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

John Yang

Current president, John C. Yang, is also president of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and was formerly a trade adviser to the Commerce Secretary, Penny Pritzker, during the Obama administration. ²

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. ³

Bacalao also sits on the board of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees⁴ and on the advisory board of the Funders Committee for Civic Participation. ⁵

Ilona Prucha

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

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

Former board member Dave Montez is the Vice President of Democracy Alliance,¹⁰ a highly secretive 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. ¹⁰

Grant Recipients

The Education Fund gives grants to left-of-center organizations seeking to mobilize voters to support left-of-center candidates and causes. In 2018:¹

Voter Participation Center, a voter mobilization group with ties to MoveOn.org, received $2,451,827. ¹ Inspire U.S., a student-based voter mobilization group,¹² received $170,000. ¹

League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, the 501(c)(3) arm of the League of Conservation Voters, a national environmentalist advocacy group, received $932,220. ¹

One Arizona, a voter mobilization group that targets ethnic and racial minorities,¹³ received $537,293. ¹ Ohio Organizing Collaborative, an advocacy group supporting increased government welfare provision,¹⁴ received $500,975. ¹ ProGeorgia State Table, a member of the State Voices Network, a left-of-center community activism organization for progressive causes, received $200,414. ¹ Colorado Civic Engagement Roundtable, a statewide association of left-of-center nonprofit advocacy groups, received $169,951. ¹ Pennsylvania Voice, a statewide network of 35 voter mobilization organizations,¹⁵ received $50,000. ¹

For a complete list of the Voter Registration Project Education Fund’s grantees, see the table below:

1. “Return of Organization Exempt from Taxes 2017 (Form 990).” ProPublica. Accessed February 7, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/812169516/201912959349301316/full.
2. “Advancing Justice: AAJC Selects John C. Yang as New President.” Sampan.org. February 09, 2017. Accessed July 15, 2019. https://sampan.org/2017/02/advancing-justice-aajc-selects-john-c-yang-as-new-president/.
3. “Evan B.” Linkedin. Accessed February 7, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/bacalao/.
4. “Evan Bacalao.” GCIR. Accessed February 13, 2020. https://www.gcir.org/board#evan-bacalao.
5. “Evan Bacalao.” FCCP. Accessed February 13, 2020. https://funderscommittee.org/staff-board/evan-bacalao/.
6. “Ilona Prucha.” Linkedin. Accessed February 7, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilona-prucha-09468527/.
7. Ghermezian, Shiryn. “Dozens of Jewish Charities Supported by Newly Revealed ‘$13 Billion Mystery Angels.’” The Algemeiner. May 27, 2014. Accessed July 18, 2019. https://www.algemeiner.com/2014/05/27/jewish-charities-heavily-favored-by-newly-revealed-13-billion-mystery-angels/
8. “Ilona Prucha.” Truman National Security Project. Accessed February 13, 2020. http://trumanproject.org/home/team-view/ilona-prucha/.
9. “Ilona Prucha.” FCCP. Accessed February 13, 2020. https://funderscommittee.org/staff-board/ilona-prucha/.
10. “Dave Montez.” Democracy Alliance. Accessed February 7, 2020. https://democracyalliance.org/people/dave-montez/.
11. “Democracy Alliance 2020 Investment Portfolio.” Democracy Alliance. Published Fall 2016. Accessed February 12, 2020. https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2019/04/Democracy-Alliance-2020-Investment-Portfolio-Report.pdf.
12. “Inspire U.S.” Linkedin. Accessed February 7, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspire2vote/.
13. “Our Mission.” One Arizona. Accessed February 6, 2020. https://onearizona.org/.
14. “Our Vision.” Ohio Organization Collaborative. Accessed February 7, 2020. https://www.ohorganizing.org/our-vision.
15. “About Pennsylvania Voice.” Pennsylvania Voice. Accessed February 7, 2020. https://www.pennsylvaniavoice.org/about.