The California Native Vote Project (CNVP) is a left-of-center, membership-based Native American activist organization that is a fiscally sponsored project of Community Partners. ¹

CNVP has conducted “cultural humility trainings” for at least 40 principals and 40 vice principals across five school districts in California, and worked on the $10,000,000 Indigenous Student Achievement Initiative in the Los Angeles Unified School District. ²

In 2024, CNVP received $2,005,000 from the James Irvine Foundation ³ and $500,000 from the Weingart Foundation. ⁴ CNVP received $100,000 from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund in 2023. ⁵

History and Leadership

The California Native Vote Project was founded in 2016 to increase the political influence of Native American communities prior to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. ⁶

In 2018, CNVP joined with left-of-center grantmaking organization Community Partners to advance the critical race theory-influenced concept of equity for Native Americans in the United States. ⁷

As of December 2024, Chrissie Castro is the co-founder and executive director of the California Native Vote Project. Castro is a liberation fund advisor for the Groundswell Fund and a co-founder of Advance Native Political Leadership. ⁸ She is the vice-chairperson of the Los Angeles City and County Native American Indian Commission and co-led the movement to replace Columbus Day with an Indigenous Peoples Day in Los Angeles City and County. ⁹

As of December 2024, CNVP has offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento. ¹⁰

Activities and Funding

The California Native Vote Project is a left-of-center, membership-based Native American activist organization. ¹ CNVP has partnerships with California-based Native American tribes and Native American-led nonprofit groups. CNVP is a member of Native Voice Network, the Native American Rights Fund’s Native American Voting Rights Coalition, Advance Native Political Leadership, Youth Organize California, Power California, and California Calls. ¹¹

CNVP supports the critical race theory-influenced concept of equity, ¹² has conducted “cultural humility trainings” for at least 40 principals and 40 vice principals across five school districts in California, and worked on the $10,000,000 Indigenous Student Achievement Initiative in the Los Angeles Unified School District. ²

The organization has been identified as a Native American-focused get-out-the-vote (GOTV) organization, voter registration, and voter education organization in a report published by Third Plateau, Native Americans in Philanthropy, and Civic (Re)Solve. ^{13 14} In 2019, CNVP also engaged in U.S. Census advocacy and advocated for the establishment of new polling locations on Native American reservations. ^{15 11}

Prior to the 2024 election, CNVP onboarded at least 60 canvassers to engage with potential voters in California, targeting at least 30,000 Native Americans living on trial lands. ¹⁶ CNVP has run political campaigns out of Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Riverside and hosts community organizing consisting of town hall meetings, forums, phone banking, and other voter mobilization efforts. ¹⁷

CNVP runs the Native Power Building Fellowship, the Native Leadership Institute with Advance Native Political Leadership, the Native Youth for Justice Organizers Academy, and other groups to train Native American youth activists. ¹⁸

In 2019, CNVP engaged with Native American youth leaders to establish Youth for Justice-LA and host monthly youth organizing meetings in Southern California. ¹⁹

Funding

The California Native Vote Project is a fiscally sponsored project of Community Partners. ¹⁶ CNVP receives funding from individual contributions and grants to Community Partners that are earmarked for the organization. ²⁰ The left-of-center San Francisco Foundation has recommended that its donors support CNVP. ¹⁵

In 2024, CNVP received $2,005,000 from the James Irvine Foundation ³ and $500,000 from the Weingart Foundation. ⁴ CNVP received $100,000 from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund in 2023. ⁵

In 2022, CNVP received $2,300,000 from the James Irvine Foundation ²¹ and $1,000,000 from the California Wellness Foundation. ²² CNVP also received $500,000 from the Weingart Foundation in 2021, ⁴ $437,500 from the California Endowment in 2020, ²³ and $25,000 from the Heising-Simons Foundation in 2020. ²⁴

CNVP has also received a grant of $100,000 from the Weissberg Foundation ²⁵ and financial support of an undisclosed amount from the Schott Foundation for Public Education, ²⁶ the Liberty Hill Foundation, ²⁷ Native Voices Rising, ²⁸ and the NDN Collective. ²⁹

1. “California Native Vote Project.” Action Network. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://actionnetwork.org/forms/stay-connected-with-california-native-vote-project-cnvp?source=direct_link&.
2. “2023 Year in Review.” California Native Vote Project. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Tltzj2my3cEhj1jOaU7PRCxxMHYH1Qp8?usp=sharing.
3. Montes, Luisa. “The James Irvine Foundation Board of Directors approves $46.9 million in grants on September 19, 2024. https://www.irvine.org/insights/the-james-irvine-foundation-board-of-directors-approves-46-9-million-in-grants-on-september-19-2024-2/.
4. “Recent Grants & P.R.I.s.” Weingart Foundation. Search Results for California Native Vote Project. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://weingartfnd.org/grant-p-r-i-database/.
5. “Community Partners.” Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://www.haasjr.org/grants/grantee/community-partners.
6. Dale, Mariana. “LA’s Native youths are building power through community.” LAist. October 10, 2024. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://laist.com/news/education/california-indigenous-native-american-youth-vote-2024.
7. “California Native Vote Project.” Community Partners. Accessed December 4. 2024. https://communitypartners.org/org/california-native-vote-project/.
8.  “Chrissie Castro.” Groundswell Fund. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://groundswellfund.org/team/chrissie-castro/.
9. “Cassie Castro.” California Native Vote Project. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://canativevote.org/about/our-team/.
10. “Contact Us.” California Native Vote Project. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://canativevote.org/contact/.
11. “About Us.” California Native Vote. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://canativevote.org/about/.
12. “Honoring Native American Heritage Month: Reflecting on Resilience, Self-Determination, and a Legacy of Resistance.” California Native Vote Project. November 17, 2024. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://canativevote.org/honoring-native-american-heritage-month-reflecting-on-resilience-self-determination-and-a-legacy-of-resistance/.
13. “Indigenous-led Civic Engagement.” Third Plateau. Native Americans in Philanthropy. Civic Resolve. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://thirdplateau.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/Indigenous-led-Civic-Engagement-Guide-11.pdf.
14. “Instagram Post.” California Native Vote Instagram Page. Uploaded October 26, 2024. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/p/DBmDEosPeet/.
15. “Post-Election Give Guide.” San Francisco Foundation. November 12, 2024. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://sff.org/post-election-give-guide/.
16. “California Native Vote Project.” Third Plateau. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://thirdplateau.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/Indigenous-led-Civic-Engagement-Guide-11.pdf.
17. “Community Organizing.” California Native Vote Project. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://canativevote.org/what-we-do/community-organizing/.
18. “Intergenerational Leadership Development.” California Native Vote Project. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://canativevote.org/leadership-development/.
19.  “Youth Organizing.” California Native Vote Project. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://canativevote.org/what-we-do/youth-organizing/.
20. “Donate.” California Native Vote Project. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://canativevote.networkforgood.com/?link_id=5&can_id=26a0781e744d5133223fff7161fbf340&source=email-california-native-vote-project-in-2020&email_referrer=email_702139___subject_941211&email_subject=california-native-vote-project.
21. Montes, Luisa. “The James Irvine Foundation Board of Directors approves $14.6 Million in grants.” The James Irvine Foundation. December 19, 2022. Accessed December 4, 2022. https://www.irvine.org/insights/the-james-irvine-foundation-board-of-directors-approves-14-6-million-in-grants/.
22. “Announcing $17.8 Million in Grants and Impact Investments.” The California Wellness Foundation. August 19, 2022. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://www.calwellness.org/news/announcing-17-8-million-in-grants-and-impact-investments/.
23.  “The California Endowment.” Return of Private Foundation. (Form 990-PF). 2020. Part XV. https://www.calendow.org/app/uploads/2022/03/FY-3-31-2020.pdf.
24. “Community Partners.” Heising-Simons Foundation. Accessed December 4, 0224. https://www.hsfoundation.org/grants/search-our-awards/?grant_keyword=california%20native%20vote&grant_programs=&grant_type=&grant_amount_min=&grant_amount_max=&grant_year_min=&grant_year_max=&sort_order=grant_year-desc.
25. “Political Power Grantees.” Weissberg Foundation. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://weissbergfoundation.org/political-power-grantees/.
26. “Grantees.” Schott Foundation. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://schottfoundation.org/grantees/.
27. Magana, Andres. “Celebrating November’s Grantee Spotlight.” Liberty Hill Foundation. December 11, 2023. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://www.libertyhill.org/news/blog/celebrating-novembers-grantee-spotlight/.
28. “Grant Partners.” Native Voices Rising. Accessed December 4, 2024.  https://nativevoicesrising.org/grant-partners/.
29. “NDN Collective Announces 2022 Community Self-Determination Grantee partners.” NDN Collective. December 1, 2022. Accessed December 4, 2024. https://ndncollective.org/ndn-collective-announces-2022-community-self-determination-grantees/.