The Windward Fund is an environmentalist fiscal sponsor organization in the network of “dark money” organizations controlled by philanthropic consultancy Arabella Advisors. The Fund was created in February 2015 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with startup funding of $5.25 million provided by an unknown source. According to its bylaws, Windward will promote “conservation and environmental protection issues” through grants and fiscal sponsorship. The Windward Fund is smaller than the other Arabella-controlled Funds, and revenues fell from $15.8 million in 2016 to $12.7 million in 2017. ^[1]

The Windward Fund often operates alongside its “sister” nonprofits, primarily the 501(c)(4) Sixteen Thirty Fund and 501(c)(3) New Venture Fund, which both provides similar funding and fiscal sponsorship services to center-left advocacy organizations. All three funds are administered by Arabella Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-based philanthropy consulting firm that caters to left-leaning clients. The Hopewell Fund, another 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is also managed by Arabella Advisors and performs similar functions, particularly concerning fiscal sponsorship of other left-of-center groups. ^[2]

Windward Fund describes itself as a fiscal sponsor of “various ‘projects,'” which focus on a range of environmental issues. Windward provides legal compliance, finance, and HR services to its projects, and additionally seeks to help its projects create greater impact through facilitating connections, providing access to information, and capacity building.” ^[3]

“Fake Groups” and Environmentalism

The Hopewell Fund, like all four nonprofits managed by the for-profit consultancy Arabella Advisors, primarily exists to sponsor a number of “fake” groups: websites designed to look like standalone nonprofits. These “fake” groups rarely become fully-fledged nonprofits; instead, they typically exist to effect an issue advocacy campaign pushing left-wing policies and may disappear after the campaign is finished. The Hopewell Fund is one of the newer of Arabella’s four nonprofits, founded in 2015, and most of the “fake” groups it sponsors are focused on expanding abortion access and criticizing President Donald Trump’s healthcare policies. ^[4]

Windward describes its mission as “seek[ing] to build a more impactful environmental movement by connecting people across diverse geographies, sectors, and communities, enabling them to share expertise and resources, and providing a vehicle for effective, community-based, grassroots grant[making].” ^[5]

While the Windward Fund sponsors at least 9 projects, most are not known. The following are examples of groups identified as Windward Fund projects, more of which are listed at the bottom of this profile (under “Child Organizations”).

Water Funder Initiative

The Water Funder Initiative is a Windward Fund project promoting “water sustainability” in conjunction with the center-left Energy, Hewlett, Packard, Walton, S.D. Bechtel, Mitchell, and Rockefeller Foundations. Among other things, the Initiative seeks to create a “water fee” in key states such as Texas, California, and Colorado to pay for “affordable basic [water] supplies for disadvantaged communities”; “reform municipal and green bond rules” to encourage more public financing of environmentalist projects; and support politicians who want to alter water rate structures in order to “incentivize conservation.” ^[6][7]

Institute for the New Food Economy

The Institute for the New Food Economy is an investigative journalism project of Windward Fund that reports on genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), cell-cultured meat, pesticides, and the food industry in general.

Known Windward Fund Projects

• Castanea Fellowship
• Climate Resilience Fund (CRF)
• Earthrise Alliance
• Farm to Fork Initiative
• Food Systems Leadership Fellowship
• Institute for the New Food Economy
• Liquid Assets Project
• The Heartland Fund
• The Ocean Agency
• Water Funder Initiative (WFI)

Leadership

Board of Directors

The Windward Fund’s board of directors in 2018 consisted of the following individuals: ^[8]

Lee Bodner is the board chair of Windward Fund and president of the New Venture Fund, as well as board chair of the Hopewell Fund. Bodner is the former managing director of Arabella Advisors, where he played a leadership role in incubation projects housed within NVF and its lobbying affiliate, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, particularly concerning environmentalist groups. ^[9]

Eric Kessler is the former board chair for Windward Fund before he was replaced by Lee Bodner in 2016; Kessler is not listed on Windward’s board of directors in its 2018 IRS Form 990 filing. Kessler is the founder and senior managing director at Arabella Advisors. ^[10]

Bruce Boyd is a member of the board of directors for Windward Fund. He also works as the senior managing director for Arabella Advisors. ^[11]

Andrew Schulz serves as general counsel for the Windward Fund. He is also general counsel for Arabella Advisors and its other three nonprofits. ^[12]

Wilbur Priester is a member of the board of directors for Windward Fund. He also works as the CFO of Arabella Advisors. ^[13]

Adam Eichberg was a member of the founding board of directors for Windward Fund. He previously worked as a deputy legislative director to Democratic Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. He also works as an environmentalist consultant running the Denver based Headwater Strategies, a legislative advocacy organization that focuses mainly on environmental issues. ^[14]

Harry Drucker is a member of Windward’s founding board of directors and a board member for the New Venture Fund. Drucker is an environmental activist and realtor. He also served on the board of the National Environmental Policy and Law Center and the Illinois chapter of the Nature Conservancy. ^[15]

Charles “Chuck” Savitt is the treasurer of the board of directors for Windward Fund. He is the founder of environmentalist publishing company Island Press, which has published books by population control advocate Paul Ehrlich. ^[16]

Kristen Grimm is a member of the board of directors for Windward Fund. She is also a fellow at the Aspen Institute and founder of Spitfire Strategies, a consultancy firm which caters to left-leaning clients. ^[17]

Aileen Lee is a member of the board of directors for Windward Fund. Lee is a venture capitalist operating mainly out of California. ^[18]

Bill Gallegos is a Windward board member, beginning in 2018. Gallegos is executive director of Communities for a Better Environment, an “environmental justice” organization. ^[19]

Jumana Vasi is a Windward board member, beginning in 2018. Vasi is a principal at the consulting firm Jvasi Consulting, and provides services to center-left environmental nonprofits. She is a board member for the Environmental Grantmakers Association. ^[20]

Key Staff

According to the Windward Fund’s 2018 IRS Form 990 filing (archived here), its “sister” nonprofit the New Venture Fund (NVF) served as paymaster to the nonprofit through February 2017: “NVF paid the salary and immediately invoiced Windward, which pays the full amount back. After this time, Windward administered its own payroll.” ^[21] In 2018, Windward paid $1,273,269 in employee salaries and compensation. ^[22] In 2017, Windward paid $2,949,170 in employee salaries and compensation. ^[23]

John Nordgren is a project director for Windward Fund. Nordgren is the managing director of the Climate Resilience Fund, an environmental advocacy project of Windward Fund based in Washington state. ^[24] In 2018, Norden received total compensation of $223,305. ^[25]

Mary McBryde is a Windward project director. In 2018, she received total compensation of $132,375. ^[26]

Dorcas Robinson is a Windward project director. Robinson is the director of the Windward Fund’s Resilience Measurement, Evidence & Learning Community of Practice. ^[27] In 2018, she received total compensation of $188,917. ^[28]

Jason Kessler is a project director for the Windward Fund and director of partnerships for Earthrise Alliance, a Windward Fund project. ^[29] In 2018, he received total compensation of $119,989. ^[30]

Funding

Financial Overview

The Windward Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. An overview of the group’s finances from 2015 to 2018 is provided below: ^[31]

Lobbying

Between 2015 and 2018, Windward reported spending $2,064,465 in lobbying expenses: ^[32]

• 2018: $828,959
• 2017: $701,206
• 2016: $522,641
• 2015: $11,659

Funds Spent on “Fake” Group Activism

According to its 2018 IRS Form 990 filing (archived here), the Windward Fund identified two program areas in which it spent money:

Windward spent $9,962,514 on “environmental (climate, conservation, and energy) programs,” of which $3,755,493 was paid out as grants to other nonprofits. ^[33]

Windward Fund’s environmental programs focus on a range of conservation[,] climate, and energy issues in the U.S. and abroad. These issues include water solutions in the American West, climate resilience, alternative energy sources, reduction of deforestation, and conservation planning.

Our work primarily includes convening, grantmaking, communications, cooordination [sic] among stakeholders, civic and media engagement, and public awareness campaigns.

Windward spent $2,461,232 on “agriculture, food, nutrition,” of which $200,000 was paid out as grants to other nonprofits. ^[34]

Windward Fund’s agriculture, food, and nutrition programs focus on a range of issues aimed at transforming food systems to greater accessibility and sustainability, working on topics such as regenerative stewardship of agricultural lands and an enabling infrastructure and policy environment for a healthy food system. Activities conducted include coordination among stakeholders, grantmaking, communications, and public awareness campaigns.

The Windward Fund also reported spending $12,423,746 on other unidentified program services. ^[35]

Donors to Windward Fund

Windward Fund has received a number of major grants from left-of-center advocacy philanthropies. While the group is not required to publicly disclose its donors under IRS rules, the biggest grants Windward received in 2018 were $2,650,000; two grants of $2,500,000; $2 million; $1,593,000; and $1,260,000. ^[36]

The Rockefeller Foundation has made multiple grants to Windward Fund totaling $2.1 million between 2016 and 2017. ^[37] The Agua Fund, a left-leaning philanthropic foundation, made a $45,000 grant to Windward Fund in 2017. ^[38] Walton Family Foundation, philanthropic organization associated with Walmart founder Sam Walton’s family, made grants totaling more than $2.5 million between 2016 and 2018. ^[39] Wallace Global Fund II, a left-leaning philanthropic organization, made a $100,000 donation to the Windward Fund in 2018. Gates Family Foundation has made grants totaling $325,000 since 2016. ^[40] Other major donors include the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Gordon E. and Betty I. Moore Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. ^[41]

By far the largest and most consistent donor to the Windward Fund is the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, which gave $17,770,526 to Windward between 2016 and 2017, including a 2017 grant of $3 million and a 2016 grant of $2,944,000. ^[42]

Grants from Windward Fund

In 2018, the Windward Fund reported paying nearly $4 million in grants to other nonprofits. ^[43] In 2017, it paid out just under $2.5 million in grants. ^[44]

Consulting and Management Fees

Since 2015, Windward has paid nearly $3 million to Arabella Advisors for management services. ^[45]

Financial Documents

The Windward Fund’s Form 990 IRS filings obtained by the Capital Research Center are available here:

• 2018 IRS Filing (Form 990)
• 2017 IRS Filing (Form 990)
• 2016 IRS Filing (Form 990)

The Windward Fund filed its Application for Recognition of Exemption from income tax with the IRS (Form 1023) in 2015. The document is available here.

The Windward Fund’s IRS Form 1023 application for recognition of tax exempt status is available here; the file also includes:

• a description of Windward’s charitable activities, including “fiscal sponsorship”;
• Windward’s founding board of directors (Eric Kessler, Adam Eichberg, and Harry Drucker), as well as their “qualifications”;
• Windward’s articles of incorporation, filed with the District of Columbia on February 2, 2015;
• the nonprofit’s bylaws; and
• an administrative agreement between the Windward Fund and Arabella Advisors authorizing the latter to provide paid management services to the nonprofit.

Windward received IRS recognition of its tax exempt status on June 8, 2015; the IRS letter is available here.