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 Middle East Institute (MEI) is a think tank that advocates for increased involvement of the United States in the Middle East. MEI has received funding from left-of-center organizations including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Carnegie Corporation, and the Foundation to Promote Open Society. In June 2024, it settled a lawsuit with the Zionist Advocacy Center, which had accused MEI of allegedly misusing Paycheck Protection Program funds.
• Jewish Community Action (JCA) is a religious advocacy group that pushes for left-of-center policies on issues such as immigration, education, and criminal justice in Minnesota. JCA’s national partners include left-of-center Bend the Arc Jewish Action and the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable, while it has also joined state coalitions with groups that include abortion advocacy group Pro-Choice Minnesota and immigration advocacy group UnidosMN. In 2023, JCA signed onto a letter sent to the United States Congress claiming that members of Congress were endangering the public through their “white supremacist” and “anti-immigrant” rhetoric.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) is a community services group that provides mentoring programs to children and youth in the United States. BBBSA has received funding to develop left-of-center policies, including a donation from the Starbucks Foundation to develop JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) programs for its local affiliates. In 2022, BBBSA received a $122.6 million grant from MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
• AFSCME Council 5 is the Minnesota state-level division of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) government-worker union, which itself is the largest member union of the AFL-CIO labor federation. AFSCME Council 5 has supported left-leaning policies within the state such as banning private prisons, expanding unemployment benefits for school workers, and legalizing marijuana usage. In 2024, it endorsed U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) reelection campaign through the AFSCME Council 5 PEOPLE Fund.
• The North Carolina League of Conservation Voters Foundation (NCLCVF) is an environmental advocacy group which promotes policies favoring wind and solar power while opposing conventional fuel and nuclear energy usage. It works alongside the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, and is part of a network of affiliated organizations which include the North Carolina Leage of Conservation Voters and the Conservation PAC. NCLCVF has previously provided grants to left-of-center groups including the Phillip Randolph Institute, the North Carolina Justice Center, and Blueprint NC.