Wisconsin Conservation Voters (WCV)

Founding and History

Wisconsin Conservation Voters was founded in 2001 and its charitable partner organization, Wisconsin Conservation Voices, was founded in 2002. Both organizations have grown dramatically since that time and the hiring of joint executive director Kerry Schumann in 2004. As of 2025, they had grown into organizations with multi-million-dollar annual budgets that are very active in Wisconsin state politics. ^{4  5  6}

Financials

For 2023, Wisconsin Conservation Voters reported $1,576,312 in revenue, of which $1,570,985 stemmed from contributions and grants and $12,824 from investment income. It did not report receiving any government funding. ⁷

WCV reported $1,250,105 in expenses, of which $517,590 was paid out in salaries and compensation, $9,790 in conference and travel expenses, $71,734 in office expenses, and $1,242 in texting expenses. ⁸

Organization Philosophy

Wisconsin Conservation Voters holds left-of-center views on environmental and social-policy issues. WCV claims that America is infected with systemic injustice. To address this, WCV claims  to work to achieve social “equity” externally and to embody equity and inclusivity internally. It considers basic voting integrity measures, like voter ID, to be forms of voter suppression and a threat to democracy. It also promotes climate alarmism and calls for major environmental policy changes, especially concerning energy production. ^{9  3  1}

Projects and Initiatives

In November 2025, Wisconsin Conservation Voters’ website identified three specific campaigns it was working on at the time. One was its efforts to mandate that the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources alert various local health and government authorities about any reports which find that surface or groundwater have been contaminated in order to inform well owners. ¹⁰

WCV objects to the construction of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, claiming that these centers will use vast amounts of water and will consume large amounts of electricity and raise demand, and therefore prices, for consumers. However, WCV also opposes the use of traditional energy sources like oil and gas and demands that increased energy consumption be offset by weather-dependent energy sources like wind and solar. ²

WCV lists the legacy of the Inflation Reduction Act as its other priority issue, specifically promoting the various environmental subsidies that the bill created. ¹¹

In 2025 the WCV claimed to be working to advance climate and racial justice simultaneously by trying to phase out traditional energy sources and implement weather-dependent energy sources. It also characterizes the State of Wisconsin’s  election integrity efforts as ways to disenfranchise voters, calling measures such as voter ID and stringent voter registration requirements racist. ^{1   3}

Leadership

As of 2025, Kerry Schumann was the executive director of Wisconsin Conservation Voters and its charitable partner organization Wisconsin Conservation Voices. She has held these positions since 2004. Both organizations’ annual revenues have increased to over $1 million, and both had become more prominent in state politics. Schumann was paid $40,563 as the executive director of Wisconsin Conservation Voters, and an additional $94,996 as the executive director of Wisconsin Conservation Voices. ^{5  12  13}