William (Bill) J. Roberts is a left-of-center political activist, environmentalist, and philanthropist who works as the principal consultant of Corridor Partners consultancy firm. He is also a board member of League of Conservation Voters (LCV), a left-of-center environmentalist political advocacy group, and has held leadership positions at both Atlantic Philanthropies and the Beldon Fund.

Background

Bill Roberts attended Yale University, earning both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in economics in 1978. In 1981, he earned his law degree from University of Chicago Law School. ¹ As of 2023, Roberts was residing in Brooklyn, New York. ²

Besides being involved in left-of-center nonprofits and grantmaking foundations, Roberts also has held senior staff positions for the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. ³

Corridor Partners

Bill Roberts is the principal consultant at Corridor Partners, a consultancy firm that advises environmentalist groups and other left-of-center organizations. ⁴ He has worked as principal since June 2011. ⁵

Roberts, through Corridor Partners, was the author of a voter registration plan to strategically “reshape the electorate” by employing private philanthropy funds to register 6.3 million “African Americans, Latinos, unmarried women, and young people,” of whom an estimated 2.2 million would ultimately vote. ^{6 7} The proposal ultimately ended up being sent to major left-wing operative John Podesta by Stephanie Schriock, then president of EMILY’s List, according to emails obtained from Podesta’s account by suspected hackers. The plan became what is now known as the Voter Registration Project, also referred to as the “Everybody Votes Campaign.” ⁸

Leaked early drafts of the plan written by Roberts reveal that their explicit intent was to help Democrats win in 2020 by generating two million new “non-white” votes in swing-states. ⁹

Other Roles

In March 1990, Bill Roberts became the legislative director of Environmental Defense Fund, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group. He remained in this position until 1996, when he switched to director of strategic communications for the organization, a role he held until 1998. ¹⁰

From 1998 until 2008, Roberts worked as president and executive director of Beldon Fund, an environmentalist grantmaking foundation. ¹¹

In 2009, Roberts was elected to the position of director of U.S. Advocacy at Atlantic Philanthropies, a Bermuda-based grantmaking foundation that has provided tens of millions of dollars to left-of-center initiatives and political campaigns both in the United States and abroad. ¹² He held this position until June of 2011. ¹³

In 2020, Roberts was a director at Civic Participation Action Fund, a secretive left-of-center pass-through group that was created in 2014 by Atlantic Advocacy Fund, itself one of several funds created by the off-shore Atlantic Philanthropies. ^{14 15}

As of 2023, Bill Roberts was a board member of League of Conservation Voters (LCV), a left-of-center environmentalist political advocacy group. ¹⁶ Bill Roberts has been on the board for many years, ¹⁷ and from 1999 to 2011 he was the board chair. ¹⁸ Additionally, from 2003 to 2010 he was the board chair of the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund. ¹⁹

1. ^[1] “William Roberts.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230327014515/https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=.
2. “William Roberts.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230327014515/https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=.
3. “Bill Roberts.” Corridor Partners. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.corridorpartners.com/bill-roberts/.
4. “Bill Roberts” NFCP. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.ncfp.org/people/bill-roberts/.
5. “William Roberts.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230327014515/https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=.
6. “Question.” WikiLeaks. Accessed May 10, 2022. https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/56984.
7. Thayer, Parker. “A “Dark Money” Assault on U.S. Elections: Meet the Team.” Capital Research Center, October 9, 2020. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://capitalresearch.org/article/a-dark-money-assault-on-u-s-elections-part-2/.
8. Thayer, Parker. “A “Dark Money” Assault on U.S. Elections: Meet the Team.” Capital Research Center, October 9, 2020. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://capitalresearch.org/article/a-dark-money-assault-on-u-s-elections-part-2/.
9. Thayer, Parker. “A “Dark Money” Assault on U.S. Elections: Unmasking CPAF’s Origins” Capital Research Center, October 9, 2020. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://capitalresearch.org/article/a-dark-money-assault-on-u-s-elections-part-3/.
10. “William Roberts.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230327014515/https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=.
11. “William Roberts.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230327014515/https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=.
12. “Bill Roberts” NFCP. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.ncfp.org/people/bill-roberts/.
13. “William Roberts.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230327014515/https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=.
14. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Civic Participation Action Fund. 2020. Part VII, Section A.
15. Thayer, Parker. “A “Dark Money” Assault on U.S. Elections: Meet the Team.” Capital Research Center, October 9, 2020. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://capitalresearch.org/article/a-dark-money-assault-on-u-s-elections-part-2/.
16. “Board of Directors.” League of Conservation Voters. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.lcv.org/about/board-of-directors-and-senior-staff/.
17. Evans, Will. “Profile: League of Conservation Voters.” NPR.org, September 9, 2008. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94411562.
18. “Bill Roberts.” Corridor Partners. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.corridorpartners.com/bill-roberts/.
19. “William Roberts.” LinkedIn. Accessed March 26, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20230327014515/https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-roberts-6475057?original_referer=.