Non-profit

Western Values Project Action (WVPA)

Website:

westernvaluesproject.org

Location:

Washington, DC

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(4)

Type:

Charitable Foundation Trade Name

Project of:

Sixteen Thirty Fund

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Western Values Project Action (WVPA) is a project associated with the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a left-of-center funding and fiscal sponsorship organization managed by the Washington, D.C.-based consultancy Arabella Advisors. 1 It is the lobbying and electoral advocacy arm of the Western Values Project, a project run by the New Venture Fund (NVF), the charitable advocacy sister organization to the Sixteen Thirty Fund.

In January 2020, Western Values Project became a project of Accountable.US, a former project of New Venture Fund project), with Accountable.US claiming it was “in the process of transitioning from the New Venture Fund” into a standalone nonprofit; it has since become an independent nonprofit. A lack of online activity indicates WVPA might have been absorbed into Accountable.US as well. 2

History

Western Values Project Action is a trade name for a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which is itself part of the Arabella Advisors-managed network of center-left nonprofits. District of Columbia records indicate that the trade name will expire in April of 2020. 3 WVPA is listed as a trade name in the Sixteen Thirty Fund’s 2017 tax filings but not its 2016 filings. 4 5

WVPA is the 501(c)(4) sister organization to the environmentalist advocacy project Western Values Project, which is itself a trade name registered under the 501(c)(3) New Venture Fund, which is also a member of the Arabella Advisors-managed network of advocacy groups. 6

As of 2024, a lack of activity makes it appear that WVPA may have been absorbed into Accountable.US as a project around the same time its sister organization, Western Values Project, became a project of the organization as well. 7

Activities

Western Values Project Action runs television advertisements targeting members of Congress and encouraging the public to support its environmentalist agenda. In 2018, the group spent over $1 million pressuring U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) over two public lands bills. 8 In 2019, the group spent a six-figure sum targeting U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) for supporting Trump administration nominee for Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. 9

Leadership

The executive director of Western Values Project Action is Chris Saeger. 10 He has previously worked as the communications director of the Montana Democratic Party, the Service Employees International Union in Arizona and Colorado, and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. 11

Amy Kurtz is president and former executive director of the Sixteen Thirty Fund 12 Prior to joining Sixteen Thirty Fund, she was a senior advisor for America Votes, a left-wing get-out-the-vote nonprofit heavily funded by Sixteen Thirty Fund and other Arabella-run nonprofits. She has also worked as an associate director at the National Education Association, as a project manager at Defenders of Wildlife, and as a campaign director for the League of Conservation Voters. 13

Eric Kessler is the former president and chair of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, as well as the founder and senior managing director of Arabella Advisors, until he resigned in 2021. 14 Kessler also previously served on the board of the Sixteen Thirty Fund’s sister organization, New Venture Fund. 15 16 17

Funding

Because WVPA is not an independent nonprofit, but rather a trade name used by the Sixteen Thirty Fund, no specific funding under the auspices of WVPA are identified. However, in 2017, the Sixteen Thirty Fund reported spending $7,310,149 as a “fund to support organizations working to advance clean energy and climate solutions.” 18

References

  1. “Sixteen Thirty Fund.” OpenCorporates. Accessed August 17, 2019. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_dc/EXTUID_2696217.
  2. “Donate.” Accountable.US. Accessed January 23, 2020. Original URL: https://www.accountable.us/donate/. Archived URL: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2020/01/Accountable.US-Donate.-New-Venture-Fund-Project.-01.2020.pdf
  3. “Sixteen Thirty Fund.” OpenCorporates. Accessed August 17, 2019. https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_dc/EXTUID_2696217.
  4. Sixteen Thirty Fund, IRS (Form 990), 2017, Schedule O
  5. Sixteen Thirty Fund, IRS (Form 990), 2016, Schedule O
  6. “Fiscal Sponsorship.” Arabella Advisors. Accessed August 17, 2019. https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/expertise/fiscal-sponsorship/
  7. “Donate.” Accountable.US. Accessed January 23, 2020. Original URL: https://www.accountable.us/donate/. Archived URL: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2020/01/Accountable.US-Donate.-New-Venture-Fund-Project.-01.2020.pdf
  8. Sword, Katy. “Western Values Calls out Herrera Beutler Once Again.” All Politics is Local, February 8, 2018. https://blogs.columbian.com/all-politics-is-local/western-values-calls-out-herrera-beutler-once-again/.
  9. Tamborrino, Kelsey. “Trump to Unveil Pipeline Push.” POLITICO, April 10, 2019. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-energy/2019/04/10/trump-to-unveil-pipeline-push-423333.
  10. “Six-Figure Ad Campaign Launched Telling Senator Heinrich to Reject Trump’s Conflict-Ridden Interior Secretary Nominee.” Western Values Project, April 9, 2019. https://westernvaluesproject.org/six-figure-ad-campaign-launched-telling-senator-heinrich-to-reject-trumps-conflict-ridden-interior-secretary-nominee/.
  11. “Chris Saeger.” WesternValuesProject.org. Accessed August 14, 2019. https://westernvaluesproject.org/staff/chris-saeger/#more-109
  12. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Sixteen Thirty Fund. 2019-2020. Part VII, Section A.
  13. “Amy Kurtz – Executive Director – Sixteen Thirty Fund …” Accessed November 18, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-kurtz-a56a294.
  14. “Our People.” Arabella Advisors. Accessed April 20, 2017. https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/company/our-people/
  15. Sixteen Thirty Fund, IRS (Form 990), 2017, Part VII
  16. Profile: Eric Kessler. Arabella Advisors. Accessed August 18, 2019. https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/directory/eric-kessler/
  17. “Board of Directors.” New Venture Fund. Accessed April 20, 2017. http://www.newventurefund.org/about-nvf/board-of-directors/.
  18. Sixteen Thirty Fund, IRS (Form 990), 2017, Part III
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Western Values Project Action (WVPA)


Washington, DC