InfluenceWatch Friday

InfluenceWatch, a project of Capital Research Center, is a comprehensive and ever-evolving compilation of our research into the numerous advocacy groups, foundations, and donors working to influence the public policy process. The website offers transparency into these influencers’ funding, motives, and connections while providing insight often neglected by other watchdog groups.

The information compiled in InfluenceWatch gives news outlets and other interested parties research to use in reporting on significant topics that are often overlooked by the American public.

CRC is pleased to present some of the most significant additions to InfluenceWatch in the past week:

• The Environmental Defenders Collaborative is a project of the Global Greengrants Fund, a grantmaking organization that provides support to left-of-center environmentalist efforts. Primary supporters of the Environmental Defenders Collaborative include the Global Greengrants Fund, Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, the Sall Family Foundation, the Overbrook Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
• The Eastern Environmental Law Center is an environmental litigation organization located in New Jersey. The group has sued or intervened in cases opposing non-weather dependent energy production within the state such as natural gas pipelines, industrial warehouses, and electrical power lines. It has also worked with several left-of-center organizations in litigation including the Sierra Club and Earthjustice.
• Every Campus a Refuge (ECAR) is an advocacy organization that pushes for universities within the United States to take in and house refugees. As of December 2023, 15 American universities had ECAR chapters, with over 200 refugees being hosted since 2015, including James Madison University; Oklahoma State University; and Siena College. ECAR is also a Private Sponsor Organization in the U.S. Department of State’s Welcome Corps.
• The Circle for Justice Innovations (CJI) is an advocacy and grantmaking group that funds organizations focused on criminal justice policy. In 2023, the CJI received funding from Yield Giving, a grantmaking vehicle for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife MacKenzie Scott. CJI has also received funding from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the Prospect Hill Foundation, and Galaxy Gives.
• Women with a Vision (WWAV) is a New Orleans-based non-profit that supports abortion access, decriminalizing sex work, HIV/AIDS education, and LGBTQ interests. WWAV has received significant funding from left-of-center Grantmakers including over $2 million from the Ford Foundation since 2015 and at least $1 million from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.