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]