobilization and advocacy groups across the country.

Leadership

The Voter Registration Project Education Fund is led by individuals with histories of working for left-of-center nonprofit advocacy groups. ^[1]

Evan Bacalao

Treasurer Evan Bacalao has worked for the Democratic Party and associated nonprofits since 2004. He is a program officer for the Open Society Foundations, the George Soros-backed network of more than 20 nonprofits dedicated to supporting left-of-center causes. For nine years, Bacalao worked for the NALEO Education Fund, a Hispanic-interest advocacy group, in a variety of roles, including as senior director of civic engagement. From 2004-2006, Bacalao worked for the California Democratic Party as a finance deputy. ^[2]

Bacalao also sits on the board of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees^[3] and on the advisory board of the Funders Committee for Civic Participation. ^[4]

Ilona Prucha

Secretary Ilona Prucha has worked for over ten years at the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, ^[5] a secretive left-of-center grantmaking foundation created by three hedge fund billionaires: Andrew Shechtel, David Gelbaum and C. Frederick Taylor. ^[6] Presently, she is a senior program officer of Wellspring’s Civil Society Program. ^[7]

Prucha is also a partner at the left-leaning Truman National Security Project,^[8] and sits on the advisory board of the Funders Committee for Civic Participation. ^[9]

Dave Montez

Member Dave Montez is the Vice President of Democracy Alliance,^[10] a coalition of left-of-center political advocacy groups organized by Democratic political consultant Rob Stein. Montez is also the director of the Latino Engagement Fund and the Latino Action Engagement Fund,^[11] two affiliated Hispanic voter mobilization groups which both operate under Democracy Alliance.

Before joining Democracy Alliance, Montez worked for numerous LGBT-interest groups. He worked as the executive director of One Colorado, as the acting president of Gays and Lesbians Against Defamation (GLAAD), as a senior program officer of the Gill Foundation, and he founded the Latino Initiative. ^[12]

Grant Recipients

The Education Fund gives grants to left-of-center organizations seeking to mobilize voters to support Democratic candidates. In 2018:^[13]

Voter Participation Center, a voter mobilization group with ties to MoveOn.org, received $2,451,827. ^[14] Inspire U.S., a student-based voter mobilization group,^[15] received $170,000. ^[16]

League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, the educational arm of the League of Conservation Voters, an environmentalist advocacy group with 34 local chapters, received $932,220. ^[17]

One Arizona, a voter mobilization group that targets ethnic and racial minorities,^[18] received $537,293. ^[19] Ohio Organizing Collaborative, an advocacy group supporting increased government welfare provision,^[20] received $500,975. ^[21] ProGeorgia State Table, a member of the State Voices Network, a left-of-center community activism organization for progressive causes, received $200,414. ^[22] Colorado Civic Engagement Roundtable, a statewide association of left-of-center nonprofit advocacy groups, received $169,951. ^[23] Pennsylvania Voice, a statewide network of 35 voter mobilization organizations,^[24] received $50,000. ^[25]