Working Families Power

Working Families Power promotes left-of-center policies, with a heavy focus on issues of importance to labor unions, and has been active in “resistance” protests against President Donald Trump’s first and second administrations. ³ While its greatest power is in New York City, the group also has a powerful presence in Chicago and Oregon, and Working Families Power claims to have active and staffed chapters in 24 states and the District of Columbia. ¹

It is a major recipient of funding from the left-of-center pass-through grantmaker Tides Foundation, to the point that grants from the Tides Foundation have at time accounted for almost half of Working Families Power’s annual funding. ^{4 5}

Working Families Power was reported as being among the top 30 funders of members of Louisianans Against False Solutions (LAFS), a coalition of weather-dependent energy advocacy groups. Working Families Power gave $1,035,000 to LAFS groups between 2020 and 2025. ⁶

History and Leadership

Working Families Power was founded in 2006, eight years after the founding of the Working Families Party by members and allies of the defunct Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) community organizing network. ⁷

Dan Cantor, who was the co-founder and longtime national director of the Working Families Party immediately began working for ACORN upon graduating from Wesleyan University in 1977. ⁸ Subsequent to his time at ACORN, he worked for the National Labor Committee on Central America, mobilizing labor opposition to AFL-CIO for failing to support the Cuban-backed Sandinistas in Nicaragua. ⁹ In 1998, Cantor joined with Bob Master, the Political Director for District One of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) labor union, to create the Working Families Party. ⁸

In its 2023 annual report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Working Families Power claimed that Cantor had worked 40 hours a week with no compensation. ⁵ At the time, Cantor had stepped away from his role as executive director of the Working Families Party, moving to a role as the chair of its national committee. ⁹ While Working Families Power does not list its staff or board members on its website, Cantor appeared to remain its executive director as of April 2025, when he signed its corporate annual report with the Rhode Island Secretary of State. ¹⁰

Union Ties

Working Families Power has deep ties with national left-of-center groups and labor unions. While it no longer publicizes the members of its national and state advisory boards, in the past those boards have included representatives of major labor unions like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Communications Workers of America (CWA), United Auto Workers (UAW), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW). ¹¹ Other Advisory Board members came from advocacy group MoveOn.org, labor-union-associated advocacy organization Center for Popular Democracy, and Latino organizing group Casa de Maryland. ¹¹

Issues

Working Families Power promotes left-of-center policy priorities. ¹²

Its advocacy has a strong focus on labor union priorities such as paid sick leave, the “Fight for $15” minimum wage campaign, increased funding for home care programs with unionized workers, gender “pay equity” measures, and increased government regulation of employers’ scheduling of workers. ³

It supports “Defund the Police” efforts in the District of Columbia and elsewhere across the country. ³

Working Families Power was a major supporter of New York City’s law that allows non-citizen immigrants to vote in municipal elections and supports a state law allowing undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses. It has also supported “sanctuary city” laws in Connecticut that interfere with the relationship between local law enforcement and federal immigration officers. ³

Working Families Power has become active in left-of-center environmental policy, supporting the Green New Deal, increased local power over fossil fuel exploration and production, and “economic justice” initiatives that give funding and power to low-income and ethnic minority groups. ³

In March 2021, the organization launched a six-figure digital ad campaign criticizing 10 House Republicans who voted against H.R. 1, a Democratic legislative priority which would federalize election administration in the United States. ¹³

Opposition to Trump Administrations

Working Families Power has opposed President Donald Trump as part of the loosely organized “resistance.” ^{14 15} During the first Trump administration, this included coordinated gatherings at the local offices of Congressmen to demand they denounce Trump’s personnel and policy decisions. ¹⁶ In 2025, it was active in the “No Kings” protests against the second Trump administration’s policies. ^{15 17 18}

In March 2025, Working Families Power, along with Indivisible and MoveOn, created a new online publication on the website Substack titled “How We Fight Back,” which it claims will, “match the courage of everyday people in this country who are saying Enough […] Enough of the greed and cruelty and corruption.” ¹⁹ In addition, according to an article by Semafor, the publication will contain “a digest of political analysis and direction for how readers and supporters can take action directly against Trump, Elon Musk, and Republicans.” ¹⁹ The publication will also contain essays and videos published by Democratic members of Congress.  ²⁰

In June 2025, Working Families Power participated in organizing or supporting protests branded under the “#NoKings” banner, a national day of demonstrations positioned as a defense of democratic norms against President Donald Trump. These events were part of a larger mobilization involving over 70 Democratic Party affiliates and allied organizations across at least 19 U.S. states and multiple international locations, according to publicly available event listings on Mobilize.us, a Democratic Party-aligned organizing platform. ^{21 22}

Funding

Working Families Power receives significant funding from high-profile left-of-center donors and foundations. The major left-of-center pass-through grantmaker Tides Foundation has been a significant source of funding for Working Families Power over the years, at times approaching almost half of the organization’s revenues such as in 2022, when Tides Foundation grants comprised 47 percent of Working Families Power’s $54,227,055 in annual revenues. Through the Tides Foundation, donors directed $4,555,657 to Working Families Power in 2023; $25,453,285 in 2022; $16,425,591 in 2021; $10,500,400 in 2020; $4,488,120 in 2019; and $4,273,423 in 2018. ⁴

Philanthropic Institutions

Donors also regularly support Working Families Power through the left-of-center pass-through funder NEO Philanthropy, giving $64,000 in 2023; $140,500 in 2022; and $100,000 in 2020. ²³

Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz’s Open Philanthropy gave $1.44 million to Working Families Power for “prosecutor accountability and criminal justice reform” in 2019, and then another $1.5 million in 2021. ²⁴

eBay chairman and co-founder Pierre Omidyar’s Democracy Fund Voice gave $250,000 in 2021 and $350,000 in 2022. ²⁵

George Soros’s Fund for Policy Reform donated $500,000 in 2015 ²⁶ and $500,000 in 2014. ²⁷

In 2020, the Groundswell Fund donated $80,000 to support Working Families Power’s expansion in South Carolina. ²⁸

The SEIU-aligned donor advised fund Amalgamated Charitable Foundation gave $200,000 in 2023 and $10,000 in 2022. ²⁹ In 2020, it gave $550,000 through the Tides Foundation. ²⁹

The Rockefeller Family Fund donated $115,000 in 2012 ³⁰ and at least $187,000 in 2011. ³¹

The Proteus Action League donated $79,000 in 2012. ³²

The Progressive America Fund (which does business as the Center for Working Families and is now known as the “United for Respect Education Fund”) donated $3,500,265 in 2015, ³³ $1,757,817 in 2014, ³⁴ and $776,233 in 2013. ³⁵

The Leadership Center for the Common Good donated $28,000 in 2013 ³⁶ and $25,000 in 2012. ³⁷

Union Funders

In 2024, the Illinois Federation of Teachers paid Working Families Power $21,845 for “communications expenses.” ³⁸

In 2023, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters paid Working Families Power $7,000. ³⁹

In 2021, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) paid Working Families Power $38,000 for “mobilizing.” ⁴⁰

In 2014, the American Federation of Teachers contributed $87,500 to Working Families Party. ⁴¹

Northern California-based SEIU Local 1021 gave $50,000 in 2023 and an additional $50,000 in 2024. ⁴²