Color of Change PAC is a political action committee closely associated with Color of Change, a left-of-center lobbying group focusing on racial issues and racial-aligned advocacy, and its associated charitable arm Color of Change Education Fund. The organization and its “Voting While Black” mobilization project have endorsed a number of left-wing political candidates, including U.S. Representatives Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and failed gubernatorial nominees Stacey Abrams (D-GA) and Ben Jealous (D-MD).

Voting While Black

Voting While Black is a liberal voter mobilization organization and a fiscally sponsored project of Color of Change PAC. The organization opposes police unions, referring to them as “killer cop organizations,” and calls on elected officials to cut ties and refuse donations from such unions. ¹

The Voting While Black website contains an endorsements page, in which the PAC provides a list of endorsed left-of-center and liberal candidates for public office. Some of the endorsed candidates from 2018 were radical-left Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN); failed Georgia state gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams; and Ben Jealous, former president of the NAACP, for governor of Maryland. ²

People

Arisha Michelle Hatch is the president of Color of Change PAC. She previously worked as an attorney for a number of law firms before leaving the field of law to work as a field director for Obama for America, President Barack Obama’s campaign committee in both of his election campaigns. She also worked as a campaign director for Courage Campaign Institute, a left-of-center organization advocating within a number of issue areas. ³

Daniel Marks is the digital manager for the Color of Change PAC. He previously worked for the ACLU as a legal administrative student, as a communications intern for the Advancement Project, and as a foundation intern at the Human Rights Campaign. ⁴

Funding

Color of Change PAC has received millions of dollars in donations since its inception from a number of high-profile liberal individuals and organizations. Most notably, the organization has received $1.75 million from the Democracy PAC, a PAC founded by liberal billionaire George Soros in 2019 for the purpose of influencing the 2020 presidential election. ⁵ The organization also received $700,000 from Susan Pritzker, a prominent liberal megadonor who regularly donates to organizations supporting identity-based issues and $600,000 from Wayne Jordan and Quinn Delaney, liberal megadonors and heads of the Akonadi Foundation, a left-of-center advocacy organization primarily supporting race-related issues. ⁶

1. “Color of Change PAC.” Facebook. Accessed June 27, 2020. https://www.facebook.com/colorofchangepac/.
2. “Endorsements.” Voting While Black. Accessed June 27, 2020. https://votingwhileblack.com/endorsements/.
3. “User Profile: Arisha Michelle Hatch.” Linkedin.com. Accessed June 27, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/arisha-michelle-hatch-6091831/.
4. “User Profile: Daniel Marks.” Linkedin.com. Accessed June 27, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielbraxtonmarks/.
5. “Contributors.” Color of Change PAC contributor receipts. FEC.gov. Accessed June 27, 2020. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?cycle=2020&data_type=processed&committee_id=C00428557&contributor_name=pac&two_year_transaction_period=2020&line_number=F3X-17.
6. “Contributors.” Color of Change PAC contributor receipts. FEC.gov. Accessed June 27, 2020. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?cycle=2020&data_type=processed&committee_id=C00428557&two_year_transaction_period=2020&line_number=F3X-17.