Created in July 2019, We the People Michigan is a left-of-center advocacy and organizing group that conducts voter canvassing and engagement operations in the state of Michigan. We the People Michigan has advocated for a number of left-wing policies, including the abolition of national borders, the implementation of government-run healthcare, the provision of a universal basic income, race-based reparations, and the cancellation of all student loan debt. ¹

Connections

We the People Michigan does not list its president and board of directors on its website, though they are listed on the organization’s registration filings. Top leadership at We the People Michigan have several connections to other left-of-center organizations. ²³

Branden Snyder is president of We the People Michigan. Snyder works as the executive director of Detroit Action, a left-of-center voter mobilization network based in Detroit that also includes the Detroit Action Education Fund and Michigan Action, a political action committee. ⁴⁵ Detroit Action and the Education Fund are fiscally-sponsored projects of the left-of-center Tides Network. ⁶ Tides Advocacy also made a $150,000 donation to the Michigan Action PAC in 2020. ⁷

We the People Action Fund is led by Stephanie Arellano. Arellano is currently employed as a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) campaign director in Detroit. ^{8 9}

Support for Radical Policies

On February 15, 2021, We the People Michigan posted a tweet advocating for the end of Title 42 deportations, an immigration policy created by former President Donald Trump’s administration in 2020 in response to the COVID-19. The statement claimed that the organization would “not rest until everyone can live with dignity & with no borders.” ^{10 11}

On  February 17, 2021, We The People Michigan called on the Biden administration to cancel all student loan debt, apparently by way of an executive order. ¹² The organization also called on Michigan to implement “free or affordable college and vocational programs,” funded by taxpayers. ¹³

Leadership

We the People Michigan is led by its president, Branden Snyder. ¹⁴ Snyder has extensive experience with left-of-center activism in Michigan and works as the executive director of Detroit Action, a left-of-center voter mobilization network based in Detroit. ¹⁵ Snyder has also worked on voter mobilization initiatives for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s failed presidential campaign in 2016, and as state director for Organizing for Michigan United, a left-of-center organizing nonprofit. ¹⁶

Art Reyes is the executive director of We the People Michigan. Reyes formerly worked as the organizer training director for the left-of-center Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) and was previously a leader at Flint Rising and Michigan Voice. ¹⁷ Reyes also worked as a teaching fellow at Harvard University and taught a class with outspoken left-wing organizer Marshall Ganz. Ganz worked closely with left-of-center labor activist Cesar Chavez and has been credited as the designer of the grassroots organizing scheme that backed former President Barack Obama’s successful presidential campaign in 2008. ¹⁸

Financials

As of March 2021, We the People Michigan had not filed any public financial information with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as it reported filing the “e-postcard” for organizations with gross receipts not greater than $50,000 in 2019. ¹⁹

1. “The People’s Agenda.” Accessed March 1, 2021. https://www.wethepeoplemi.org/peoplesagenda.\
2. “We the People MI Summary State of Michigan Corporations Division,” 2020. https://cofs.lara.state.mi.us/CorpWeb/CorpSearch/CorpSummary.aspx?ID=802344061&SEARCH_TYPE=3&CanReturn=True.
3. “Team – We the People.” Accessed March 1, 2021. https://www.wethepeoplemi.org/team
4. “Staff & Board.” Detroit Action, December 7, 2020. https://detroitaction.org/staff-and-board/
5. “Donate.” Detroit Action, December 7, 2020. https://detroitaction.org/donate/
6. “Detroit Action, a Project of Tides Advocacy!” ActBlue. Accessed March 2, 2021. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/detaction
7. “Browse Receipts.” FEC.gov. Accessed March 2, 2021. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?committee_id=C00753640&two_year_transaction_period=2020&data_type=processed
8. “We the People MI Summary State of Michigan Corporations Division.” Search Summary State of Michigan Corporations Division, 2020. https://cofs.lara.state.mi.us/CorpWeb/CorpSearch/CorpSummary.aspx?ID=802344071&SEARCH_TYPE=3&CanReturn=True.
9. “Stephanie Arellano.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 1, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-arellano-5708834a/
10. Michigan, We the People. “We the People Michigan Twitter.” Twitter. Twitter, February 15, 2021. https://twitter.com/WeThePeople_MI/status/1361383453560868866
11. “The People’s Agenda.” Accessed March 1, 2021. https://www.wethepeoplemi.org/peoplesagenda.\
12. Michigan, We the People. “We the People Michigan Twitter.” Twitter. Twitter, February 17, 2021. https://twitter.com/WeThePeople_MI/status/1362070871603621891
13. “The People’s Agenda.” Accessed March 1, 2021. https://www.wethepeoplemi.org/peoplesagenda.\
14. “We the People MI Summary State of Michigan Corporations Division,” 2020. https://cofs.lara.state.mi.us/CorpWeb/CorpSearch/CorpSummary.aspx?ID=802344061&SEARCH_TYPE=3&CanReturn=True
15. “Staff & Board.” Detroit Action, December 7, 2020. https://detroitaction.org/staff-and-board/.
16. “Staff & Board.” Detroit Action, December 7, 2020. https://detroitaction.org/staff-and-board/
17. “Team – We the People.” Accessed March 1, 2021. https://www.wethepeoplemi.org/team
18. “Team – We the People.” Accessed March 1, 2021. https://www.wethepeoplemi.org/team
19. “IRS.gov Applications.” Details about We the people – mi. Accessed March 2, 2021. https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/detailsPage?ein=843520391&name=We+the+People+-+Mi&city=Detroit&state=MI&countryAbbr=US&dba=&type=CHARITIES%2C+EPOSTCARD&orgTags=EPOSTCARD.