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Person

Quinn Delaney

Nationality:

American
Organization:

Akonadi Foundation

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Quinn Delaney is a philanthropist, fundraiser, and major donor to left-of-center causes and Democratic politicians. In 2000, Delaney and her husband, real estate mogul Wayne Jordan, co-founded the Akonadi Foundation, a left-of-center racial justice grantmaking group primarily focused in Oakland, CA.

Delaney has raised and personally donated millions of dollars to Democratic PACs and candidates. Starting in 2018, Delaney was part of a four-person Democratic mega donor group in California that supported prosecutor candidates who committed to increasing leniency in prosecutions, including Chesa Boudin in San Fransisco and George Gascon in Los Angeles.

Delaney and her husband have close ties to former President Barack Obama (D). They were early donors in his first presidential campaign, raised and donated funds during both campaigns, and donated over $1 million to the Obama Foundation.

Career

In the 1990s, Quinn Delaney worked for the San Fransisco-based investment bank Hambrecht and Quist, and for her husband’s real estate company, Jordan Real Estate Investments. 1

Delaney has worked as an attorney for the National Center for Youth Law and the ACLU of Northern California. She sat on the board of the latter for a decade. 2

Delaney sits on the boards of the East Bay Community Foundation, Oakland Museum of California, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the Women Donors Network Action Fund, the Center for Community Change, and the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. 3 She was formerly a board member of the Tides Foundation. 4 Delaney is a commissioner on the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. 5

Delaney is an advisor to California Donor Table, Fund Her, Emerge America, and Way to Win. 6

Wayne Jordan

Quinn Delaney is married to Wayne Jordan, with whom she co-founded the Akonadi Foundation. Jordan is the founder and president of Jordan Real Estate Investments, a real estate company based in Oakland, California, with projects throughout the United States. Jordan has hosted fundraisers for U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), and President Barack Obama (D). Jordan sits on the boards of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Color of Change, Rock the Vote, the ACLU Investment Committee, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. 7 Jordan is a member of Donors of Color 8 and has worked with Democracy Alliance. 9

Early Philanthropy

Quinn Delaney and Wayne Jordan began their philanthropy by setting up a donor-advised fund through the Tides Foundation, which advised them on how to begin large-scale charitable giving. Initially, they targeted community support groups for Black youth, but they later evolved to support broader social justice goals. 10

Akonadi Foundation

In 2000, Quinn Delaney and Wayne Jordan co-founded the Akonadi Foundation in response to the passage of Proposition 21 in California, which made sentencing tougher on juvenile criminals in an effort to reduce gang violence. Delaney and Jordan considered Proposition 21 to be a racist measure against non-white youth. 10 The organization’s mission is to support the development of powerful social change movements to eliminate structural racism.” 11

Since its founding, the Akonadi Foundation has given 1,900 grants totaling $43 million to racial justice groups primarily located in the Bay Area. 12

Nearly all the Akonadi Foundation’s funding comes from its co-founders. In 2019, all its donations came from Delaney and Jordan, amounting to over $4 million. Nearly all the rest of the foundation’s $7 million in revenue that year came from its endowment and the sale of assets. 4 13

Political Donations

Since 1992, Quinn Delaney has donated $5,246,246 to federal Democratic candidates and political committees. 1 Her largest FEC-reportable political recipient has been Planned Parenthood Votes, which received $1,150,000, mostly given in 2020. 1

Delaney is an “anchor donor” of the California Donor Table, a group of Democratic California mega donors who coordinate political and philanthropic nonprofits. 14

In 2020, Delaney spent $3.5 million supporting the passage of Proposition 16, which would repeal Proposition 209, which prohibited government institutions from discriminating based on race, ethnicity, or sex. Prop 16 was defeated. 15

In 2015 and 2016, Delaney gave $754,453 to the Hillary Victory Fund supporting Hillary Clinton’s (D) 2016 presidential campaign. 1

From 2010 through 2012, Delaney gave $150,000 to Women Vote! PAC. 1

In 2008, Delaney and her husband, Wayne Jordan, were jointly one of the largest donors to Barack Obama’s (D) presidential campaign, and they hosted a fundraiser at their home. They were also major donors to his 2012 presidential campaign and hosted at least one fundraiser which the president attended. 4 16 Delaney and Jordan have given over $1 million to the Obama Foundation. 17

Also in 2008, Delaney and Jordan raised $4 million for the American Civil Liberties Union. 4

From 2005 through 2022, Delaney gave $413,050 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. 1

Delaney and Jordan are long-time supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris (D). The couple gave $12,500 to Harris when she ran for California Attorney General in 2010. 18 In 2015, Delaney gave $5,400 to Harris’s U.S. Senate campaign. 1 In 2020, Delaney and Jordan formed the People Standing Strong PAC, which spent $1.6 million to support Harris’s (D) unsuccessful presidential campaign. 19 Delaney also gave $2,800 to Harris’s campaign. 1

Criminal Justice

Delaney is one of four Democratic donors who have coordinated to provide millions in funding to left-wing criminal justice ballot measures. 20

In 2021, Delaney contributed to the successful campaign to elect radical left Chesa Boudin as San Fransisco district attorney. 20 In June 2022, Boudin was defeated in a recall election. 21 They also contributed to the reelection campaign of California attorney general Rob Bonta (D-CA). 20

In 2019-2020, Delaney and the three other mega donors spent $22 million on criminal justice ballot measures, including to elect George Gascon (D-Los Angeles) as district attorney of Los Angeles. 20

References

  1. “Federal Election Commission search.” Federal Election Commission. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=DELANEY%2C+M+QUINN.
  2.  [1] “Quinn Delaney.” Race Forward. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://facingrace.raceforward.org/speaker/quinn-delaney.
  3. “Quinn Delaney.” Race Forward. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://facingrace.raceforward.org/speaker/quinn-delaney.
  4. Garofoli, Joe. “Obama’s Piedmont backers an emerging force.” SF Gate. July 22, 2021. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Obama-s-Piedmont-backers-an-emerging-force-3726863.php.
  5. “Quinn Delaney.” Akonadi Foundation. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://akonadi.org/our-team/quinn-delaney/.
  6. “Bio.” California Commission on the Status of Women. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://women.ca.gov/commissioner-quinn-delaney/.
  7. “Wayne Jordan.” Akonadi Foundation. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://akonadi.org/our-team/wayne-jordan/.
  8. [1] Adeniji, Ade. “Akonadi: Meet a Couple Focused on Racial Justice in the Bay Area.” Inside Philanthropy. May 3, 2021. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:TFMtmfhnfLkJ:https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021/5/3/akonadi-meet-a-couple-focused-on-racial-justice-in-the-bay-area+&cd=15&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=no.
  9. [1] Garofoli, Joe. “Obama’s Piedmont backers an emerging force.” SF Gate. July 22, 2021. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Obama-s-Piedmont-backers-an-emerging-force-3726863.php.
  10. Adeniji, Ade. “Akonadi: Meet a Couple Focused on Racial Justice in the Bay Area.” Inside Philanthropy. May 3, 2021. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:TFMtmfhnfLkJ:https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2021/5/3/akonadi-meet-a-couple-focused-on-racial-justice-in-the-bay-area+&cd=15&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=no.
  11. “Mission and Vision.” Akonadi Foundation. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://akonadi.org/about/mission-values/.
  12. “History.” Akonadi Foundation. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://akonadi.org/about/history/.
  13. “Akonadi Foundation Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/943329873/202043219349107319/full.
  14. Pitkin, Bill. “In California, These Donors Are Playing the Long Game to Build Power and Advance Change.” Inside Philanthropy. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://californiadonortable.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Inside-Philanthropy-Article-1-1.pdf/.
  15. “Nico Savidge.” Twitter. September 11, 2020. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://twitter.com/NSavidge/status/1304555212934320128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
  16. “Content Details.” Gov Info. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/DCPD-201200587.
  17. “Contributors.” Obama Foundation. Accessed July 6, 2022. https://www.obama.org/contributors/.
  18. “Kamala Harris mines rich lode for ag run in 2010.” East Bay Times. February 1, 2009. Accessed July 6, 2022. https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2009/02/01/kamala-harris-mines-rich-lode-for-ag-run-in-2010/.
  19. “PAC Profile: People Standing Strong.” Open Secrets. Accessed July 6, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/people-standing-strong/C00713099/summary/2020
  20. White, Jeremy B. “4 wealthy donors fuel overhaul of California’s criminal justice system.” Politico. July 17, 2021. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2021/07/17/four-wealthy-donors-fuel-overhaul-of-californias-criminal-justice-system-1388261/.
  21. Dewan, Shaila. “The Lessons Liberal Prosecutors Are Drawing From San Fransisco’s Backlash.” The New York Times. June 13, 2022. Accessed July 5, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/13/us/justice-reform-boudin-recall-san-francisco.html.
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