Arizona Donor Alliance

The group may have been replaced as the primary donor coordinator for Arizona-based left-of-center donors and causes by the formation of the Arizona Democracy Alliance in January 2024. ²

Founding

Left-of-center Arizona activists formed the Arizona Donor Alliance as a limited liability company in 2017. The group’s founders were Joe Thomas, then-president of the Arizona Education Association; ³ Jim McLaughlin, president of the Arizona AFL-CIO and a UFCW vice president; ⁴ and Jodi Liggett, a pro-abortion advocate who is a former vice president for Planned Parenthood of Arizona. ^{5 6}

In September 2017, another union official, Aaron Butler, president of the Arizona Building and Construction Trades Council, ⁷ joined the board. ⁸

In July 2020, Butler and Liggett left the board. ⁹

Instituto’s Involvement

The Arizona Donor Alliance’s fiscal sponsor is Instituto Lab, a left-of-center group that serves as an incubator for left-of-center groups in Arizona. Among Instituto’s partners are the Arizona Education Association and the Arizona AFL-CIO.¹⁰

In 2020, Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since President Bill Clinton in 1996. Left-of-center groups and activists in Arizona saw an opportunity to swing the state from competitive to safely Democratic. ¹⁰

As of May 2022, the Arizona Donor Alliance was finalizing its tax status on the 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) sides, but it is unclear if it has done so as of April 2024. ¹⁰

The Arizona Donor Alliance focused on three areas: national donor engagement, capacity-building support for partner organizations, and in-state local donor cultivation and engagement. As of May 2022, the group focused especially on cultivating in state donors to continue its work in case the national donors decide to focus on other places and stop giving money to support Arizona causes. ¹⁰

Focus On Non-White Groups

In May 2023, the Arizona Donor Alliance placed a job opening for a membership director. The membership director would recruit new members for the group to fund selected left-of-center groups and causes. One of the desired experience and skills traits listed in the job opening was for volunteer experience in non-white led campaigns or groups. ¹¹

Possible Replacement

Left-of-center activists may have replaced the Arizona Donor Alliance as the leading left-of-center donor coordination network in Arizona. In January 2024, documents were filed with the Arizona Corporation Commission establishing the Arizona Democracy Alliance. The CEO of the new group is the same person who is executive director of the Arizona Donor Alliance, Korina Iribe. ²

Leadership

The Arizona Donor Alliance’s executive director is Korina Iribe. Iribe came to the United States illegally at the age of seven with her mother and sister from Mexico after overstaying a tourist visa. Iribe is allowed to stay in the United States due to taking advantage of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty program. ¹

Before joining the Arizona Donor Alliance, Iribe worked for the Movement Voter Project as an advisor and worked with the BAZTA Arpaio campaign in 2016 that led to then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s (R) defeat. Previously to that, she worked on pro-illegal immigrant causes. ¹²